Understanding Jews

Catalog description

This discussion-based course will give students an opportunity to explore the constellation of religious, ethnic, national, cultural, artistic, spiritual, and political forces that shape Jewish life in the 21st century. Drawing on historical documents, classical texts, and contemporary events, this course will give students from any background an opportunity to ask hard questions, deepen their own understandings, and challenge their conceptions of what makes Jewish life 'Jewish.' No matter where you went for Sunday school - church, synagogue, the woods, or nowhere at all - this course is a chance to question what you know, and interrogate how you came to know what you know about Jews, Judaism, and Jewish culture.