Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Manchester

JEWISH STUDIES IN THE UK 2002-03

 

See Survey 2007-08

The following is an attempt to survey Jewish Studies related degrees and course units currently on offer in the United Kingdom. It was conducted on behalf of the British Association for Jewish Studies and the Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Manchester by Daniel Langton. A search engine at the foot of this page is provided for ease of use. A similar survey has also been conducted for Holocaust Studies. See also survey of UK Jewish Studies 2000-01 (incl student numbers) and survey of UK Jewish Studies 2001-02. See also the surveys for:

2000-01 (incl student numbers)
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2007-08

The majority of the information was collated and confirmed from June-August 2002. Any institution wishing to add, update or correct information relating to its courses should email info@BAJSBulletin.org.Details of current UK Jewish Studies related PhD thesis titles can be found on the BAJS Bulletin website

Jewish Studies Institutions in the survey include:

Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations at Cambridge
Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Leeds
Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Manchester
Centre for Jewish Studies, SOAS London
Dept of Hebrew & Jewish Studies, University College London
Dept of Theology and Religious Studies, King's College London
Leo Baeck College, London
London School of Jewish Studies
Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies
Parkes Institute, University of Southampton
Dept of German Studies, Queen's University, Belfast
University of Cambridge
University of Leicester
University of Oxford
University of Wales, Lampeter
 

Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Manchester
Website: www.mucjs.org
Department of Religions and Theology, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom. Tel 0161-275 3614, Fax 0161-275 3613.

Why read Jewish Studies at University?

The MUCJS is based within the Dept of Religions & Theology. It is the only such Department in the UK to have achieved perfect scores in both teaching and research assessment exercises.

UNDERGRADUATE

T670 BA with Honours in Hebrew and Jewish Studies (in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies)
T654 BA with Honours in Hebrew (in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies)
Y300 BA (Hons) in Combined Studies (in the Department of Combined Studies): combining Jewish Studies (from one-third to two-thirds of the programme) with one of eleven other subject areas.* No language requirement.
V800 BA with Honours in the Study of Religion and Theology (in the Department of Religions & Theology): no language requirement.
T608 Hebrew may be taken as one of two languages in the BA in Middle Eastern Languages.
TT62 Hebrew may be taken as one of two languages in the BA in Middle Eastern & Modern European Languages.

1ST YEAR

NE 1211: Modern Hebrew Language IA (Sophie Garside, email: Sophie.Garside@man.ac.uk): a beginners level course, aiming to acquaint the student with the basic structure of the language, using all four language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking.

NE 1222: Modern Hebrew Language IB (Sophie Garside, email: Sophie.Garside@man.ac.uk): a continuation of NE 1211, also suitable for students who already have a very basic knowledge of the language.

NE 1710: Introduction to the Contemporary Middle East (Ed Herzig, email: edmund.herzig@man.ac.uk): Intended for students with little previous knowledge of the Middle East, this course aims to impart essential information on the geography, peoples, politics and economics, as well as to introduce major concepts and issues in Middle Eastern studies.

NE 1810: The Middle East Before Islam; an Introduction (John Healey, email: john.f.healey@man.ac.uk).

NE 1611/1622: Aramaic/Syriac Language IA and IB (John Healey, email: john.f.healey@man.ac.uk).

TH 1101: The World of the Ancient Israelites (John Applegate and Adrian Curtis, email: Adrian.Curtis@man.ac.uk) provides an introduction to the literary genres of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and to modern Biblical Criticism and aims to make students familiar with the geographical and cultural context in which the ancient Israelites lived and from which the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible emerged.

TH 1140: Biblical Hebrew (Adrian Curtis, email: Adrian.Curtis@man.ac.uk): introduces students to the basic vocabulary, grammar and syntax of Biblical Hebrew (designed for those who have no prior knowledge of the Hebrew language).

TH 1192: Introduction to Judaism (Alan Unterman, email: Alan.Unterman@man.ac.uk): provides an historical introduction to contemporary Judaism, defining Judaism as a system of beliefs and practices based on Torah. The basic creed of Judaism is explored, as expressed in law, mysticism, ethics and philosophy. Major practices and rituals are described. The course concludes with a demographic and statistical overview of Judaism today, and a consideration of some of the major issues which currently exercise the Jewish community.

2ND YEAR

(3rd year students may be allowed one 2nd year course)

NE 2210: Modern Hebrew Language IIA and IIB (Sophie Garside, email: Sophie.Garside@man.ac.uk): a lower intermediate level course, aiming to improve and expand the student's basic level to reach an intermediate level, using all four language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking.

NE 2220: Introduction to Modern Hebrew 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 students vocabulary, reading skills and use of dictionaries.

NE 2230: Biblical Hebrew Texts I (John Healey, email: john.f.healey@man.ac.uk): a basic training in the methodology of traditional Hebrew Bible studies, based on the students existing knowledge from first level Hebrew, studied principally through classwork on Genesis 40-45 and selections from the Book of Psalms.

NE 2241: Talmudic Judaism (10 Credits) (Alex Samely, email: Alexander.Samely@man.ac.uk): an introduction to the main concepts of talmudic Judaism in its historical setting, its literary genres and its relationship to the Hebrew Bible and other cultural influences.

NE 2252: Readings in the Talmudic Judaism (10 Credits) (Alex Samely, email: Alexander.Samely@man.ac.uk): supplements NE 2240 by the study of concrete examples of rabbinic literature, requiring active preparation of texts to be discussed in class.

NE 2261: Semitic Languages; an Outline (John Healey, email: john.f.healey@man.ac.uk): introduces the main features common to the Semitic language family, with special emphasis on classification, writings systems, phonology and morphology.

NE 2610 Aramaic/Syriac Language II (John Healey, email: john.f.healey@man.ac.uk).

TH 2002: The Jews in Europe 1789-1939 (Sharman Kadish, email: Sharman.Kadish@man.ac.uk): This course explores the nature of Jewish identity under the impact of modernization on traditional Jewish society as it existed in the ghettos of Europe before the Enlightenment. It examines the progress towards civil and political emancipation of the Jews in Western Europe and the reasons for its failure in Eastern Europe, especially in Russia. The range of Jewish responses on exposure to European culture are studied, such as Reform Judaism, Jewish socialism, Zionism, and mass migration. An attempt is made to explain and analyse the recurring phenomenon of anti-Semitism that culminated in the Nazi Holocaust.

TH 2161: Dead Sea Scrolls (George Brooke, email: George.Brooke@man.ac.uk): a guided reading course which provides the opportunity for in-depth study of one aspect of the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls which is selected by those registering for the course at the start of the academic year.

TH 2170: Biblical Hebrew Texts I (Adrian Curtis, email: Adrian.Curtis@man.ac.uk): translation and exegesis of selected passages of the Hebrew Bible (currently: Joshua 23-24; 2 Samuel 6-7; Jeremiah 1-5; Psalms 15, 51, 82, 93, 137).

