Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Manchester

JEWISH STUDIES IN THE UK 2003-04

 

See Survey 2007-08 

Jewish Studies Institutions in the survey include:

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

 

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 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 2003. 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

 

Department of German Studies, Queen's University Belfast
Website: www.qub.ac.uk/lla/ger/index.htm
German Studies, School of Languages, Literatures and Arts, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, BT7 1NN.
Tel 028-90335363.

UNDERGRADUATE

110GER310 Modern Jewish Politics in Central and Eastern Europe (Susanne Marten-Finnis, email: s.mfinnis@qub.ac.uk) In this option module students will look into the history of the interrelationship between Jews and their European host peoples, both in the German speaking lands and the countries of Central Europe. Issues of Jewish identity and linguistic island situations, but also forms of anti-Jewish prejudice, concepts of assimilation, acculturation and integration will be studied through a wide range of material such as contemporary feuilleton and literary texts, autobiographies, documentary film and exhibition material.

POSTGRADUATE

MA in German-Jewish Studies
This postgraduate degree programme leading to a Master of Arts in German-Jewish Studies extends the traditional curriculum of German Studies. The course aims to improve confidence in using the German language and to improve understanding of the German-Jewish experience before the Shoah. The MA in German-Jewish Studies is designed to enable students to deepen their knowledge of one or more specialist areas. As such it is an excellent point of departure for those students considering doctoral study, as well as a valuable qualification for in-service teachers and other professionals seeking to broaden their experience in the subject.

Course Structure and Assessment
The MA is modular in structure, and students will be expected to complete six modules: four taught modules and a dissertation on an approved topic, which is the equivalent of two modules. The taught modules are studied during the semesters, and assessed through coursework in January and June. Candidates are required to complete written work in both English and German.

The modules on offer are as follows:
110GER700 Research Methods (Compulsory for all students) (Matthias Uecker, email: m.uecker@qub.ac.uk): This module is mandatory for all students who are enrolled for an MA programme in French, German or Hispanic Studies. It is designed as an introduction to research methods and will cover a range of practical, methodological and theoretical issues which are the basis for any research project that students might undertake at postgraduate level. The module has three main sections: 1. Resources and Presentation (bibliographies, critical style, etc), 2. Critical Theory, 3. Principles of text-editing

together with any THREE from the following

210GER702 German Exile Literature (Susanne Marten-Finnis, email: s.mfinnis@qub.ac.uk): A selection of poetry, drama, and prose fiction produced by German and Austrian writers (Stefan Zweig; Friedrich Wolf, Bertholt Brecht, Franz Werfel) who opposed the Nazi Regime from a place of refuge outside Germany. Emphasis is placed on the depiction of German and Austrian homelands, and of the National Socialist state.

210GER714 Anti-Jewish Polemic (Susanne Marten-Finnis, email: s.mfinnis@qub.ac.uk) Introduction into the concept of language as ideology; language and power; origins and elements of totalitarianism; study of the predominance magic words can gain over semantic words in order to produce certain effects, and to stir up emotions; the power of pictures; Klemperer's notes on Nazi language; anti-intellectualism and ideology in Goebbels' language of propaganda; late 19th century antisemitism.

210GER715 Jews in Weimar Germany (Susanne Marten-Finnis, email: s.mfinnis@qub.ac.uk) Migration movements following the collapse of the three European Empires after World War 1; East European Jewish writers and artists in Weimar Germany; students are introduced to the study of Jewish writing and publishing in early 1920s Berlin; analysis of literary, journalistic, and translation work.

110GER717 The Modern Jewish Press (Susanne Marten-Finnis, email: s.mfinnis@qub.ac.uk) Students study the Jewish press in Central and Eastern Europe during the period 1840-1940: the Jewish press as a historical source, as a mirror and producer of social reality; the role of the Jewish press in the rise of secular Jewish identity; the birth of modern Jewish ideologies Zionism and Bundism, the former looking for a Jewish future in Palestine, the latter for a Jewish renaissance in Central Europe; the discursive construction of national identity.

110GER716 The Berlin Haskalah (Susanne Marten-Finnis, email: s.mfinnis@qub.ac.uk) Jewish society in Old Regime Berlin; Jewish enlightenment taken root in Berlin in the eighteenth century; the appearance of Moses Mendelssohn: admission into society ("bürgerliche Aufnahme") versus toleration (The Edict of Tolerance issued by Joseph II); Jewish emancipation as a historic necessity for the modern state.

