Jewish Studies

College of Liberal & Creative Arts

Dean: Dr. Ifeoma Kiddoe Nwankwo

Department of Jewish Studies

Humanities Building, Room 416
Phone: (415) 338-6075
Website: http://jewish.sfsu.edu/

Department Chair: Kitty Millet
Undergraduate Advisors: Astren, Dollinger, Gross, Kaplan, Millet

Program Scope

The Bachelor of Arts in Modern Jewish Studies program is designed to provide an understanding of Jews and Judaism in terms of the interactions of culture, history, and religion. The challenge of modernity faced by Jews and Judaism over the last two hundred years has transformed traditional Jewish societies and generated a great measure of difference and diversity. After a history of more than two millennia, Jews have redefined religion, notions of identity, and social organization in contexts of a dominant culture (in Israel) and a minority culture (elsewhere in the world). The broader dynamics of how ethnic, religious, or racial minorities interact with the majority societies are examined in both these contexts. Courses explore the constants and variety of the Jewish experience in different historical periods and geographical settings and include language study.

Minor in Jewish Studies

The interdisciplinary minor consists of a total of 12 units selected on advisement from offerings by a variety of departments. Courses approved for the Jewish Studies Minor have a prefix of JS and HEBR, or are cross-listed with a JS course. The purpose of the interdisciplinary Jewish Studies Minor is to acquaint students with the history, culture, contributions, and religion of the Jewish people as seen through the eyes of modern academic disciplines and with particular reference to contemporary issues and patterns. Students can use the Minor in Jewish Studies to complement their majors and, with advising, to fulfill General Education requirements.

Career Outlook

The Bachelor of Arts in Modern Jewish Studies and the Jewish Studies Minor offer an excellent background for students interested in Judaism as the basis for scholarly or professional pursuits, increasing the depth of understanding of the history, culture, contributions, and religion of the Jewish people within the context of a major discipline of study and prepare students for careers as educators and community professionals.

Jewish Studies Learning Outcomes

  1. Students develop interpretive and analytical skills in reading Jewish religious texts.
  2. Students develop interpretive and analytical skills in reading Jewish literary texts.
  3. Students gain knowledge of the history and cultures of Jews and Judaism in the ancient, medieval, and modern periods in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.
  4. Students gain knowledge of the relationships of Jews and Judaism to other peoples, religions, and cultures in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.
  5. Students gain knowledge of the ways that Jews and Judaism illuminate the histories, literatures, religions, and cultures of non-Jews in the world.
  6. Students gain knowledge of the ways that non-Jewish histories, literatures, religions, and cultures are necessary to understand Jews and Judaism in the world.
  7. Students find, read, understand, and assimilate primary and secondary research materials.

Professor

Fred Astren (1996), Professor in Jewish Studies. Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley.

Marc L. Dollinger (2002), Professor in Jewish Studies. Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles.

Eran Kaplan (2011), Professor in Jewish Studies. Ph.D. Brandeis University.

Kitty Millet (2004), Professor in Jewish Studies. Ph.D. University of Minnesota.

Associate Professor

Rachel B. Gross (2016), Associate Professor in Jewish Studies, John and Marcia Goldman Professor of American Jewish Studies. Ph.D. Princeton University.

Major

Minor

Explanation of Course Descriptions, Symbols, and Terms

JS 265 Christmas and Hanukkah in the United States (Units: 3)

Examination of the social, political, and cultural history of Christmas and Hanukkah in the United States from the colonial period to the present day. Focus on the relationship between religion, politics, commerce, and popular culture, including gender roles and the changing role of religious, ethnic, and racial minorities in U.S. public culture.
(This course is offered as JS 265, AMST 265, HIST 265, and RELS 265. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • U.S. History
  • D2: Social Sciences: US Hist.
  • Am. Ethnic & Racial Minorities

JS 270 Repairing the World: The Jewish Call for Social Justice (Units: 3)

A survey of Jewish social justice focusing on the Jewish religious mandate to "repair the world." Review Jewish texts and traditions as they relate to social justice questions that apply between and among Jews, in relationships between Jews and larger societies, as well as global challenges. Investigate how Jewish social justice intersects with power and powerlessness, exploring the changing historical and sociological dynamics of Jewish life and their impact on Jewish social justice.

Course Attributes:

  • C2: Humanities
  • Am. Ethnic & Racial Minorities
  • Global Perspectives
  • Social Justice

JS 280 Introduction to Jewish History (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: GE Area A2.

A survey of Jewish history, culture, and religion from the ancient world to the modern era.

Course Attributes:

  • C2: Humanities

JS 301 Judaism, An Introduction (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, and B4* all with grades of C- or better or permission of the instructor.