TH 2182: The Prophetic Literature (Adrian Curtis, email: Adrian.Curtis@man.ac.uk):discusses the definition of the term prophet and its background in ancient Israel. Some account is given of so-called primitive prophecy, but the course concentrates on the messages of certain key figures in the biblical prophetic tradition.

TH 2351: Jewish Liturgy and Religious Practice (Alan Unterman, email: Alan.Unterman@man.ac.uk): The course surveys the main elements of Jewish religious practice from the late Second Temple period to Modern Times. It casts light upon the history and variety of Jewish communities and their contact with Christian and Islamic cultures; the development of liturgy & ritual; community structures; the influences of custom, mysticism & folklore; sacred time and sacred space. The course concludes with the changes in liturgical and ritual practice introduced as a response to modernity.

TH 2370: Landmarks in Jewish History (Irene Lancaster). The course surveys the main landmarks in Jewish history from Second Temple times to the 21st century. It embraces a variety of Jewish communities, and their contact with Greek, Roman, Christian and Islamic cultures, as well as those of more modern times. Throughout the course, comparison is made between early and later Jewish historical experience, in order to emphasise the relevance of ancient, mediaeval and early modern history on contemporary Judaism, including post-modernism. SUBJECT TO CONFIRMATION

TH 2611: Introduction to the History of Jewish-Christian Relations (Daniel Langton, email: Daniel.Langton@man.ac.uk): First half provides an overview of the history of Jewish-Christian relations. Second half adopts a thematic approach and highlights the development of the thought and theology of various individuals, concentrating particularly on the last hundred years or so.

3RD YEAR 

(2nd year students may be allowed one 3rd year course)

NE 3200: Jewish Aramaic Texts (Alex Samely, email: Alexander.Samely@man.ac.uk): a detailed study of selected Aramaic documents aimed at teaching students how to appreciate advanced forms of rabbinic exegetical and legal discourse. Course Texts: Palestinian Targum Gen 4; Targum Song of Songs 1-3; Talmud Bavli Sukkah 2a-5a.

NE 3210: Modern Hebrew Language III (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.

NE 3220: Modern Hebrew Literature (Sophie Garside, email: Sophie.Garside@man.ac.uk): aims at developing fluency in reading and the appreciation of modern Hebrew literature, including a brief introduction to the history of Modern Hebrew Literature. The works of three modern Hebrew authors (Agnon, Appelfeld , Oz) are studied in the original, using English translations as support.

NE 3250: Medieval Hebrew Texts (Alex Samely, email: Alexander.Samely@man.ac.uk): study of the essential characteristics of the religious discourse of medieval Judaism, through a detailed study (in the original) of the following exegetical and philosophical texts: Gen. 1-3; David Kimhi on Psalms 125-130 (ed. Baker-Nicholson); Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Yesode ha-Torah, I-III (ed. Aramah).

NE 3270: Modern Hebrew Language IV (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.

NE 3870: Jewish Philosophy in the 20th Century (Alex Samely, email: Alexander.Samely@man.ac.uk): aims to introduce students to discourse of the 20th century. Central texts by philosophers such as Cohen, Buber, Rosenzweig, Fackenheim and Levinas are investigated with special regard to their contribution of the problem of (existential) time, hermeneutics and ethics, as well as the significance of the holocaust.

TH 3100: Being Jewish in Britain (Bill Williams, email: BillWilliams@history.freewire.co.uk): This course introduces students to the empirical study of Jewish identity in contemporary Britain and to the collection and interpretation of oral testimony.

TH 3192: Jewish Law and Problems of Jewish Life in the Modern World (Bernard Jackson, email: Bernard.Jackson@man.ac.uk): (alt: TH 3252): examines the approach of Jewish law to interfaith relations (including the role of the trial of Jesus), the "legal system" and its values, marriage, divorce, conversion, the status of women (especially in the context of succession), Jewish identity, medico-legal problems and the relationship between law and state in the modern State of Israel. Bibliography

TH 3331 Holocaust Theology (Daniel Langton, email: Daniel.Langton@man.ac.uk): Considers the influence of the Shoah upon Jewish thought and the implications for Jewish-Christian Relations. Close readings of significant thinkers.

TH 3380: Biblical Hebrew Texts II (Adrian Curtis, email: Adrian.Curtis@man.ac.uk): translation and exegesis of selected passages of the Hebrew Bible (currently: Joshua 23-24; Judges 4-5; 2 Samuel 6-7; Jeremiah 1-5; Psalms 15, 51, 82, 93, 137; Ecclesiastes 1-3). MA students (TH 9380) also study Exodus 21:1-22:16 with Professor Jackson.

TH 3912: Jewish Literature of the Early Graeco-Roman Period (George Brooke, email: George.Brooke@man.ac.uk): pays particular attention to identifying the characteristics of a wide range of literary genres including stories, poems, wisdom literature, testaments, apocalypses, philosophy, and history writing. Literary works from both the early Palestinian Judaism and also from the Jewish diaspora are studied. Some elementary knowledge of the history of the period 200 BCE - 200 CE is covered briefly at the beginning of the course. All the compositions are studied in English.

TH 3921: Ancient Israel: Recent Research (Adrian Curtis, email: Adrian.Curtis@man.ac.uk): this seminar-based course enables students to consider in detail a number of issues of current or recent debate in the field of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, the topics being decided each year in consultation with the members of the class.

TH 3991: Archaeology of Jerusalem and Palestine (John Kane): studies issues in the archaeology of Palestine in the Hellenistic and early Roman periods. The focus is the Jewish State and its identity as revealed by material remains studied alongside written sources.

TH 4001: Special Subject: Dead Sea Scrolls (George Brooke, email: George.Brooke@man.ac.uk): This course provides an opportunity for in-depth study of one aspect of the Dead Sea Scrolls, selected by each participant at the start of the semester.

POSTGRADUATE

MA in Jewish Studies

TH 9651 Sources, Resources and Methods in the Study of Judaism compulsory core course

TH 9100 Being Jewish in Britain (Bill Williams, email: BillWilliams@history.freewire.co.uk): Introduces the empirical study of the Jewish identity in contemporary Britain and to the collection and interpretation of oral testimony.

TH 9140 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.

TH 9980 Archaeology of Jerusalem and Palestine (John Kane): Studies issues in the archaeology of Palestine in the Hellenistic and early Roman periods. The focus is the Jewish State and its identity as revealed by material remains studied alongside written sources.

NE 1211 + 1212 Modern Hebrew Language (Sophie Garside, email: Sophie.Garside@man.ac.uk): Modern Hebrew at any of the levels I-IV.

NE 6200 Jewish Aramaic Texts (Alex Samely, email: Alexander.Samely@man.ac.uk): Introduces Syriac grammar through grammatical explanation and exercises, Aramaic texts and the Aramaic of the Book of Daniel.

NE 8100 Jewish Philosophy in the 20th Century (Alex Samely, email: Alexander.Samely@man.ac.uk): Introduces the conceptual contributions of thinkers of Jewish orientation including Cohen, Buber, Rosenweig, Fackenheim and Levinas.