 

Centre for German-Jewish Studies, University of Sussex
Website: www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/cgjs/index.html
Centre for German-Jewish Studies
University of Sussex
Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QN 
Tel. Tel: 01273 678771 Fax. 0208 3814721

POSTGRADUATE: 

MA Modern European Jewish History, Culture and Thought 

Although the MA will be conducted under the auspices of the University of Sussex, all courses will be held in central London on the premises of the Leo Baeck Institute/Wiener Library.

Modern European Jewish History and Culture (Dr Uffa Jensen, email: U.Jensen@sussex.ac.uk) Compulsory course covering the period from the early Enlightenment leading up to the destruction of Jewish life in Europe during the Holocaust, the course will focus on the delicate political and cultural interaction between Gentile and Jewish societies, enabling students to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental changes in Jewish life during the period. Studying the relationship between Jewish and non-Jewish history will help students examine some of the most important internal dynamics of general European history, as well as how European Jews constructed, asserted and coped with 'difference'. Other areas of analysis will include the importance of the Enlightenment, the legal and political processes of emancipation, the impact of the Great War on European Jewish history, the concept of Jewish renaissance and renewal and Zionist movements in the twentieth century. 

Jews, Power, and Intellectual History (Dr Raphael Gross, email: r.gross@sussex.ac.uk) The programme will explore Jewish culture and history through examination of the development of Jewish historiography, religion and the concept of Bildung. Special emphasis will be placed on German-Jewish thought during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as represented by writers such as Leopld Zunz, Hermann Cohen, Siegmund Freud, Franz Rosenzweig, Achad Ha'am, Walter Benjamin, Leo Baeck, Gershom Scholem, Hannah Arendt and Emmanuel Levinas. 

Jews in the Sciences and the Humanities (Dr Ute Deichmann, email: deichmann@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de, and Dr Ulrich Charpa, email: u.charpa@gmx.de) Jewish scholars in the sciences and humanities became increasingly visible starting in the nineteenth century. Study of their experiences poses questions concerning the nature of scientific and academic research and their relationship to Jewish religious traditions. The programme will provide a broad survey of this topic, focussing on issues including science in the Talmud; Medieval and early modern Jewish attitudes towards science; legal emancipation in nineteenth-century Germany and the beginning of Jewish participation in academia; the relationship between Jewish scientists and scholars and national politics; the expulsion of Jews from German academia; the impact of German Jews on science and scholarship in exile.

Modern European Jewish Literature (Dr Lisa Silverman, email: lisa.silverman@yale.edu) From Sholem Aleichem to Else Lasker-Schüler, Heinreich Heine to Marcel Proust, the works of Jewish authors have shaped the way we consider the experiences of Jews in modern Europe. Approaching Jewish history from the perspective of literary analysis, the programme will survey novels, poetry and drama written by Jews in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, France, England and Russia (in English translation). Using both primary sources and secondary theoretical texts, it will consider how literature both reflected and shaped modern European Jewish life. Special attention will be paid to issues of Jewish writers among national European cultures, focussing on identity, gender and difference.

Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust (Ben Barkow, email: benbarkow@wienerlibrary.co.uk) Modern European Jewish history has been profoundly affected by anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism and the study of anti-Semitism is crucial for our understanding of the wider social and cultural context of Jewish history in Modern Europe. The programme will trace the development of anti-Semitism in Europe, through its historical transformation under the impact of secularisation, the rise of nationalism, racial theories and globalisation. It will survey the development of historical writing on both anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, and will address forms of secular and religious anti-Semitism since the Holocaust.

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) 
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, 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)

Independent learning modules are also available in selected topics in Jewish-Christian Relations.

Contact in the first instance Melanie Wright, email: mjw48@cam.ac.uk, or for Distance learning courses in Jewish-Christian Relations contact Lucia Faltin, email: l.faltin@cjcr.cam.ac.uk

MPhil: Jewish-Christian Relations
PhD: Jewish-Christian Relations

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)

Intermediate Hebrew (Andrew Macintosh, email: AAM1003@cus.cam.ac.uk; Katharine Dell, email: KJD24@cam.ac.uk)

Advanced Hebrew (Andrew Macintosh, email: AAM1003@cus.cam.ac.uk; Robert Gordon, email: RPG1000@cam.ac.uk; William Horbury, email: WH10000@cam.ac.uk)

World Religions in Comparative Perspective (Nicholas de Lange, email: NRML1@cam.ac.uk): the Jewish part of this course looks at the themes of law and creation.

