JS and HGHRS Courses Available in the following  HUB areas (Click the link to see):

Interdisciplinary Courses

World Cultures of the Jews

CAS JS 100 (4 Credits) 

MWF 10:10-11:00 AM 

Introduces students to the study of Judaism in its many forms, by exploring Jewish communities across the globe today, their different historical origins and cultural contexts, and strategies of preserving cohesion and transnational solidarity. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration.

Instructor: Professor Ingrid Anderson  

Sacred Texts and Comparative Traditions

The Bible

CAS JS 120 (4 Credits) Mts w/ CAS RN 101

MWF 12:20-1:10 PM 

Introduction to the great canonical anthologies of Jews and Christians. Students will learn to read for historical context and genre conventions; study classical and modern strategies of interpretation, and create a collaborative commentary or piece of “fan-fiction.” Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Creativity/Innovation.

Instructor: Professor Michael Zank

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

CAS JS 121 (4 Credits) Mts w/ CAS RN 104

MWF 11:15-12:05 PM

Islam, Christianity, and Judaism in historical and cultural context, origins to the present. Examines diversity of practices, belief systems, and social structures within these religions. Also addresses debates within and between communities as well as contemporary controversies and concerns. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.

Instructor: Professor Jonathan Klawans

Modern Judaism 

CAS JS 255 (4 Credits) Mts w/ CAS RN 328

TR 12:30-1:45 PM

Encounters between Judaism and modernity from the Renaissance and Reformation; the Spanish expulsion and creation of Jewish centers in the New World; emancipation and its consequences; assimilation, Reform Judaism, Zionism, the American Jewish community, non-European communities, Jewish global migration, and modern antisemitism. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.

Instructor: Professor Steven T. Katz 

Biblical Fakes and Forgeries

CAS JS 416 (4 Credits) Mts w/ CAS RN 406

M 1:25-3:05, W 1:25-2:15 PM 

Prereq: Religion, philosophy, or archaeology majors or minors with junior or senior standing, or consent of instructor.

Examines issues regarding forged documents and artifacts relating to the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Examples of forgeries (alleged and certain) include: book of Daniel, Letter of Aristeas, Gnostic Gospels, Secret Gospel of Mark; forged Scrolls in museum collections. Proposed Edit: Examines forged documents and artifacts relating to Hebrew Bible and New Testament, probing historical and ethical questions they raise. Examples (alleged and certain forgeries) include: book of Daniel, Gnostic Gospels, Secret Gospel of Mark, and forged Dead Sea Scroll fragments. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.

Instructor: Professor Jonathan Klawans

Contemporary Jewish Societies and Cultures, incl. Israel Studies

Advanced Modern Hebrew: Voices in Israeli Society

CAS JS 281 (4 Credits) Mts w/ CAS LH 311

 MWF 12:20-1:10 PM 

This course provides advanced language practice and introduction to globally diverse groups in Israeli society: Orthodox and secular, immigrants and veteran immigrants, Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Jews, Arab-Israelis and more. Through reading a variety of academic and newspapers articles, short stories, poems and viewing interviews, documentaries and movies, students will enhance their interpretation, writing and oral skills while acquiring fundamental knowledge about ethnic/religious/national/social diversity in Israel. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Digital/Multimedia Expression.

Instructor: Professor Miriam Angrist 

Israeli Culture through Film (in English translation)

CAS JS 283 (4 Credits) Mts w/ CAS LH 283

M 2:30-5:15 PM

Israeli society, from its origins to contemporary times, through the medium of film. Topics include immigration; Jewish religious life; war; the ongoing impact of the Holocaust on Israeli society; gender; and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Introduction to film analysis and interpretive methods. 

Instructor: Professor Abigail Gillman

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

CAS JS 286 (4 Credits) Mts w/ CAS HI 393

TR 11-12:15 PM

History of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, analysis of conflicting narratives through primary sources and film. Students present their own reflections on the conflict and debate possibilities of resolution. Counts toward majors and minors in History, International Relations, Middle East & North Africa Studies, and Jewish Studies. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.