TH 6111 Holocaust Theology (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.

TH 9001Approaches and Methods in the Study of the Hebrew Bible (Adrian Curtis, email: Adrian.Curtis@man.ac.uk): Introduces students to a variety of approaches to, and methods of study of, the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament which have been employed during the twentieth century, and to consider their respective contributions.

TH 9091 Method and Theory in the Study of Religion

TH 9921 Ancient Israel: Recent Research (Adrian Curtis, email: Adrian.Curtis@man.ac.uk): Considers a number of issues of current or recent debate in the field of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. This course will be enhanced with additional reading and exercises for MA students.

TH 9991 Dead Sea Scrolls (George Brooke, email: George.Brooke@man.ac.uk): Explores in depth one aspect of the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

TH 9192 Jewish Law and Problems of Jewish Life in the Modern World (Bernard Jackson, email: Bernard.Jackson@man.ac.uk): Explores specific legal problems, to appreciate the nature of and constraints upon development in Jewish law and the problems of its application in the modern world.

TH 9382 Hebrew Texts (Adrian Curtis, email: Adrian.Curtis@man.ac.uk): Explores selected passages from the Hebrew Bible and consideration of issues of textual, linguistic and exegetical interest arising from them.

TH 9812 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.

TH 9912 Jewish Literature of the Early Graeco- Roman Period (George Brooke, email: George.Brooke@man.ac.uk): Introduces the non-biblical Jewish literature of the late Second Temple period.

NE 9142 The Legal Discourse of Classical Judaism (Alex Samely, email: Alexander.Samely@man.ac.uk): Explores some of the central concerns, topics, conceptual assumptions and methods of rabbinic legal discourse, in particular in the Mishnaic period.

NE 9132 The Exegetical Discourse of Classical Judaism (Alex Samely, email: Alexander.Samely@man.ac.uk): Introduces the literary formats, topics, and hermeneutic methods of rabbinic Bible interpretation, in particular in the earlier period (Mishnah and Bereshit Rabba).

MA in Hebrew (involving language element)

NE 9142 The Legal Discourse of Rabbinic Judaism (Alex Samely, email: Alexander.Samely@man.ac.uk)

NE 6200 Jewish Aramaic Texts (Alex Samely, email: Alexander.Samely@man.ac.uk)

TH 9991 Dead Sea Scrolls (George Brooke, email: George.Brooke@man.ac.uk)

TH 9382 Hebrew Texts (Adrian Curtis, email: Adrian.Curtis@man.ac.uk)

PhD/MPhil (Jewish Studies related)

Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations at Cambridge
Website: www.cjcr.cam.ac.uk 

Wesley House, 30 Jesus Lane, Cambridge CB5 8BJ, United Kingdom. Tel 44 1223 741 048.

UNDERGRADUATE:

Introduction to Judaism, BTh/Certificate in Theology for Ministry (George Wilkes, email: grw1000@cam.ac.uk)

POSTGRADUATE:

MA Jewish-Christian Relations

Jewish-Christian Relations: The Foundations and Their Contemporary Significance (James Aitken, email: j.k.aitken@reading.ac.uk; Melanie Wright, email: mjw48@cam.ac.uk) 
Jewish-Christian Relations in Europe in the Twentieth Century (George Wilkes, email:
grw1000@cam.ac.uk)
Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation (Edward Kessler, email:
edk21@cus.cam.ac.uk)
Jewish and Christian Responses to the Holocaust (K Hannah Holtschneider, email:
kh258@cam.ac.uk)
Jews and Christians in literature and film (Melanie Wright, email:
mjw48@cam.ac.uk)
Land of Promise and Conflict: Challenges for Interfaith Understanding (George Wilkes, email: grw1000@cam.ac.uk)

MPhil: Jewish-Christian Relations

University of Wales, Lampeter
Website: www.lamp.ac.uk/trs/ 

Department of Theology, Religious Studies & Islamic Studies, University of Wales, Lampeter, Ceredigion, SA48 7ED, United Kingdom. Tel 01570 424708, Fax 01570 423641.

UNDERGRADUATE:

Introduction to Judaism (Dan Cohn-Sherbok, email: cohn-sherbok@lamp.ac.uk)
Understanding the Holocaust (Dan Cohn-Sherbok, email:
cohn-sherbok@lamp.ac.uk) 
Wisdom of Judaism (Dan Cohn-Sherbok, email:
cohn-sherbok@lamp.ac.uk)
Elementary Hebrew (Dan Cohn-Sherbok, email:
cohn-sherbok@lamp.ac.uk)
Hebrew Bible (Dan Cohn-Sherbok, email:
cohn-sherbok@lamp.ac.uk)
Israel (Dan Cohn-Sherbok, email:
cohn-sherbok@lamp.ac.uk)
Judaism and Christianity (Dan Cohn-Sherbok, email:
cohn-sherbok@lamp.ac.uk)

POSTGRADUATE: 

PhD/MPhil (Jewish Studies related)

Leo Baeck College
Website: www.lbc.ac.uk

80 East End Road, Finchley, London N3 2SY, United Kingdom.
Tel 020 83495600, Fax 020 83432558.

 

UNDERGRADUATE:

BA (Hons) Hebrew and Jewish Studies

Bible (Jonathan Magonet, email: jonathan.magonet@lbc.ac.uk)
Talmud (Mark Solomon, email: m.solomon@ljs.org)
Midrash (Joanna Weinberg, email: joanna.weinberg@oriental-institute.oxford.ac.uk)
Codes and Responsa (John Rayner, email: john.rayner@lbc.ac.uk)
Jewish Thought (Esther Seidel, email: ESeide19@aol.com and Sheila Shulman, email: shulman@clara.co.uk)
Jewish History (Cesar Merchan Hamann, email: cesar@lbc.ac.uk)

POSTGRADUATE:
MA in Jewish Education (Helena Miller, email: Helena.Miller@cje.org.uk)
MA Hebrew and Jewish Studies degree programme

PhD/MPhil (Jewish Studies related)

OTHER COURSES:

Advanced Diploma in Professional Development: Jewish Education (Jo-Ann Myers, email: Jo-Myers@cje.org.uk)

Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/Non-Jewish Relations, University of Southampton
Websites: www.arts.soton.ac.uk and www.soton.ac.uk/~parkes/ 

Department of History, Avenue Campus, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom. Tel 023 80592261, Fax 023 80593458.

UNDERGRADUATE:

BA (Hons) Jewish History & Culture (available in combinations with History, English Spanish, French, or German - but not as a single honours programme).