The Literature, History and Theology of the Exilic Age (Katharine Dell, email: KJD24@cam.ac.uk; Graham Davies, email: GID10@cam.ac.uk): The exilic age has long been regarded in scholarship as a watershed for the faith of Israel, with important theological understandings formulated in this period. This course seeks to give a thorough understanding of the literature, history and theology of the period leading up to the Exile, of the Exile itself and of the repercussions that followed it.

Judaism in the Greek and Roman Periods (William Horbury, email: WH10000@cam.ac.uk): This course aims to introduce the history, literature and religion of the Jews in the Greek and Roman periods, up to and including the war of Bar-Kokhba in the years 132-5.

Jewish and Christian Responses to the Holocaust (Nicholas de Lange, email: NRML1@cam.ac.uk; M.M. Tolstoy, email: MMT13@cam.ac.uk): The objective is to engage the students in a manner that is academically rigorous while enabling them to respond with sensitivity and compassion to the horrendous crimes perpetrated in the heart of Europe. In the Lent term, lecturers from outside the University contribute fully to the course, including a witness account from an Auschwitz survivor. Students will have the opportunity to see documentaries and feature films related to the Holocaust.

Life, Thought and Worship in Modern Judaism (Nicholas de Lange, email: NRML1@cam.ac.uk; Miri Freud-Kandel, email: MJF1004@cam.ac.uk): This course introduces students to contemporary Judaism and gives them an insight into the development of Modem Judaism by looking at the life and outlook of the Jewish communities both in Britain and worldwide. It will demonstrate how Judaism relates to surrounding cultures and especially how it has responded to the challenges of modernity.

Poets, Prophets, Storytellers and Sages (Graham Davies, email: GID10@cam.ac.uk; Katharine Dell, email: KJD24@cam.ac.uk; Janet Tollington, email: JET40@cam.ac.uk): This course seeks to explore the diversity of literature that makes up the Old Testament and to assess the different social and theological contexts in which it arose. It involves study of texts of different genres with an interest in their social context and theological content, interest in scholarly methods and viewpoints and their diversity, evaluation of historical claims with the use of archaeological and ancient Near Eastern material.

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): This topic includes the concept of holiness in Judaism and whether it can properly be applied to territory; attitudes to the Land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem in classical Jewish sources; Reform and Orthodox attitudes to the Land and how they have changed during the 19th and 20th centuries; the history and ideologies of Zionism; the Jewish character of the 'Jewish State'; and finally a comparative element: do Jews, Christians and Muslims share a common understanding of the sanctity of Jerusalem?

Halakhah (Nicholas de Lange, email: NRML1@cam.ac.uk): This topic studies the place of halakhah (law) in modern Judaism. It begins by exploring the history of the codification of the laws, and how their implementation has been influenced by the realities of Jewish life under non-Jewish rule. It then examines the different ways that the various religious denominations (such as Reform and Orthodox Judaism) have defined the place of halakhah in Judaism, and how they have dealt with specific questions. There will be a focus on important contemporary issues such as bio-medical, sexual and business ethics, and gender issues.

Book of Exodus (Graham Davies, email: GID10@cam.ac.uk): The book of Exodus is one of the key books of the Old Testament. The story that it tells is one of the main elements in ancient Israel's origin traditions and it was of central importance for the definition of Old Testament belief in God and his relationship to his people and their response to him. The name of God, his deliverance of his people from slavery, the covenant at Sinai, the Ten Commandments and principles of worship are all dealt with here. Modern study of Exodus has used all of the standard exegetical methods and many comparisons have been made with non-biblical texts from the ancient Near East. The Exodus theme is also prominent in other parts of the Old Testament and in the post-biblical period the text has been drawn upon and elaborated in many different ways by both Jews and Christians up to the present day.

Judaism and Hellenism (William Horbury, email: WH10000@cam.ac.uk): This course focuses on Hebraic and Hellenic tradition in Judaism from the time of the later Old Testament books onwards. The period concerned runs from Alexander the Great to the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba uprising against Rome. It begins with the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, includes developments between the Old Testament and the New, and ends with the composition of the Mishnah in Hebrew.

