Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Manchester

MA IN JEWISH STUDIES
APPROVED COURSES

Why read Jewish Studies?

Courses in Jewish Studies at the University of Manchester are offered in a number of departments, particularly the Department of Middle Eastern Studies and the Department of Religions and Theology. Not all courses are available every year. Confirm the availability of a course for 2007/8 here.

ELAN 60982 Holocaust Representation in Visual Culture (Cathy Gelbin, email: cathy.gelbin@manchester.ac.uk)

ELAN 61022 Literary Representations of the Holocaust

ELAN 61052 Issues in the Understanding of the Holocaust

MEST 60001 Faculty Research Training Course compulsory core course

MEST 10211 Modern Hebrew Language 1A (Sophie Garside, email: Sophie.Garside@man.ac.uk): Modern Hebrew at level I.

MEST 10212 Modern Hebrew Language 1B (Sophie Garside, email: Sophie.Garside@man.ac.uk): a post-beginner's level a continuation of MEST 10211, which teaches the skills of reception (reading and listening), production (speaking and writing) in the target language and mediation between the target language and English (translation and interpretation).

MEST 20211 Modern Hebrew Language 2A (Sophie Garside, email: Sophie.Garside@man.ac.uk): a lower intermediate level course, which teaches the skills of reception (reading and listening), production (speaking and writing) in the target language and mediation between the target language and English (translation and interpretation).

MEST 20212 Modern Hebrew Language 2B (Sophie Garside, email: Sophie.Garside@man.ac.uk): an intermediate level course, a continuation of MEST 2211, which teaches the skills of reception (reading and listening), production (speaking and writing) in the target language and mediation between the target language and English (translation and interpretation).

MEST 2022 Hebrew Language Texts (Sophie Garside, email: Sophie.Garside@man.ac.uk): introduces students to a variety of modern Hebrew texts, e.g. short stories, news extracts, reports, etc. It will be complementary to the language courses and will help expand the student’s vocabulary, reading skills and use of dictionaries.

MEST 30210 Modern Hebrew Language 3 (Sophie Garside, email: Sophie.Garside@man.ac.uk): an upper intermediate level language course, aiming to achieve a higher level of fluency in the language using all four skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking.

MEST 30270 Modern Hebrew Language 4 (Sophie Garside, email: Sophie.Garside@man.ac.uk): an advanced level language course, aiming to provide the student with additional tools to make a free and creative use of contemporary Hebrew.

MEST 60200 Jewish Aramaic Texts (Alex Samely, email: Alexander.Samely@man.ac.uk): Appreciation of advanced forms of rabbinic discourse through the detailed study of selected Jewish texts in Aramaic

MEST 60510 Middle Eastern Jews Before and After 1948 (Moshe Behar, email: moshe.behar@manchester.ac.uk)

MEST 63001 Transformations in Jewish Identity (Moshe Behar, email: moshe.behar@manchester.ac.uk)

MEST 80102 Time, Language and the Other in modern Jewish Philosophy

MEST 90132 Exegetical Discourse of Rabbinic Judaism

MEST 90142 Legal Discourse of Rabbinic Judaism

RELT 60112 Holocaust Theology and the Problem of Evil (Daniel Langton, email: Daniel.Langton@man.ac.uk): explores a number of theological responses to the Holocaust, with Jewish and Christian writers including Richard Rubenstein, Emil Fackenheim, Irving Greenberg, Ignaz Maybaum, Eliezer Berkovits, Arthur Cohen, Rosemary Ruether, Paul van Buren.

RELT 60131The Holocaust in History

RELT 60152 The “Jewish Question” in Modern Europe (Sharman Kadish, email: Sharman.Kadish@manchester.ac.uk)This course tackles the question of contemporary Jewish identity from an historical perspective. Classes are based around key ideas which have shaped the Jewish experience - and the European experience of Jews as a minority - over the last 250 years. In this period Jews emerged from the ghettos of Europe and came fact to face with modernity. The course explores both “Tradition” and “Modernity”; the phenomena of Diaspora, Secularization and Migration; and major political ideas, from Liberalism, Enlightenment and Emancipation to Socialism and Zionism. The difficult issue of anti-Semitism as a recurring phenomenon that culminated in the Nazi Holocaust is unavoidable.

RELT 60161 Maimonides: Between the Jewish and Muslim Worlds (Renate Smithuis, email: Renate .Smithuis@manchester.ac.uk) Based there since his thirties, Maimonides led in Cairo his legendary, busy life of physician and community leader. In his spare time he managed to create a number of works on Jewish law and philosophy, the influence of which remained unparalleled in the medieval and early modern Jewish world. He wrote on a variety of disciplines, which included logic, medicine, and astronomy. In addition there survives an extensive correspondence, which allows us a particularly vivid insight into his thoughts and personality. During the course emphasis will be laid on how his writings and thought relate to the larger intellectual environment of his day. Maimonides wrote many of his works in Judaeo-Arabic, and his writings reflect Muslim as well as Jewish learning. The course will address the legacy of Maimonides by considering aspects of his reception within both the Jewish world (particularly the Maimonidean controversy), and medieval Christian Europe.