Jewish Fictions (Nadia Valman, email: n.d.valman@soton.ac.uk)
Holocaust Literature (Andrea Reiter, email:
air@soton.ac.uk)
Out of the Ghetto: Heine, Disraeli and the Warner Brothers (Tony Kushner, email:
ark@soton.ac.uk; Nils Roemer, email: nr2@soton.ac.uk)
Who is Anne Frank? (Jo Reilly, email:
j.reilly@soton.ac.uk)
The Making of the Modern Jew: ethnicity, modernity and the Jews of Europe, 1789-1914 (David Cesarani, email:
dc11@soton.ac.uk)
Making of Englishness (Tony Kushner, email:
ark@soton.ac.uk)
The Holocaust: Inside and Outside History (Mark Roseman, email:
m.roseman@soton.ac.uk)
From the Dead Sea Scrolls to Jesus (Sarah Pearce, email:
s.j.pearce@soton.ac.uk)
German-Jewish Culture from the Enlightenment to the Present (Nils Roemer, email:
nr2@soton.ac.uk)
Israel or Palestine? The British in Palestine 1917-1948 (Mark Levene, email:
ml1@soton.ac.uk)
Early Jewish Magic (Dan Levene, email: d.levene@soton.ac.uk)
Hebrew, the Language of the Bible (Dan Levene, email: d.levene@soton.ac.uk)
Memory, Ethics, Jewishness (Bridget Thomson, email: B.J.Thomson@soton.ac.uk)
What is German-Jewish Writing? (Bridget Thomson, email: B.J.Thomson@soton.ac.uk)

POSTGRADUATE:

MA Jewish History and Culture


The History of Jews in Babylonia (Dan Levene, email: d.levene@soton.ac.uk)
Representations of the Holocaust (Jo Reilly, email:
j.reilly@soton.ac.uk)
Jews & Non-Jews throughout the Ages (Tony Kushner, email:
ark@soton.ac.uk; Dan Levene, email: d.levene@soton.ac.uk; Nils Roemer, email: nr2@soton.ac.uk)
Relations between Jews & Non-Jews in the Hellenistic World (Sarah Pearce, email:
s.j.pearce@soton.ac.uk)
Approaches to Jewish History and Culture (Nils Roemer, email
nr2@soton.ac.uk; Mark Levene, email: ml1@soton.ac.uk)

The History of Jews in Babylonia (Dan Levene, email: d.levene@soton.ac.uk)

Memory and Nostalgia; Modern Jewish History (Nils Roemer, email: nr2@soton.ac.uk)

Britain, the USA and the Holocaust 1933-1995 (Tony Kushner, email: ark@soton.ac.uk)

Fin de Siecle: Jewish Literature and Culture (Nadia Valman, email: n.d.valman@soton.ac.uk)

Diasporas of the Mind: Post War British Jewish Writing (Brian Cheyette, email: bhc@soton.ac.uk)

East Side, East End: Jewish Immigration and Settlement in London and New York 1880-1920 (David Cesarani, email: dc11@soton.ac.uk)
Holocaust Literature: Expressing the Other (Andrea Reiter, email:
air@soton.ac.uk)

PhD (Jewish Studies related)

Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies
Website: http://associnst.ox.ac.uk/ochjs  

Yarnton Manor, Yarnton, Oxford, OX5 1PY, United Kingdom. Tel 01865 377946, Fax 01865 375079.

POSTGRADUATE:

1 year M.St. in Jewish Studies

Biblical Hebrew language (Jill Middlemas, email: jill.middlemas@theology.ox.ac.uk)
Modern Hebrew language
(Tali Argov, email: tali.argov@ochjs.ac.uk)
Yiddish language
(Kerstin Hoge, email: khoge@ermine.ox.ac.uk)
Speech and Silence: Methods of Response in Modern Hebrew Literature
(Glenda Abramson, email: glenda.abramson@stx.ox.ac.uk)
Introduction to Judaism (Jeremy Schonfield, email: jjschon@globalnet.co.uk)
Introduction to Talmud (Norman Solomon, email: NormanatOxford@aol.com)
The History of the Arab Israeli Conflict (Emanuele Ottolenghi, email: emanuele.ottolenghi@sant.ox.ac.uk)
Jewish and Christian Bible Translation and Interpretation in Antiquity (Alison Salveson, email: alison.salveson@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
Jewish History 200 B.C.E.-70 C.E. (Martin Goodman, email: martin.goodman@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
Judaism and Islam: Medieval Intellectual Traditions (Ronald Nettler, email: ronald.nettler@mansfield.ox.ac.uk)
Modern European Jewish History (David Rechter, email: david.rechter@history.ox.ac.uk)
Survey of Medieval Jewish History (Joanna Weinberg, email: joanna.weinberg@oriental-institute.oxford.ac.uk)
The Emergence of Modern Religious Movements in Judaism (Miri Freud-Kandel, email: miri.freud-kandel@oriental-institute.oxford.ac.uk)
Questions of Jewish Identity in Yiddish Literature, (Joseph Sherman, email: joseph.sherman@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
The Rise of Formative Judaism and Christianity (Piet van Boxel, email: vanboxel@ochjs.ac.uk)
Witnessing the Holocaust, (Zoë Waxman, email: zoe.waxman@mansfield.ox.ac.uk)

Dept of Hebrew & Jewish Studies, University College London
Website: www.ucl.ac.uk/hebrew-jewish/index.htm 

University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT. Tel 020 76792000.

The Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies is the only independent department in the UK, based at University College London. As the first university to open its doors to Women, Roman Catholics and Dissenters, UCL was also the first to admit Jewish students. This traditional link of the College with the Anglo-Jewish community is very much alive today.

UNDERGRADUATE

The degree programmes are taught by the department, in collaboration with other UCL departments and with the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) which is situated within a short walking distance of the College.

BA Honours Hebrew and other Semitic languages
BA Honours Jewish History (with Hebrew)
BA Honours Italian and Jewish Studies
BA Honours German and Jewish Studies
BA Honours History and Jewish studies
(Central & Eastern European History and Jewish Studies)

1ST YEAR

B37: A Survey of Jewish History & Culture in First Millenium BCE (Mark Geller, email: m.geller@ucl.ac.uk). The emergence of Judaism from Old Testament religious institutions; the impact of Hellenism; sectarianism.

B38: A Survey of Jewish History & Culture in First Millenium CE (Willem Smelik, email: willem.smelik@ucl.ac.uk). The First and Second Revolt against the Romans; the development of rabbinic literature in Palestine and Babylon; the use of archaeological evidenc under Roman rule in the Byzantine period; the Babylonian academies; the Karaites; Judeo-Arabic literature; the Cairo Genizah.

B39: A Survey of Jewish History & Culture from 1000-1800 (Michael Berkowitz, email: m.berkowitz@ucl.ac.uk). The decline of the Gaonate in the East and the rise of new centres of Hebrew scholarship in Western Europe; the emergence of Jewish self-governing institutions; the formation of Ashkenazi Jewry; Sephardi Jewry to the expulsion from Spain; the Jewish philosophical and mystical traditions; the Marrano Diaspora; the mystical messianism of Sabbatai Zvi; Hasidism.

B40: A Survey of Jewish History & Culture from 1800-Present (Lars Fischer, email: clara.m.zetkin@btinternet.com). Enlightenment, Emancipation, Reform, nationalism and secularism; Antisemitism; Zionism.