Hebrew in Relation to Yiddish: The Survival of Yiddish Beneath Israeli (Ghil`ad Zuckermann, www.zuckermann.org) This course studies the relationship between Yiddish, Hebrew and Israeli (a.k.a. 'Modern Hebrew'). According to convention, Yiddish, the language spoken by Ashkenazic Jews, started off as a form of Middle High German, fused with an inherited Hebrew and Aramaic component and some elements from Old Italian and Old French. When Jews migrated from the German territories to Eastern Europe (due to the Crusades, as well as the Black Death in 1348-9), Yiddish underwent Slavonization. The course discusses how Hebrew influenced Yiddish but focuses on how Yiddish shaped Israeli, the language which emerged in Eretz Yisrael at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Colloquial Israeli in Hebrew Literary Texts (Ghil`ad Zuckermann, www.zuckermann.org) This course studies the uses of Colloquial Israeli both at the lexical and phrasal level (by IDF soldiers and the general population) and at the literary level (by modern Israeli writers). Students learn to distinguish between colloquial speech and slang and to appreciate colloquialisms as artistic creations. Ironically, the formation of Israeli colloquial concoctions relies on some of the same techniques as those employed by puristic, scholarly institutions such as the Academy of the Hebrew Language; in other words, cr‚ation populaire is structurally similar to cr‚ation savante. Students are expected to be able to detect colloquial Israeli in literary texts, as well as to analyse the role played by colloquial Israeli in some recent texts by authors such as Etgar Keret, Sayed Qashu, Netiva Ben-Yehuda and Orli Kastel-Blum. Key critical issues for discussion include language and authenticity, target audience and reception and linguistic representation of national identity.

Israelite history and literature (RP Gordon, email: RPG1000@cam.ac.uk)
Twentieth century prose and poetry (Risa Domb, email: RD10001@cam.ac.uk)
Aramaic texts (RP Gordon, email: RPG1000@cam.ac.uk; EC Hunter, email: ECDH1@cam.ac.uk; GA Khan, email: GK101@cam.ac.uk)
Biblical and Dead Sea texts (RP Gordon, email: RPG1000@cam.ac.uk)
Post-biblical Jewish texts (Nicholas de Lange, email: NRML1@cam.ac.uk; S. C. Reif, email: SCR3@cam.ac.uk)
Modern Hebrew Language (R Williams, email: RW212@cam.ac.uk)
Modern Hebrew poetry and prose (Risa Domb, email: RD10001@cam.ac.uk)
Modern Aramaic (GA Khan, email: GK101@cam.ac.uk)
Ugaritic mythological literature (RP Gordon, email: RPG1000@cam.ac.uk; GA Khan, email: GK101@cam.ac.uk)
History of the Hebrew language (GA Khan, email: GK101@cam.ac.uk)
The Cairo Genizah (GA Khan, email: GK101@cam.ac.uk; S. C. Reif, email: SCR3@cam.ac.uk)
Hebrew short story and drama in the 20th century (Risa Domb, email: RD10001@cam.ac.uk)

POSTGRADUATE: (Faculty of Oriental Studies and Faculty of Divinity)

MPhil Old Testament Studies (Faculty of Divinity)
MPhil World Religious Traditions, including Judaism (Faculty of Divinity)
MPhil Biblical Studies (Faculty of Divinity)
MPhil Hellenistic Judaism (Faculty of Divinity)
MPhil Modern Judaism (Faculty of Divinity)

MPhil Hebrew and Aramaic Studies (Faculty of Oriental Studies)
MPhil Classical and Modern Aramaic Languages (Faculty of Oriental Studies)
MPhil Classical Hebrew Studies (Faculty of Oriental Studies)
MPhil Rabbinical and Medieval Hebrew Studies (Faculty of Oriental Studies)
MPhil Modern Hebrew Studies (Faculty of Oriental Studies)

PhD Biblical & Jewish Studies (Faculty of Divinity)
PhD Jewish Studies related (Faculty of Oriental Studies)

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)

Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Leeds
Website: www.leeds.ac.uk/fine_art/cejs/

Dept of Fine Arts, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom.

