Modern Jewish History

Catalog description

This course surveys the history of the Jewish people from the middle of the eighteenth century up to the present day. Following a brief survey of the ancient and medieval periods, we will examine the social, political, and cultural changes brought about by the dawning of the Jewish Enlightenment, the struggle for political emancipation, and the pursuit of religious reform in Western and Eastern Europe. We will then examine modern anti-Semitism, Zionism, the Holocaust, and the founding of the state of Israel. The course concludes by surveying the history of American Jewry.