B12: Introduction to Classical Hebrew (Willem Smelik, email: willem.smelik@ucl.ac.uk). In-depth introduction to the grammar and syntax of biblical Hebrew, using narrative texts. The aim of this course is to prepare students for reading the Hebrew Bible independently. This relatively intensive course for absolute beginners will be based on. T.O. Lambdin, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew (New York: Charles Scribner, 1971; or later reprint); additional materials will be handed out in class.

B86: Modern Hebrew for Beginners (Julie Adar, email: julieadar@yahoo.co.uk). Basic grammatical outline; intensive acquisition of vocabulary; reading of easy Hebrew texts (e.g. simplified newspapers); introduction to essay-writing and conversation over a fairly limited range of topics.

Those students who have already some command of Biblical or Modern Hebrew may be advised to take the equivalent 2nd year courses, B113 and B78, instead of B12 and B86.

2ND YEAR

Course titles followed by an asterix, *, will not be offered in the academic year 2002/2003. Students may register their interest in any of these courses, so that they might be offered and taken in the following year(s).

B113: Further Classical Hebrew (Sally Gold, email: sallygold@blueyonder.co.uk). This course may be taken as the second level of course B12. Further in-depth study of the grammar and syntax of Classical Hebrew, using Lambdin's grammar. A fair selection of chapters from the Hebrew Bible will be read in class; students will be required to read a number of chapters independently. 80 lectures, 1 year.

B78: Modern Hebrew (Lower Intermediate) (Julie Adar, email: julieadar@yahoo.co.uk). Modern Hebrew language at second year level , 100 hours, 1 year. Student workload: Grammar, written and oral practice. New students with some exposure to modern Hebrew may be allowed to take this course, after succesfully passing a test in the registration week. For those with a higher level of modern Hebrew, the two more advanced levels are recommendable.

B79: Modern Hebrew (Higher Intermediate) (Tsila Ratner, email:t.ratner@ucl.ac.uk). Modern Hebrew at second to third year level. 80 hours, 1 year. Student workload: Grammar, written and oral practice. Means of assessment: 1 exam (35%); course work (45%); oral skills (5%); oral exam (15%). Admission: This course may not be taken by students who have completed their year abroad; they will have to take B80: Modern Hebrew (Advanced).

B81: Advanced Modern Hebrew (Tsila Ratner, email:t.ratner@ucl.ac.uk). Modern Hebrew language at third to fourth year level. Advanced language work to enable students to communicate over a wide range of topics both in speech and in writing. 80 hours, 1 year. Student workload: Grammar, written and oral practice Pre-requisite: students will be required to have completed either B78 and their year abroad, or B79 Higher Intermediate.

B32: Biblical Aramaic * (Mark Geller, email: m.geller@ucl.ac.uk) The Aramaic portions of Daniel and Ezra, studied with reference to philology and historical background. 50 hours, 1 year.

C71: Introduction to Sumerian Language (Mark Geller, email: m.geller@ucl.ac.uk)

00: Jewish Aramaic Literature (Willem Smelik, email: willem.smelik@ucl.ac.uk). An introduction to Jewish postbiblical Aramaic literature, beginning with Targum Onqelos, including selected texts from Aramaic poetry, Genesis Apocryphon, Midrashim (Bereshit Rabbah or Echa Rabbah), Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Targum Neofiti, Tosefta-Targum to the Prophets. All texts will be read in Aramaic, with detailed attention to language, the Hebrew original and the mode of translation, exegetical traditions and linguistic developments.

C83: Introduction to Syriac * (Gillian Greenberg). The course will include a comprehensive introduction to Syriac grammar and syntax and study of a wide range of texts including passages from the Peshitta, the Syriac translation of the Hebrew Bible and of the New Testament; commentary from the period of the Church Fathers and from secular texts.

C97: Intermediate Syriac (Gillian Greenberg). The course is suitable for students who already have some knowledge of basic Syriac and have read some Syriac texts and who wish to develop their language skills and to read more widely.

B9: Pentateuchal Texts * (Willem Smelik, email: willem.smelik@ucl.ac.uk). 25 lectures, 1 written paper. About twelve chapters from the Pentateuch, including narrative, legal and poetic material, studies with reference to philology, textual criticism and historical background.

B8: Old Testament Historical Texts * (Willem Smelik, email: willem.smelik@ucl.ac.uk). About fifteen chapters selected from the historical books (Joshua-Kings, Esther and Ezra-Chronicles), studies with reference to philology, textual criticism, source criticism, archaeology and historical background.

C3: Old Testament Prophetic Texts * (Willem Smelik, email: willem.smelik@ucl.ac.uk). About twelve chapters selected from the prophetic books, studies with reference to philology, poetic structure, textual criticism and historical background.

C5: Old Testament Wisdom Texts * (Willem Smelik, email: willem.smelik@ucl.ac.uk). About twelve chapters selected from Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes and the Hebrew of Ecclesiasticus, studied with reference to philology, poetic structure, textual criticism and historical background.

B16: Medieval Hebrew Prose *
Half unit. 25 lectures, 1 written paper. Specimens of halakhic, philosophical and literary texts, both original Hebrew compositions and Hebrew translations from Arabic. Attention will be paid to the evolution of technical vocabulary etc. for the translation of scientific texts, and to environmental influences on Hebrew genre and style.

B87: A Survey of Modern Hebrew Literature (Tsila Ratner, email:t.ratner@ucl.ac.uk). Selected readings in both prose and verse in modern Hebrew literature with attention to the cultural and social context.

B54: A Survey of Modern Hebrew Poetry *. The course will map out the major developments in Hebrew poetry in the forty years since the establishment of the state of Israel, focusing on both cultural and poetic aspects of the writings of Amir Gilboa, Yehudah Amichai, Natan Zach and Dalia Ravikovitch.

C22: The Messianic Heresy of Sabbatai Zevi (with texts) * (Ada Rapoport Albert, email: uclhara@ucl.ac.uk). The popularisation of the Kabbalah in the 17th century; the main characteristics of the Lurianic Kabbalah and its messianic dimension; the success of Sabbataeanism as a Kabbalistic-messianic movement against the background of European millennarianism and conditions of crisis or transition affecting much of the Jewish Diaspora.; the historiography of Sabbataeanism; central themes in Sabbataean theology illustrated by readings in class from selected Sabbataean texts.

C23 The History and Literature of the Hasidic Movement * (Ada Rapoport-Albert, email: uclhara@ucl.ac.uk). The rise of Hasidism in the Ukraine in the middle of the 18th century and its rapid spread in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, against the background of the decline of the Polish kingdom, the collapse of centralised Jewish self-government in the region and the aftermath of the Sabbataean heresy. Central themes in Hasidic theology are illustrated by readings in class from selected Hasidic texts.

C72: Hasidism and Modernity (Tali Loewenthal, email: taliloewenthal@compuserve.com). Hasidic responses to rationalism, the increasing role of the woman and other features of modernity, studied in Hebrew sources. Prerequisite: Knowledge of Hebrew.