UNDERGRADUATE:

BA Jewish Civilisation

Reading Jewish Cultures (Eva Frojmovic, email: e.frojmovic@leeds.ac.uk)
Intensive Modern Hebrew Level 1 (Michele Fromm, email: m.fromm@leeds.ac.uk)
Intensive Modern Hebrew Level 2 (Michele Fromm, email: m.fromm@leeds.ac.uk)
Jews and Other Differences (Eva Frojmovic, email: e.frojmovic@leeds.ac.uk)
Rembrandt and the Bible (Valerie Mainz, email: v.s.mainz@leeds.ac.uk)
Unfinished Business: Trauma, Cultural Memory and the Holcoaust (Griselda Pollock, email: g.f.s.pollock@leeds.ac.uk)
Jewish Visual Culture in Early Modern Europe (Eva Frojmovic, email: e.frojmovic@leeds.ac.uk)
Jews into Frenchmen? Identity, Nations and the French Revolution (Valerie Mainz, email: v.s.mainz@leeds.ac.uk)

MA Hebrew and Jewish Studies

Readings in Jewish Studies (Eva Frojmovic, email: e.frojmovic@leeds.ac.uk)
Modernity and the Jews (Eva Frojmovic, email: e.frojmovic@leeds.ac.uk)
Jews into Frenchmen? Identity, Nations and the French Revolution (Valerie Mainz, email: v.s.mainz@leeds.ac.uk)
Unfinished Business: Trauma, Cultural Memory and the Holcoaust (Griselda Pollock, email: g.f.s.pollock@leeds.ac.uk)
Society, Sign, Text and Subject (Fred Orton, email: l.f.orton@leeds.ac.uk)
Jewish Studies Dissertation (Eva Frojmovic, email: e.frojmovic@leeds.ac.uk)

PhD/MPhil (Jewish Studies related)

 

University of Leicester
Website: www.le.ac.uk/hi/
Department of History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, United Kingdom. Tel 0116 252 2802, Fax 0116 252 3986.

UNDERGRADUATE:

Modern Jewish History, 1789-1939 (Claudia Prestel, email: cp59@leicester.ac.uk)
The Holocaust: Genocide in Europe (Claudia Prestel, email: cp59@leicester.ac.uk)
Israel/Palestine: The Story of a Land, 1917 to the Present (Claudia Prestel, email: cp59@leicester.ac.uk)

 

Centre for Jewish Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
Website:
www.soas.ac.uk/Centres/JewishStudies/
Department of the Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG, United Kingdom. Fax 020 7898 4359.

UNDERGRADUATE:

BA Hebrew and Israeli Studies
BA Jewish Studies
BA Hebrew and [other subject areas e.g. Arabi, Music]

Advanced Modern Hebrew
Beginners Hebrew
Lower Intermediate Hebrew

Introduction to Israeli Culture (Dalia Manor, email: dm23@soas.ac.uk)
Jewish Art from Antiquity to the Modern Age (Dalia Manor, email: dm23@soas.ac.uk)
Modern Hebrew Poetry (Tudor Parfitt, email: tp@soas.ac.uk)
History of Zionism (Colin Shindler, email: cs52@soas.ac.uk)
Israeli History and the Israel-Palestine Conflict (Colin Shindler, email: cs52@soas.ac.uk)
Sacred and Secular Musics in Ancient and Modern Israel (Alex Knapp, email: ak42@soas.ac.uk)
Jewish Music (Alexander Knapp, email: ak42@soas.ac.uk)
Jews in Africa and Asia (Tudor Parfitt, email: tp@soas.ac.uk)

POSTGRADUATE:

MA in Hebrew and Jewish Studies
MA in Israeli and Jewish Diaspora Studies
MA in Sephardi Studies

PhD/MPhil (Jewish Studies related)

The following courses are on offer this year at SOAS, for ex-London School of Jewish Studies students who need to complete their BA Jewish Studies degrees.

UNDERGRADUATE:

Jewish Law in the Modern World (Sacha Stern, email: ss98@soas.ac.uk)
Judaism and the Origins of Christianity (Sacha Stern, email: ss98@soas.ac.uk)
Introduction to Jewish Education (Clive Lawton, email: clive@calawton.freeserve.co.uk)
Advanced Studies in Jewish Education (Clive Lawton, email: clive@calawton.freeserve.co.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 the 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 the First Millenium CE (Helenann Hartley, email: helenann.francis@worcester.oxford.ac.uk). The First and Second Revolt against the Romans; the development of rabbinic literature in Palestine and Babylon; the use of archaeological evidence; the Jews under Roman rule and 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 (John Klier, email: j.klier@ucl.ac.uk). Enlightenment, Emancipation, Reform, nationalism and secularism; Antisemitism; Zionism.