Explores religious and cultural practices of Judaism in the United States by surveying religious practices of Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist Jewish congregations. Relates these practices to Jewish experience and history.

Course Attributes:

  • UD-C: Arts and/or Humanities
  • Social Justice

JS 317 The Holocaust and Genocide (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: Upper-division standing; GE Area E; or permission of the instructor.

Process and conditions which led to the harassment, expulsion, and extermination of the Jews during World War II including new information about the concentration camp system.
(This course is offered as HIST 317 and JS 317. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

JS 318 The Holocaust and Law: Complicity, Dissent, and Correction (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing or permission of the instructor.

Examine how the Nazis revised German legal code to suit their own definition of citizenship within the old Reich and beyond its borders. Repudiating legal precedents from the Stein Hardenberg Reforms to the Jewish Emancipation of 1871. In three sections, "How it Happened," "The Transformation of the Judiciary," and "Legal Reckoning and the end of War," this class examines Nazi Law and its relation to the Holocaust.
(This course is offered as JS 318 and HIST 318. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

JS 332 Ancient and Medieval Jews Among Pagans, Christians, and Muslims (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, B4*, and E* all with grades of C- or better or permission of the instructor.

Jewish history from the sixth century B.C.E. to the rise of European modernity. Politics, culture, and religion under empires of Persia, Hellenism, Rome, and in medieval diasporas of Europe and lands of Islam.
(This course is offered as JS 332 and HIST 332 [Formerly JS 632 and HIST 632: Jewish History I: Beginnings to 1650]. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • UD-C: Arts and/or Humanities
  • Global Perspectives

JS 350 Jewish Social Responsibility (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, and B4* all with grades of C- or better or permission of the instructor.

A 2,000-year history of a people commanded to repair the world. From Biblical sources defining the nature of poverty to contemporary philosophical debates on issues as varied as social inequality and care for the environment. [CSL may be available]

Course Attributes:

  • UD-C: Arts and/or Humanities
  • Social Justice

JS 379 Jerusalem (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, and B4* all with grades of C- or better or permission of the instructor.

The dynamics of Jerusalem's intellectual, artistic, and social life with an emphasis on the great works that symbolize the contribution of that city to human culture.
(This course is offered as HUM 379 and JS 379. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • UD-C: Arts and/or Humanities
  • Global Perspectives

JS 405 Film and the Holocaust (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing or consent of the instructor.

The use of film to document and dramatize the Holocaust. Filmmakers who have sought to give expression to its human scale. Significant works which have helped define the issues.
(This course is offered as CINE 305 and JS 405. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

JS 408 Israeli Cinema (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, and B4* all with grades of C- or better or permission of the instructor.

Survey of Israeli cinema with critical readings.
(This course is offered as JS 408 and CINE 314. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • UD-C: Arts and/or Humanities
  • Global Perspectives

JS 410 Kabbalah, Jewish Mysticism, and Literature (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, and B4* all with grades of C- or better or permission of the instructor.

A survey of Jewish mystical literatures from antiquity to the modern era. Focus on the foundational tropes, symbols, and narratives of Jewish kabbalistic experiences such as "the descent to the Merkavah," "the sefirot," "the collection of the sparks," and "tzimtzum" in order to contrast the tradition with modern cultural phenomena and kabbalah's representation in literature.
(This course is offered as JS 410 and PHIL 514. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • UD-C: Arts and/or Humanities

JS 415 The Hebrew Bible (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, and B4* all with grades of C- or better or permission of the instructor.

The Hebrew Bible in English translation from historical, literary, and religious points of view; culture and religion of ancient Israel and the ancient Near East.
(This course is offered as JS 415 and PHIL 415. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • UD-C: Arts and/or Humanities

JS 421 Food Fights: The Politics of American Jewish Consumption from 1654 to the Present (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: GE Area E.

Exploration of the politics of religion, food, and eating among Jews in the US from the late 19th century to the present. Focus on American Jewish foodways including cultural, social, historical, political, and economic practices of food production and consumption that have sustained and demarcated Jewish communities.
(This course is offered as JS 421 and HIST 421. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • U.S. History
  • UD-C: Arts and/or Humanities
  • Am. Ethnic & Racial Minorities
  • Social Justice

JS 430 Israeli Democracy: Politics, Institutions, and Society (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, and B4* all with grades of C- or better or permission of the instructor.

Knowledge of Israel's political system, its origins, its formal structure, the way it functions, and its main attributes in comparison to other democratic political systems. Ideology, state and religion, and civil liberties.
(This course is offered as JS 430, I R 430, and PLSI 430. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • UD-D: Social Sciences
  • Global Perspectives

JS 437 Holocaust and Literature (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, and B4* all with grades of C- or better; ENG 216* or ENG 218* or equivalent; or permission of the instructor.