B118: The culture of Sephardic Jewry (Hilary Pomeroy, email: Hilarypomeroy@aol.com).. A survey of Sephardic Jewish Culture.

B27: Jewish Thought in the Modern Era *. This course will examine the major trends in the intellectual history of Jewry in the modern era. Religious, philosophical and political thought as developed both by individuals (Spinoza, Mendelssohn, SR Hirsch, Buber etc.) and by movements (the ideologies of Bundism, Reform Judaism, modern Orthodoxy etc.) will be studied.

B25: History of Antisemitism *. An examination of antisemitic thought and politics from the mid-nineteenth century until the post World War II period. Distinctions between anti-Judaism and antisemitism will be discussed; trends will be traced in Central, Western and Eastern Europe. Attention will be given to the Holocaust. Attitudes towards Jews in post World War II Europe, America and elsewhere will also be studied.

B48: History of the Jews in the Soviet Union * (John Klier, email: j.klier@ucl.ac.uk).The course surveys the political, cultural and economic history of the Jews from the time of the Revolutions of 1917 to the present.

B20: Transition and Crisis in the Seventeenth Century *. The proliferation of the ex-marrano communities in Western Europe: the Jewish role in the rise of modern capitalism; the effects of the Thirty Years War, the 1648-49 massacres of the Jews in the Ukraine; the Sabbataean heresy.

C84: Culture of Zionism (Michael Berkowitz, email: m.berkowitz@ucl.ac.uk). The key aim of this course is to consider Zionism as a “construct” nationalist movement and ideology. It will include a study of Zionist ‘icons’ such as Herzl, Weizmann, Jabotinsky and Ben-Gurion.

B33: European Jewry and the Holocaust * (Michael Berkowitz, email: m.berkowitz@ucl.ac.uk). The course places the events of the Holocaust in the context of twentieth century European history, the history of antisemitism and the history of post-emancipation European Jewry. It surveys the course of the Holocaust, analyses its causes and examines its impact on contemporary Jewry.

HISTC200: History of the Sumerians * (Mark Geller, email: m.geller@ucl.ac.uk). This course covers the history and culture of Mesopotamia, including literature, art, archeology and historiography. Particular attention is paid to documentary evidence, rather than the chronological sequence of events.

B23: Jewry in the West: 1789 to the Present *. The course will examine the response of the Jews in Western Europe and in the New World to the impact of modernisation. Social, economic, cultural and political developments and their interaction will also be studied.

B26: Jews in Revolution and Revolutionary Jews *. This course will examine the impact of major revolutions (particularly those of 1789, 1848, 1905 and 1917-19) on the Jewish population, and the role played by Jews (whether collectively or individually) in revolutionary movements and in revolutions during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

C92: Comparative Peacemaking in Israel and Northern Ireland (Neill Lochery, email: n.lochery@ucl.ac.uk). This course aims to provide students with knowledge of the recent developments in the Arab Israeli and Northern Irish peace processes. It also aims to provide an analysis of themes in peacemaking, ranging from the use of interim stage agreements to peace dividends and the need to educate wider populations to recognise benefits of peace.

C93: The Arab / Israeli Conflict (Neill Lochery, email: n.lochery@ucl.ac.uk). An analysis of the Arab Israeli conflict from its origins through to the present day. Special attention will be paid to the internal dynamics within both the Arab states and Israel, as well as the role of external powers in the conflict.

B109: The Peace Process in Modern Israeli Politics 1967-97 * (Neill Lochery, email: n.lochery@ucl.ac.uk). The class will survey issues of peace and war from the conclusion of the six-day war to the present. Special attention will be given to Palestinian-Israeli relations.

B24: Jewish Politics: Traditional and Modern *
50 lectures, 1 written paper, 3 essays (30%). This course will examine the development of modern forms of Jewish political thought and organisation. Particular emphasis will be placed on the evolution of traditional political behaviour, on the overlap of continuity and change, and on the comparison between the differing patterns of development in the West, in Eastern Europe, and the oriental communities.

B110: The Politics of the State of Israel to 1967 * (Neill Lochery, email: n.lochery@ucl.ac.uk)
. The class will survey the political history of the State of Israel from its foundation to the six-day war of 1967. The evolution of Israeli political parties will be explored. Special attention will be paid to issues of security in Israeli national politics.

B101: Modern Jewish Politics * (Michael Berkowitz, email: m.berkowitz@ucl.ac.uk). This course examines the emergence and development of the new Jewish politics in Europe and the United States in the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Proceeding thematically and geographically, issues of Jewish identity and its political expressions will be explored. Themes to be addressed include the contrasts between Jewish politics in eastern and western Europe and the United States, Jewish political subcultures, the varieties of Jewish nationalism, and the impact of World War I and the Holocaust on Jewish politics.

C94: The Transformation of Jewish Culture in Early Modern Europe (Prof. D. Ruderman). The course considers the criteria for defining the early modern period as a unique epoch in the cultural and intellectual history of European Jewry. Through an investigation of several major thems – all relatively new factors in the shaping of Jewish culture and society from roughly 1492 to 1750 – it argues that this period can be meaningfully demarcated as distinct from both earlier and later Jewish cultural experiences.

B122: Jews and the Classical World (D. Jacobson). The course will examine the cultural interaction between the Jews, on the one hand, and the Hellenistic World and the ascendant Roman Empire on the other, from Alexander the Great to the Bar Kochba rebellion, covering a period of almost half a millennium. This momentous period saw the rise of Rabbinical Judaism and the birth of Christianity. Its final years were marked by the extinction of the Jewish nation state. The major theme of this lecture course will be explored with reference to literary, epigraphical and archaeological evidence. It will be shown how recent discoveries have supplemented the historical sources and improved our knowledge of the Jews in Classical antiquity, although they have also raised new questions.

C65: House of Maimonides * (Sara Sviri, email: ssviri@parpar.demon.co.uk). An examination of medieval Jewish philosophy and thought centering on Moses Maimonides and his school.

C95: Jews, Radicals, and Socialists in 19th c. Europe (Lars Fischer, email: clara.m.zetkin@btinternet.com). Combining elements of political, social, and intellectual history, the course will focus on Socialist perceptions of matters Jewish, Socialist responses to the emergence of modern Antisemitism, Jewish participation in the Socialist movement, and the relationship between Jewish Socialism and Jewish Nationalism.

B45: Zionism and its Critics *
50 lectures, 1 written paper, 2 essays (30%). This course will examine the history of Zionism in the light of internal Jewish opposition and non-Jewish critiques of the movement since its emergence at the end of the nineteenth century.

B88: Hebrew Literature and the Holocaust * Professor Ruth Kartun-Blum. The course will explore how the historical and moral devastation of the Holocaust has affected subsequent writing on the Holocaust in Hebrew and Israeli literature, over three generations. Questions addressed include the issue of authenticity in fictional writing on the Holocaust, the use of documentation, the function of comedy as a means of indictment, the significance of scriptural reference and the dislocation of traditional forms. Attention will focus on the work of Aharon Appelfeld, Dan Pagis, Yoram Kaniuk, David Shuetz and David Grossman.