B12: Introduction to Classical Hebrew (Fiona Blumfield). 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. It is relatively intensive  and intended for absolute beginners. The course is based on the text book: Kelley, Page. Biblical Hebrew, An Introductory Grammar (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1992); 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 acquired some command of either Biblical or Modern Hebrew may be advised to take the 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 2003/2004. 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 * This course may be taken as a sequel to course B12. Further in-depth study of the grammar and syntax of Classical Hebrew. 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. Grammar, written and oral practice. 100 hours, 1 year.

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. 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.

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. Grammar, written and oral practice. Pre-requisite: B78, year abroad, or B79.

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.

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

C98 : 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, email: gillmorris.greenberg@btinternet.com). 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, email: gillmorris.greenberg@btinternet.com). 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). 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  (Coralie Gutridge, email: uclhcag@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 * . 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 of 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 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 in Hebrew.

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 in Hebrew.

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 (John Klier, email: j.klier@ucl.ac.uk). 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 constructed 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.

C87: 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.f.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.f.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.f.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 * . 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.f.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 *. 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 *. 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 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). 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 * . 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 * (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.

B124: Metropolitan Life: Jews and the City (Eli Lederhendler, email: e_lederhender@hotmail.com) This course is intended to engage the students in a comparative analysis of the changes that urbanism entailed for Jewish immigrants coming to a city such as New York; the nature of Jewish interaction with the city and with other groups in the city; and the implications for Jewish group life and Jewish/non-Jewish social relations of Jewish migration to suburbs outside the city.

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

B99: Upper Intermediate Yiddish (Helen Beer, email: h.beer@ucl.ac.uk). More advanced Yiddish language study which continues on from C36 Intermediate Yiddish. The course will include readings from literature as well as newspaper and journal articles.

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 standard 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). Pre-requisite is to have completed equivalent of Elementary Yiddish. This course introduces students to a variety of Yiddish folk culture genres which include folksongs; folktales; proverbs and sayings, riddles and jokes. The study of Yiddish folklore and its prominent folklorists and ethnographers will be examined, with specific reference to the Folklore Section of the YIVO and the work of Sh. Anski's Ethnographic Expedition.

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). 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, both fiction and memoirs.

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.

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 cover the period from the French Revolution to the early 1880s (the crisis of liberalism in East and Central Europe).

B47: History of the Jews in Russia (John Klier, email: j.klier@ucl.ac.uk). The course will survey the social, economic, political and cultural history of the Jews in Russia, from the rise of the first Russian state, Kievan Rus’, to the fall of the imperial government in 1917.

C57: Literary Responses to the Holocaust *. 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) * (Ada Rapoport-Albert, email: uclhara@ucl.ac.uk).  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) * (Ada Rapoport-Albert, email: uclhara@ucl.ac.uk). Selected readings from the Talmud and the Midrashim, Sefer Nizzahon Yashan, Nahmanides’ account of the disputation of Barcelona. Ibn Verga’s Shevet Yehudah, Albo’s Sefer ha-Ikharim, Isaac Troki’s Hizzuk Emunah or other relevant texts.

B18: Jewish Historiography (Survey) * (Ada Rapoport-Albert, email: uclhara@ucl.ac.uk). 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) * (Ada Rapoport-Albert, email: uclhara@ucl.ac.uk). Selected readings in Hebrew from Josippon, Megillat Ahima’az, 1st Crusade chronicles, Sefer ha-Kabbalah, Shevet Yehudah, Me’or Eynayim, Yeven Mezulah, Hayey Yehudah or other relevant texts.

C79: Selected Topics in Contemporary Israeli Fiction (Tsila Ratner, email: t.ratner@ucl.ac.uk). The course will examine a selection of topics in Israeli fiction since the mid 70s. It will focus on the tension between collective images and individual identities. It will discuss literary work in the context of social and cultural changes in Israeli society. Hebrew literary texts will be read alongside translations into English.

B82: A Survey of Modern Hebrew Prose (Tsila Ratner, email: t.ratner@ucl.ac.uk). Social and political themes in Israeli literature from the 1930s to the 1980s.

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 willbe enrolled in 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.

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 Medizin (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. Knowledge of both Hebrew and Aramaic is required.