Instructor: Professor Ingrid Anderson  

Gender, Sexuality, and Judaism

CAS JS 377 (4 Credits) Mts w/ CAS RN 337

TR 12:30-1:45 PM

Prereq: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120)

Explores the role of gender and sexuality in Judaism and Jewish experience, historically and in the present. Subjects include constructions of masculinity and femininity, attitudes toward (and uses of) the body and sexuality, gendered nature of religious practice and authority. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy.

Instructor: Professor Deeana Klepper

Jewish Literature and Thought

Introduction to Middle Eastern Literatures

CAS XL 223 (4 Credits)

TR 12:30-1:45 PM

Prereq: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120).

Introduces basic methods of comparative literary study through close readings of some of the most influential texts of Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Hebrew literature. Readings may include The Arabian Nights, Shahnameh, lyric poetry, and novels from the twentieth century. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course.

Instructor: Professor Abigail Gillman

Philosophy and Mysticism: Jewish and Islamic Perspectives

CAS JS 348 (4 Credits) Mts w/ CAS RN 338, PH 408, STH TT 811

TR 2-3:15 PM

A thematic introduction to mysticism and philosophy, with a focus on the dynamics of religious experience. Readings will be drawn from medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophy; Sufi mysticism and philosophy; Kabbalah, Sufi poetry, Hebrew poetry from the Golden Age of Muslim Spain. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Critical Thinking. 

Instructor: Professor Diana Lobel

Maimonides

CAS RN 420 / PH 409 (4 Credits) Mts w/ CAS RN 720, PH 609, STH TX 879

M 6:30-9:15 PM

A study of major aspects of the thought of Maimonides. Primary focus on the Guide of the Perplexed, with attention to its modern reception in works by Baruch Spinoza, Hermann Cohen, Leo Strauss, and others. Also offered as CAS PH 409. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Oral and/or Signed Communication.

Instructor: Professor Michael Zank

History and Holocaust 

The Holocaust

CAS JS 260 (4 Credits) Mts w/ CAS RN 384

TR 3:30-4:45 PM

Rise of German (and European) antisemitism; rise of Nazism; 1935 Nuremberg Laws; the initial Jewish reaction; racial theory; organizing mass murder including ghettos, concentration camps, killing squads, and gas chambers; bystanders and collaborators (countries, organizations, and individuals); Jewish resistance; post-Holocaust religious responses; moral and ethical issues. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.

Instructor: Professor Steven T. Katz 

The Holocaust Through Film

CAS JS 367 (4 Credits) Mts w/ CAS XL 387 

TR 11-12:15 PM

Prereq: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120)

An examination of film using the Holocaust as its central topic. What are the political and cultural effects when genocide is represented through film? Can feature films portray history, and if so, what are the consequences for an informed society? Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course.

Instructor: Professor Nancy Harrowitz

Representations of the Holocaust in Literature and Film

CAS JS 261 (4 Credits) Mts w/ CAS XL 281, RN 685, COM CI 269, STH TX 899

A1: TR 11-12:15 PM B1: TR 3:30-4:45 PM

How can we understand the impact of the Holocaust and its ongoing legacies? Holocaust representation in literature, film and memorials, including discussions of bystander complicity and societal responsibilities, testimonial and fictive works by Wiesel and Levi, documentaries and feature films. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Historical Consciousness.

Instructor: Professor Matthew Creighton

History of Genocide

CAS HI 384 (4 Credits) 

TR 2:00-3:15 PM

History and comparative analysis of genocidal mass murder with focus on the twentieth century. Hereros, Armenians, holomodor, Holocaust, Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur. Attention to political leaders, state ideology, dehumanization of victim groups, geopolitical competition, war, empire building and decline.

Instructor: Professor Simon Payaslian

Rwanda: Genocide and its Legacies

CAS PO 580 (4 Credits) 

T 12:30-3:15 PM

Explores the factors that led to the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda, how Rwanda compares to other cases of genocide and extreme violence, and the efforts in post-genocide Rwanda to rebuild, pursue justice, and promote reconciliation.

Instructor: Professor Timothy Longman

Nazis, Jews, and Art

CAS HI 500 (4 Credits) 

W 2:30-5:15 PM

Explores racist theory and practice from antiquity to contemporary Europe, from lineage and confession to ethnicity and biology. Focuses on the discourses of religion, empire, civilization, freedom, and nationalism legitimating conquest and persecution.

Instructor: Professor Charles Dellheim