C32: Elementary Yiddish (Helen Beer, email: h.beer@ucl.ac.uk)A year-long (two term) class for students with no prior study of Yiddish.

C36: Intermediate Yiddish (Helen Beer, email: h.beer@ucl.ac.uk). Instruction in the Yiddish language for students who have taken Elementary Yiddish or who can demonstrate an equivalent level of attainment. The main focus is on acquiring fluency in the reading of Yiddish source materials in a wide variety of registers.

C45: Advanced Yiddish * (Helen Beer, email: h.beer@ucl.ac.uk). Further instruction in Yiddish for students who have either successfully completed the intermediate course or who are of comparable ability. More demanding texts are studied and questions of advanced syntax and usage are addressed.

C46: The History of the Yiddish Language * (Helen Beer, email: h.beer@ucl.ac.uk). Yiddish seen in the framework of Jewish Languages. The ethnic, geographical and historical factors that gave rise to the birth of the language and of its culture. Yiddish as a fusion language. Study of the earliest Yiddish texts. The spread of the language from Germany to Italy, Eastern Europe and the Ashkenazic diaspora. The decline of Yiddish in Western Europe. The dialects and the standards language. Sociolinguistic questions and the development of Yiddishism.

C47: Survey of the History of Yiddish Literature *. Secular and devotional genres in old Yiddish literature. Centres of printing and dissemination. The impact of the Haskalah and Hasidism on Yiddish literature. The growth of a new literary culture in Eastern Europe. The nineteenth century classics. The major centres in the inter-war period, Yiddish Modernism and post-war Yiddish literature.

C48: Yiddish Literature: Special Topics. In this course, which is primarily intended for students who have already completed Advanced Yiddish and the Survey of the History of Yiddish Literature, specific topics in Yiddish literature are selected in consultation with the participants for the purposes of in-depth study.

C96: Yiddish Folk Literature (Helen Beer, email: h.beer@ucl.ac.uk). No details available.

C70: Ugaritic (Mark Geller, email: m.geller@ucl.ac.uk). The language of Ancient Canaan. Texts from the ancient Syrian city of Ugarit (fifteenth to thirteenth centuries BCE), with introduction to their language. Pre-requisite: Some knowledge of Classical Hebrew. Suitable for students with an interest in Classical Hebrew.

C15: Introduction to the Babylonian Talmud * Grammar and Interpretation of the Babylonian Talmud. One chapter (comprising perhaps ten folios) from the Babylonian Talmud will be read in full, with attention to language, historical background, the modes of argumentation and the development of Jewish practice.

C24: History of the Jews in England *. The Medieval Jewish community in England from 1066 to 1290, the readmission of the Jews to England in the 17th century, Sephardi and Ashkenazi immigration, colonial settlements, emancipation, the influx of Jewish immigrants from Russia in the 1880s, to the present.

B114: Eastern European Jewish History through the Mirror of Literature *. The course will focus on the major turning points and developments in the history of the Jews in Eastern Europe (1772-present) through literature with the aid of fiction and memoires.

C39: History of the Jews in Poland * A social, political and cultural history of the Jews in the Polish state from the Middle Ages to the present. Topics will include Jewish politics in the medieval and modern Polish state, Jewish-Gentile relations, and Jewish intellectual life.

C37: Habsburg Jewry * The course will examine the main trends in the development of Austro-Hungarian Jewry  from the revolution of 1848 to the First World War, with particular emphasis on the role of the Jews of Vienna in the culture, society, economy and politics of the Empire.

C44: Enlightenment and Emancipation*. The changing attitude of the non-Jewish environment to the attempts by the Jews in France, Austria, Germany, Holland, England and Russia to become citizens of their societies. This class is open to students from various colleges of the University who take Jewish History as an optional paper.

C25: European Jewry between Emancipation and Reaction *. An examination of how the Jewish question in Europe took on growing importance (symbolic, political) as a result of the conflicts between legitimacy and nationalism; the ancien regime and the ideologies of national rights; property and expropriation. The course will extend from the French Revolution until the early 1880s (the crisis of liberalism in East and Central Europe).

B47: History of the Jews in Russia *. The course will survey the social, economic, political and cultural history of the Jews in Russia, from the rime of the first state, Kievan Rus, to the fall of the imperial government in 1917.

C57: Literary Responses to the Holocaust *
25 lectures, 1 written paper, 2 essays (20%). Literary works that have the Holocaust as their primary theme will be read in English translation. The authors and works chosen will illustrate a variety of perspectives and approaches, using a variety of literary forms prose and poetry, fiction, drama and autobiography.

B17: Inter-Faith Disputations (Survey) *. Rabbinic polemics with pagan religion and philosophy; the clash between Judaism and Christianity as reflected in the New Testament and the writings of the early Church Fathers as well as in rabbinic literature; medieval Jewish polemics with Christianity, Karaism and Islam; the emergence of systematic formulations of the Jewish faith as a response to these polemics; the public disputations of Paris, Barcelona and Tortosa; Judaeo-Christian polemics after the Reformation; the clash between Marrano Jews and rabbinic orthodoxy in the 17th century; the Frankist disputations of 1757 and 1759; the debate between Mendelssohn and Lavater; post-Emancipation polemics.

C20: Inter-Faith Disputations (Texts) (Dr. Chaim Hames). Selected readings from the Talmud and the Midrashim, Sefer Nizzahon Yashan, Nahmanides account of the disputation of Barcelona. Ibn Vergas Shevet Yehudah, Albos Sefer ha-Ikharim, Isaac Trokis Hizzuk Emunah or other relevant texts.

B18: Jewish Historiography (Survey). Historical writings in the Bible and Rabbinic literature; Jewish historiography in the Hellenistic period; medieval histories and chronicles; historical, biographical, autobiographical and hagiographical works of the Early Modern period; the beginnings of modern historiography; 19th century Wissenschaft des Judentums; current historiographical schools; the historiography of the Holocaust.

B19: Jewish Historiography (Texts). Selected readings in Hebrew from Josippon, Megillat Ahimaaz, 1st Crusade chronicles, Sefer ha-Kabbalah, Shevet Yehudah, Meor Eynayim, Yeven Mezulah, Hayey Yehudah or other relevant texts.

3TH YEAR

All students of the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies are expected to spend their third academic year at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Undergraduates from UCL are able to attend the Hebrew University Ulpan, and benefit from the large range of courses in Jewish Studies offered by the Hebrew University.

Students with an interest in archaeology will be able to participate in excavation work. All students will spend some time at the Rothberg School for Overseas Students.

Students who for personal reasons cannot attend the Hebrew University will complete their full four year course at UCL.