B108: Talmudic Magic * (Mark Geller, email: m.geller@ucl.ac.uk). Readings in extracts from the Babylonian Talmud of passages dealing with magic and incantantions.

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

C26 Dead Sea Scrolls *. 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. Knowledge of Biblical Hebrew is required.

C91: 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 taught 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. News items, feature articles and arts reviews will be studied and translated to and from Hebrew.

C21: Jewish Pietists of Medieval Germany: Readings from Sefer Hasidim * (Ada Rapoport Albert, email: uclhara@ucl.ac.uk). Selected readings in Hebrew from Sefer Hasidim (ed. Wistinetzki-Friemann).

C64: Early Jewish Mystical Texts * . Selected Hebrew and Aramaic sources for early Jewish mysticism.

B89: Mystical Aspects of Judaism and Islam * Central themes, ideas and persons pertaining to the mystical traditions of Judaism and Islam, studied on the basis of relevant works from both traditions in English translation.

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 (Ada Rapoport-Albert, email: uclhara@ucl.ac.uk). 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 Zalman’s Likkutey Amarim, the Hanhagot of R. Elimelech of Lyzhansk, and selections from R. Dov Ber’s Shaarey Teshuvah and Shaarey Orah.

C27: Final Year Extended Essay . 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.f.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.

Selected Hebrew Texts (Tsila Ratner, email: t.ratner@ucl.ac.uk; Ada Rapoport-Albert, email: uclhara@ucl.ac.uk; Tali Loewenthal, email: n.loewenthal@ucl.ac.uk). The course will introduce students to a variety of Hebrew Texts of different genres, periods and styles.

Holocaust Writing (Tsila Ratner, email: t.ratner@ucl.ac.uk; Tali Loewenthal, email: n.loewenthal@ucl.ac.uk; Jane Fenhoulhet, email: j.fenoulhet@ucl.ac.uk; Michael Berkowitz, email: m.berkowitz@ucl.ac.uk; Helen Beer, email: h.beer@ucl.ac.uk; John Klier, email: j.klier@ucl.ac.uk; and other lecturers from the German and French Departments. The course will examine, in English translation, selected literary texts on the Holocaust from a variety of languages and cultures.

 

Dept of Theology and Religious Studies, King's College London
Website: www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/humanities/theorelig/top.html
Dept of Theology and Religious Studies, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom.

UNDERGRADUATE:

Introduction to Jewish Thought and Practice (Daniel Rynhold, email: daniel.rynhold@kcl.ac.uk)
Varieties of Judaism (Daniel Rynhold, email: daniel.rynhold@kcl.ac.uk)
Jewish Law (Daniel Rynhold, email: daniel.rynhold@kcl.ac.uk)
Jewish Responses to Modernity (Daniel Rynhold, email: daniel.rynhold@kcl.ac.uk)
Law and Jewish Philosophy (Daniel Rynhold, email: daniel.rynhold@kcl.ac.uk)
Contemporary Jewish Philosophy: Joseph B. Soloveitchik (Daniel Rynhold, email: daniel.rynhold@kcl.ac.uk)
Introducing OT Study (Deborah Rooke, email deborah.rooke@kcl.ac.uk)
Biblical Texts in English (Deborah Rooke, email deborah.rooke@kcl.ac.uk)
Prophecy (Deborah Rooke, email deborah.rooke@kcl.ac.uk)
Pentateuch I and II (Deborah Rooke, email deborah.rooke@kcl.ac.uk)
Intermediate Biblical Hebrew (Deborah Rooke, email deborah.rooke@kcl.ac.uk)
Women and the OT (Deborah Rooke, email deborah.rooke@kcl.ac.uk)
Elementary Biblical Hebrew (Chaya Halberstam, email: chaya.halberstam@kcl.ac.uk)
Advanced Biblical Hebrew (Deborah Rooke, email deborah.rooke@kcl.ac.uk)

POSTGRADUATE:

Medieval Jewish Philosophy (Daniel Rynhold, email: daniel.rynhold@kcl.ac.uk)
Advanced Hebrew Texts (Deborah Rooke, e-mail deborah.rooke@kcl.ac.uk)

Members of staff not currently teaching a JS subject:

Judith Lieu, email: judith.lieu@kcl.ac.uk

 

