Israeli History and Culture

Catalog description

This course will survey Israeli culture and society, and consider how it has evolved over the course of Israel’s history. We will begin by looking at the various contrasting visions of Zionism, the ideological roots of Israeli culture, and how Israel’s founders interpreted these ideas in the nascent state. The founders had to grapple with the same questions that are still at the crux of understanding the complexity of Israeli identity today, such as: What does it mean for Israel to be a Jewish state? In what way does Israel define itself as a democratic state? What are the political and economic frameworks that the Israeli state should emulate? Using primary and secondary sources, the course will examine these questions and analyze how events in Israel’s history over the past 70 years shaped contemporary Israeli society and identity.