Following a special meeting on Tuesday 21 May 2002, the College has decided, after much consideration, regretfully to cancel the Year Abroad for its third year students at the Hebrew University for 2002/2003, due to the security situation in Israel. For more details, see the following press release.

4TH YEAR

Most 2nd year courses may also be taken in the 4th year.

C17: Aramaic Incantation Texts * (Mark Geller, email: m.geller@ucl.ac.uk). This course will concentrate mainly on the large corpus of Aramaic incantation bowls from Iraq. The texts will be read for their contents, with relevant parallels to the Babylonian Talmud and Near Eastern magic, as well as for the grammar and syntax of Babylonian Aramaic. Some texts will be read from the autograph copies, for purposes of palaeography. Reading knowledge of Aramaic required.

C16: Medicine in the Babylonian Talmud (Mark Geller, email: m.geller@ucl.ac.uk). The course will be based primarily upon  references collected in Preuss Biblisch-Talmudische Medezin (translated by Rosner) to diseases and remedies in the Bible and Rabbinic sources, thematically arranged, eg. gynaecology, opthalmology, general physiology, fevers, injuries, etc. Texts will be examined with manuscript variants, and analysed in the light of Babylonian and Greek medicine. The student will require a knowledge of both Hebrew and Aramaic.

B108: Talmudic Magic * (Mark Geller, email: m.geller@ucl.ac.uk). No details available.

C8: Aramaic Papyri * About ten Aramaic papyri, studied with reference to palaeography, philology and historical background.

C26 Dead Sea Scrolls *. This course will cover selected readings from the sectarian literature of Qumran, such as the Manual of Discipline and Temple Scroll, with attention to the historical context of the Qumran community. Students must have a knowledge of Biblical Hebrew.

C28: Advanced Modern Hebrew Non-Fiction * (Ada Rapoport Albert, email: uclhara@ucl.ac.uk). The course is designed to train students in the reading of scholarly literature currently published in Hebrew in Israel. This should enable them to use Hebrew items on the bibliographies which accompany most of the courses by the Department, items which, in many cases, are essential and not available in English.

C90: Advanced Modern Hebrew: Newspapers (Ada Rapoport Albert, email: uclhara@ucl.ac.uk). This course involves wide reading in current Israeli newspapers and magazines. Feature articles and arts reviews will be studies, along with news items. Attention will be paid not only to content but also to the evolution of the language.

C21: Jewish Pietists of Medieval Germany: Readings from Sefer Hasidim * (Ada Rapoport Albert, email: uclhara@ucl.ac.uk). No details available.

C64: Early Jewish Mystical Texts (D. Freedman, email: uclhdhf@ucl.ac.uk). The Hasidey Ashkenaz movement, with selected readings from Sefer Hasidin (ed. J. Wistinetzki, 1924)

C67: Hasidic Prayer * No details available.

B89: Mystical Aspects of Judaism and Islam * No details available.

C58: Rabbinic Eschatology *. The concept of the Messiah and the end-time will be studied in Hebrew rabbinic texts ranging from the Mishnah to the present century. The course will also deal with specific messianic movements over this time-range, as well as the Jewish response to Christian messianic claims.

C19: Introduction to the Kabbalah Readings from the Zohar *. Selected readings in Aramaic from the Zohar (ed. R. Margalioth) with a study of their contents.

C42: Medieval Jewish Pietists under Islam *. The course will be built around texts written by medieval Jewish mystics and pietists who lived in Islamic countries (especially Egypt and Spain). The texts will be examined with reference to the Islamic pietistic and mystical tradition which is in some degree reflected in the Jewish texts.

B55: The Ideal of Martyrdom in Jewish Tradition *. This course will comprise lectures on the history of mesirat nefesh for kiddush ha-shem (the martyrological ideal), and study of illustrative texts. The course will start with martyrology in Midrash, Talmud and the liturgy; it will continue with the events associated with the First Crusade of 1096, and the martyrological ethos expressed by medieval Franco-German pietists (Hasidey Ashkenaz). The spiritulization of this theme will be examined (as described by Katz and Shohet), and the way that in later Hasidism, the martyrological ideal played a significant role in the quest to transmit spiritual values to ordinary people. Texts studied will include Midrash, Talmud, Piyyut, Maimonides, R. Shneur Zalmans Likkutey Amarim, the Hanhagot of R. Elimelech of Lyzhansk, and selections from R. Dov Bers Shaarey Teshuvah and Shaarey Orah.

C27: Final Year Dissertation . Study of an approved topic, based on independent research, presented in no less than 7,500 and no more than 10,000 words (including bibliography and notes). Consult your tutor.

POSTGRADUATE

MA Hebrew and Jewish Studies

MA Modern Israeli Studies

MA Holocaust Studies

Graduate Seminar: Introduction to Holocaust Studies (Michael Berkowitz, email: m.berkowitz@ucl.ac.uk). The class will examine the Holocaust in historical context. Issues to be explored will include the concept of a holocaust, debates over the uniqueness of the Jewish Holocaust and major issues in Holocaust historiography.

Graduate Seminar: Modern Israeli Studies (Neill Lochery, email: n.lochery@ucl.ac.uk). The class will examine the history, politics and culture of the modern State of Israel. Major historiographical questions and contemporary research will be explored. Students will undertake specific research projects in their preferred areas of specialisation.

University of Cambridge
Websites:
www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/Judaism/
(Faculty of Divinity)
West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9BS, United Kingdom.
Tel 01223 763017, Fax 01223 763018.
and www.oriental.cam.ac.uk/hebrew1.html (Faculty of Oriental Studies: Hebrew & Aramaic)
Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DA.
Tel 01223 335106, Fax 01223 335110.

UNDERGRADUATE:

Elementary Hebrew (Andrew Macintosh, email: AAM1003@cus.cam.ac.uk)
World Religions in Comparative Perspective (Nicholas de Lange, email: NRML1@cam.ac.uk)
The Literature, History and Theology of the Exilic Age (Katharine Dell, email: KJD24@cam.ac.uk; Graham Davies, email: GID10@cam.ac.uk)
Introduction to Modern Judaism (Nicholas de Lange, email: NRML1@cam.ac.uk; Miri Freud-Kandel, email: MJF1004@cam.ac.uk)
Judaism in the Greek and Roman World (William Horbury, email: WH10000@cam.ac.uk)
Jewish and Christian Responses to the Holocaust (Nicholas de Lange, email: NRML1@cam.ac.uk; M.M. Tolstoy, email: MMT13@cam.ac.uk)
Impact of the Holocaust on Contemporary Israeli Literature (Risa Domb, email: RD10001@cam.ac.uk)
The Holy Land (Nicholas de Lange, email: NRML1@cam.ac.uk)
Modern Judaism (Nicholas de Lange, email: NRML1@cam.ac.uk)
Israelite history and literature (RP Gordon, email: RPG1000@cam.ac.uk)
Mishnaic and medieval Hebrew texts
Twentieth century prose and poetry
(Risa Domb, email: RD10001@cam.ac.uk)
Aramaic texts
(RP