This seminar is an introduction to some dimension of the history of a nation, region, people, culture, institution, or historical phenomenon selected by the respective instructor. Students will come to understand, and develop an appreciation for: the origins and evolution of the people, cultures, and/or political, economic, and/or social institutions of a particular region(s) of the world. They may explore how human encounters shaped individual and collective identities and the political, economic, and social orders of the region/nation/communities under study. Instructors prioritize critical reading, engaged participation, and focused writing assignments.

Hatred of Jews and Judaism is an enduring prejudice. Its chronological limitlessness is matched by its apparent lack of geographical boundaries. We will chart that history and Jewish responses to it from the age of Tacitus to the age of Trump. Among the themes we will examine are the old forms of religious anti-Judaism, the many medieval charges brought against Jews, the iconography of antisemitism, as well as modern, racist antisemitism and the myriad conspiracy theories about Jews that still grip the fevered imagination of antisemites. Throughout the course we will pay attention to the multiple ways Jews and Judaism have been used throughout history by religious and social critics to describe their own disaffection with the age in which they lived.

Repeat Rules

Requirements class fulfills