RELT 60172 Modern Jewish Thought (Reuven Silverman, email: silvermanchester@rabbi.co.uk) This module will survey major developments and figures in modern Jewish religious and philosophical thought from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. Both the historical context and intellectual content of diverse Jewish responses to modernity, including Haskalah philosophy, Hasidism, Religious Zionism, Gender and Rabbinics, Modern Orthodoxy and Reform will be studied and responses to the Shoah discussed. Issues such as the nature of law and authority, the relationship between revelation and history, and the challenges of pluralism will be addressed through the perspectives of various thinkers from a diversity of backgrounds.

RELT 70140 Biblical Hebrew (Adrian Curtis, email: Adrian.Curtis@man.ac.uk): Introduces the vocabulary, grammar and syntax of Biblical Hebrew. Aims primarily to prepare students to undertake the subsequent study of Bible and make intelligent use of commentaries and other works which presume a knowledge of Hebrew. Regular written exercises and oral work in class are crucial. This course will be enhanced with additional reading and exercises for MA students.

RELT 70172 The Mystical Tradition in Judaism

RELT 70380 Hebrew Texts II (Adrian Curtis, email: Adrian.Curtis@manchester.ac.uk): Explores selected passages from the Hebrew Bible and consideration of issues of textual, linguistic and exegetical interest arising from them.

RELT 70562 Sources, Resources and Methods in the Study of Judaism (Philip Alexander, email: Philip.Alexander@man.ac.uk) compulsory core course

RELT 70812 Jewish Approaches to Jesus and Paul (Daniel Langton, email: Daniel.Langton@man.ac.uk): explores Jewish approaches to Jesus and the apostle Paul, concentrating on the modern period, and places them in the wider context of the study of Jewish-Christian relations.

RELT 70911 Early Jewish Novels (George Brooke, email: George.Brooke@manchester.ac.uk): The aims of the course are to introduce early Jewish novels, from Esther and Daniel, especially in their expanded forms, to 3 Maccabees and the Story of Aseneth, as well as several others, like Tobit and Judith. Many of these novels have a heady mix of politics and romance. They address many of the concerns of Jewish identity in the Second Temple period. Part of the course will be devoted to the subsequent cultural appropriation of these novels. Analysis of recent scholarly approaches to this material will also be undertaken.

RELT 71011 Antisemitism, the Nation and Social Theory

RELT 70912 Jewish Literature of the Second Commonwealth (George Brooke, email: George.Brooke@man.ac.uk): Introduces the non-biblical Jewish literature of the late Second Temple period.

RELT 70921 Israelites and Canaanites (Adrian Curtis, email: Adrian.Curtis@man.ac.uk): this course covers topics such as: Topics such as: The Israelite conquest of Canaan; Ugarit: A Canaanite City?; The Origin of Israel's religions; The Move to Monotheism; Canaanite cultic influences?; Yahweh versus Baal; Yahweh, El and Asherah

RELT 90192 Jewish Law and the Agunah (Bernard Jackson, email: Bernard.Jackson@man.ac.uk): Commences with an introduction to the Historical, Literary and Legal Sources of Jewish Law. Reviews the history of marriage, divorce and succession, then looks in turn at the following proposed solutions to the problem of the "chained wife" (the Agunah, whose husband refuses her a divorce).

RELT 70911 Dead Sea Scrolls (George Brooke, email: George.Brooke@man.ac.uk): Explores in depth one aspect of the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

RELT 90241Jewish Art and Architecture through the Ages (Sharman Kadish email: Sharman.Kadish@man.ac.uk): Surveys the artistic output of the Jews from Biblical times to the 21st century, with particular emphasis on the modern period. The principal branches of Jewish artistic endeavour will be studied embracing portable material culture such as Hebrew illuminated manuscripts and ritual Judaica alongside the architectural development of the synagogue through archaeological remains and standing buildings. The course will focus on the emergence of Jewish artists, architects and craftsmen and their participation in general European art movements since the 19th century era of emancipation.

   Search this site                  powered by FreeFind
 
If you would like to be on the Centre's mailing list (electronic and/or snail-mail), please email or write to us with your details.

CJS Home Page | MA Jewish Studies | Religions & Theology Home Page | Contact Us
 

The Co-Directors of the Centre are:
Professor Philip Alexander, Professor of Post-Biblical Jewish Literature
Professor Bernard Jackson, Alliance Professor of Modern Jewish Studies
 

Centre for Jewish Studies, Department of Religions and Theology
University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL
Tel: 0161-275 3614   Fax: 0161-275 3613   E-mail: cjs@man.ac.uk