Advisory Faculty: Professor: DARROW. Associate Professors: CHRISTENSEN, Coordinator, FLEISCHACKER, JUST. Assistant Professors: ANIDJAR, KRAUS.
Williams offers a variety of courses specifically directed to students interested in Jewish Studies. In addition, many other courses incorporate topics relevant to the study of Judaism. Students are encouraged to integrate courses from diverse disciplines with a focus in Jewish history, religion, literature, language, and thought. Thus, rather than emphasizing a particular method of inquiry, Jewish Studies courses bring together students from different departments who share interest in a common topic. As a result, Jewish subjects become analyzed from a multitude of perspectives (religious, philosophical, political, historical, psychological, literary, etc.). Williams offers two types of courses related to Jewish Studies: Courses directly focusing on Jewish topics and courses partially devoted to some aspect of Judaism.
Courses in Jewish Studies
ArtH 363 The Holocaust Visualized Grudin
Classics/Religion 203 Introduction to Judaism Kraus
Classic/Religion 207 Biblical Interpretation in Classical Antiquity Kraus
Classics/Religion 208 The Hellenistic World and the
Emergence of Rabbinic Judaism Kraus
CRHE 201-202 Hebrew (offered if tutor available)
Religion 201 The Hebrew Bible as Literature Anidjar
Religion 204 Modern Jewish Thought Anidjar
Religion 276 Life After Death Segal
Religion 281 Conflicts of Identity in Late Modern Literature:
Gender, Religion, Ethnicity, Politics Anidjar
Classics/Religion 013 (WSP) Biblical Hebrew in a Month Kraus
Psychology 014 (WSP) Human Behavior in the Holocaust Wilen-Berg
Religion 011 (WSP) Drosh: Writing After the Bible Raffeld
Courses Partially Related to Jewish Studies
Classics/Religion 274 Women's Religious Experiences in the
Ancient Mediterranean World Buell
(Deals extensively with Jewish women in antiquity.)
Classics/Religion 275 Identity and Cultural Difference in Greco-Roman Egypt
Buell
(Incorporates analysis of the Jewish community in Egypt.)
German 109 Berlin-The Multicultural Metropolis Between East and West Druxes
(Includes section on Berlin's Jews of the Nazi era. Taught in German).
History 209 Europe in the Twentieth Century Waters
(One of the topics is World War II and the Holocaust.)
History 353 Nazi Germany Kohut
(Discusses the Holocaust.)
History 374 The Second World War: Origins, Course, Outcomes, and Meaning
Wood
(Discusses the Holocaust.)
Literary Studies 207 (formerly 213) The Poetry of Being/The Being of Poetry
Stamelman
(Incorporates some poets of the Holocaust.)
Political Science 012 (WSP) Lessons from Abroad: Constitutionalism in
Faraway Places Jacobsohn
(Examines aspects of the constitutional systems of four nations one of which
is Israel.)
Political Science 337 The Politics of Contemporary Theory: Power and
Political Imagination Reinhardt
(Draws on some examples from the Holocaust in order to illuminate the "nature"
of political thinking.)
Religion 231/History 275 The Origins of Islam: God, Empire, and Apocalypse
Darrow
(Discusses the Jewish context in which Islam arose.)
Croghan Professorship
Each year, in addition to the regular course offerings listed above, Williams sponsors the Croghan Bicentennial Visiting Professor in Religion who offers one course in Judaism and/or Christianity. Next year's Croghan Professor is Alan Segal who will be teaching a course entitled "Life After Death." Past Croghan Professors have taught courses on the Mishnah (Shaye Cohen) and the historical Jesus (John Dominic Crossan).
Overseas Studies
Studying in Israel is highly recommended for students interested in Jewish Studies. Many students have spent a semester or year at Hebrew University.
Funding
The Bronfman Fund for Judaic Studies was established in 1980 by Edgar M. Bronfman '50, Samuel Bronfman II '75, and Matthew Bronfman '80. The Bronfman Fund provides opportunities for the Williams community to learn about Jewish history and culture, both within the College's formal curriculum and through the planning of major events on Jewish themes.
The Morris Wiener and Stephen R. Wiener '56 Fund for Jewish Studies was established in 1997 through the estate of Stephen R. Wiener '56. The Wiener gifts have provided an endowment to support a faculty position in Modern Jewish Thought, and are used to underwrite an annual lecture, forum or event relevant to contemporary Jewish life.