Fiction and non-fiction Holocaust literature by Saul Bellow, T. Borowski, Etty Hillesum, I.B. Singer, and Elie Wiesel.
(This course is offered as JS 437, ENG 533, and CWL 437. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • UD-C: Arts and/or Humanities
  • Global Perspectives

JS 441 American Jews and Popular Culture (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: GE Area A2.

Examination of presentation and participation of Jews in American popular culture of the 20th and 21st centuries. Focused on the representation of Jews and Judaism in film, television, and media. Representation of Jews and Judaism in literature, athletics, food, museums, and consumer culture also addressed.
(This course is offered as JS 441, HIST 441 and HUM 441. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • Am. Ethnic & Racial Minorities

JS 449 American Jewish History (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, and B4* all with grades of C- or better or graduate standing or permission of the instructor.

American Jewish History from 1654 to the present tracing the social, political, religious, and economic history of Jews in colonial America and the United States. Topics include the influence of government, immigration, religion, anti-Semitism, regionalism, and acculturation.
(This course is offered as JS 449 and HIST 449. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • U.S. History
  • UD-C: Arts and/or Humanities
  • Am. Ethnic & Racial Minorities
  • Social Justice

JS 451 Jewish Literature of the Americas (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, and B4* all with grades of C- or better or permission of the instructor.

Explores the literature of the Americas through the lens of Jewish identity and tradition. Texts in translation from Latin America, Canada, and the US reveal how Jewish writers have rethought modernity's intersection with Jewish traditions.
(This course is offered as JS 451, CWL 451, and ENG 451. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • UD-C: Arts and/or Humanities
  • Am. Ethnic & Racial Minorities
  • Global Perspectives

JS 467 On the Cultural Frontlines: Contemporary Trends in Israeli Art (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: GE Area A2.

An examination of contemporary Israeli culture through literature, cinema, and theater. Inner conflicts and shared visions of the Israeli psyche are revealed through the arts and in conversation with Israeli artists.
(This course is offered as JS 467, BECA 467, C W 467, and TH A 467. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

JS 468 Israeli Media Landscape: Journalism, Communications, and Society (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: GE Area A2.

Introduction to Israel's media institutions and the forces that have shaped the country's present media landscape. The development of Israeli media from the birth of Hebrew-language newspapers in Europe, through the first decades of statehood, the shift towards a market economy in the 1980s, and the implications of the digital revolution on local media outlets. Topics include the party press, establishment of public broadcasting and recent struggles for its reform, rise of commercial broadcasting, and major corruption affairs.
(This course is offered as JS 468, JOUR 454, and BECA 468. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

JS 469 Media on Media: Media Scandals and Journalism Ethics in Israel, the U.S., and U.K. (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: GE Area A2.

Legal, ethical, and normative questions in the work of journalists and media organizations are examined in case studies from Israel, the U.S., and the U.K. by analyzing the media's relationships with the political arena, the private sector, and security forces. Topics include libel suits, source protection, and advertising boycotts; appropriate means for monitoring and regulating the media; and the significance of media self-reflection and transparency in the digital age.
(This course is offered as JS 469, BECA 469, and JOUR 469. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

JS 480 European Jewish Writers (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, and B4* all with grades of C- or better or permission of the instructor.

Survey of the works of modern Jewish writers throughout Europe between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The influence of the Jewish Enlightenment on modern Jewish literature.
(This course is offered as JS 480 and CWL 480. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • UD-C: Arts and/or Humanities
  • Global Perspectives

JS 485 Modern Israeli Literature (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1, A2, A3, and B4.

Survey of the works of modern Israeli writers of fiction, poetry, and drama. Explore the conceptual underpinnings of modern Israeli aesthetic projects in literature and how Israel's multilingual heritage marks the modern writer.

JS 497 Topics in Israel Studies (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1, A2, A3, and B4.

In-depth exploration of one or more specific topics in Israel Studies with disciplinary approaches that may span the humanities, social sciences, and arts. Topics to be specified in the Class Schedule. May be repeated for a total of 9 units when topics vary.

Topics:

  1. Introduction to Israel Studies
  2. Culture and Society
  3. Gender, Art, and Culture in Israel
  4. Women, Family, and Society in Israel
  5. Israel Art
  6. Jewish and Arab Art in Israel

JS 501 Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, and B4* all with grades of C- or better or permission of the instructor.

Beliefs, practices, social organization, and history of the three monotheistic religious traditions; the importance of these traditions for European and Middle Eastern civilizations.
(This course is offered as JS 501, PHIL 501, and HUM 501. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • UD-C: Arts and/or Humanities
  • Global Perspectives

JS 514 Political Violence and Terrorism in German History, Film, and Visual Media (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing or permission of the instructor.

Examination of the history of political violence and terrorism - its history, its causes, aims, and forms in Germany. Multidisciplinary approach to develop the knowledge and skills needed to examine the particularities of political violence and terrorism in Germany in the 20th and 21st century as seen in political manifestos, history, films, modern technology, and caricatures. Taught in English. All materials are available in English.
(This course is offered as GER 514, HIST 514, I R 514, and PLSI 514. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

JS 540 Anti-Semitism and Social Justice (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, and B4* all with grades of C- or better or permission of the instructor.

Survey of the historical, political, cultural, and religious contexts and manifestations of anti-Semitism. Examine different forms and trajectories and evaluate the effects on both Jews and non-Jews and Jewish and non-Jewish societies.

Course Attributes:

  • UD-C: Arts and/or Humanities
  • Global Perspectives

JS 546 20th Century American Jewish Women Writers (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, and B4* all with grades of C- or better; ENG 216* or ENG 218* or equivalent; or permission of the instructor.

Exploration through novels, short fiction, and memoir the connections American women forge and the tensions they experience via encounters with self, family, Judaism, American society, and world history.
(This course is offered as JS 546, ENG 546, and WGS 546. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • UD-C: Arts and/or Humanities
  • Am. Ethnic & Racial Minorities
  • Global Perspectives

JS 548 The Jewish Sixties: A Journey Through The Social Protest Movements of the 1960s (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: GE Area E.

Explores the Jewish Sixties through the thematic lens of religion, history, and sociology. Divides "the Sixties" into two historical epochs: 1954-1964 and 1965-1980. The first period examines consensus-based race relations with attention to the modern struggle for racial equality as well as leftist critics of Cold War America. The second period explores the radicalization of social reform efforts with careful attention to the rise of the New Left, Vietnam protests, and counterculture.
(This course is offered as JS 548 and HIST 416. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • Am. Ethnic & Racial Minorities
  • Social Justice

JS 560 The Arab-Israeli Conflict (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, and B4* all with grades of C- or better or permission of the instructor.

Examine causes of the Arab-Israeli conflict; beginnings in the late nineteenth century; Jewish-Palestinian confrontation during the British Mandate (1917-1948); Arab-Israeli wars since 1948; Israeli-Palestinian confrontation since 1948; attempts to end the confrontation since 1967.
(This course is offered as JS 560 and I R 530. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • UD-D: Social Sciences
  • Global Perspectives

JS 600 Internship (Units: 3)

Prerequisites for JS 800: Certificate program students; consultation with the program director.
Prerequisites for JS 600: Upper-division standing; GPA of 3.0 or higher; consultation with the program director.

Supervised work in the setting of a Jewish communal organization or an institution serving Jewish clients. May be repeated for a total of 6 units. [CSL may be available]
(JS 800/JS 600 is a paired course offering. Students who have completed the course at one level may not take or repeat the course at another level.)

JS 633 Jewish History II: 1650 to Present (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: GE Areas A1*, A2*, A3*, B4*, and E* all with grades of C- or better or permission of the instructor.

Jewish history from 1650 to the present. The central theme is the encounter of traditional ethnic and religious minority with modernity. Topics include emancipation, antisemitism, immigration, Zionism, Israel, America, and the Holocaust.
(This course is offered as JS 633 and HIST 335 [Formerly HIST 633]. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

Course Attributes:

  • UD-C: Arts and/or Humanities
  • Global Perspectives

JS 699 Independent Study (Units: 1-3)

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing or permission of the instructor.

Individual supervision of intensive independent work on a particular problem or subject in Jewish studies chosen by the student. May be repeated for a total of 6 units.

JS 741 The Holocaust and Postwar Germany Taught in English (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: Graduate standing in German, History, or Jewish Studies, or permission of the instructor.

The Holocaust in Postwar Germany as seen in exemplary works of literature, historical documents and Nuremberg trials. (Plus-minus letter grade only) [Taught in English]
(This course is offered as GER 741, HIST 741, and JS 741. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.)

JS 800 Internship (Units: 3)

Prerequisites for JS 800: Certificate program students; consultation with the program director.
Prerequisites for JS 600: Upper-division standing; GPA of 3.0 or higher; consultation with the program director.

Supervised work in the setting of a Jewish communal organization or an institution serving Jewish clients. May be repeated for a total of 6 units. [CSL may be available]
(JS 800/JS 600 is a paired course offering. Students who have completed the course at one level may not take or repeat the course at another level.)

JS 899 Independent Study (Units: 1-3)

Prerequisite: Permission of the supervising faculty member. Enrollment is by petition. Open only to graduate students who have demonstrated the ability to do independent work.

Study is planned, developed, and completed under the direction of a member of the program faculty. May be repeated for a total of 6 units.