Leo Baeck College - Centre for Jewish Education
Website: www.lbc-cje.ac.uk
Email: irit.burkeman@lbc-cje.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-cje.ac.uk)
Talmud (Mark Solomon, email: gil.nativ@lbc-cje.ac.uk)
Midrash (Joanna Weinberg, email: joanna.weinberg@oriental-institute.oxford.ac.uk)
Codes and Responsa (Gil Nativ, email: gil.nativ@lbc-cje.ac.uk)
Jewish Thought (Sheila Shulman, email: shulman@clara.co.uk)
Jewish History (Cesar Merchan Hamann, email: cesar@lbc-cje.ac.uk)

POSTGRADUATE:
MA in Jewish Education (Helena Miller, email: Helena.Miller@lbc-cje.ac.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-ann.myers@lbc-cje.ac.uk)

 

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.

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 beginner’s 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).

NE 1222: Modern Hebrew Language IB (Sophie Garside, email: Sophie.Garside@man.ac.uk): a post-beginner's level a continuation of NE 1211, 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).

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 2211: Modern Hebrew Language IIA (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).

NE 2212: Modern Hebrew Language IIB (Sophie Garside, email: Sophie.Garside@man.ac.uk): an intermediate level course, a continuation of NE 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).

NE2222 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 student’s vocabulary, reading skills and use of dictionaries.

NE 2230: Biblical Hebrew Texts I (Adrian Curtis, email: Adrian.Curtis@man.ac.uk): a basic training in the methodology of traditional Hebrew Bible studies, based on the student’s 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: Its Sources and Concerns (10 Credits) (Dalia Hoshen: email: dhoshen@yahoo.co.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) (Dalia Hoshen: email: dhoshen@yahoo.co.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. (NOT RUNNING)

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 2081: Jewish Ways of Reading the Bible (Philip Alexander, email: Philip.Alexander@man.ac.uk): (alt: TH 2362): the course considers early Jewish commentaries on the Bible from Second Temple times down to the Middle Ages. A number of major commentators (Rashi, Kimhi and Ibn Ezra) are singled out for closer investigation. Much of the course is devoted to reading and analysing in English translation sample texts, particularly (though not exclusively) concerned with the Account of Creation in Genesis 1-3, the story of the Binding of Isaac in Genesis 22, the Song of Songs and the Servant Songs in the Book of Isaiah. (NOT RUNNING)

TH 2162: Dead Sea Scrolls (George Brooke, email: George.Brooke@man.ac.uk): The texts are studied in English and the course pays particular attention to the Rules which may describe the movement's law and life, the sectarian biblical commentaries, and the liturgical and poetic texts. The significance of the scrolls for early Judaism and nascent Christianity is also considered. Several films are used to illustrate the history and the range of scholarly opinion about these texts.

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 2181: 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 2360: The Visual Dimensions of Judaism (Philip Alexander, email: Philip.Alexander@man.ac.uk): (alt: TH 2080): The course considers the roles played by visual symbols within religious systems in general, Judaism's prohibition of images and its effects on the development of Jewish art, the major visual symbols of Judaism - their history, meaning and purpose , and the functions of symbolism within Judaism, its role in defining group identity and how it reflects the changing relationship of Jewish communities to the non-Jewish world. (NOT RUNNING)

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. (NOT RUNNING)

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): This course consists of the study of Modern Hebrew literary texts and their appreciation in context. The works of three modern Hebrew authors are studied in the original, using English translations as support. Although translations are used as aid, students are expected to master the material in the Hebrew original.

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). (NOT RUNNING)

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. (NOT RUNNING)

NE 3810 Gender Topics in Rabbinic Judaism (Dalia Hoshen: email: dhoshen@yahoo.co.uk): The course is concerned with two main gender topics: the status of women and sexuality. It is based on both talmudic post talmudic sources, with comparison to non-Jewish parallels where relevant. The course considers different approaches: political, historical, feminist and traditional. It will explore women's status in relation to mitzvot (commandments) and Torah study, and explore the rabbinic conception of sexuality in the context of the marriage bond.

NE 3910 Basic Principles of Talmudic Discourse (Dalia Hoshen: email: dhoshen@yahoo.co.uk): This course introduces students to the dialectics of the Babylon Talmud (CE 200-500). It commences with a brief introduction to the Talmud and its sources, and to the structure of the talmudic sugia. The main text studied will be Bavli Bava Qama (hachovel, Vilna edition 84b, chap. 8), which deals with corporal injuries. This sugia exposes us to a combination of concepts regarding law, human sorrow and shame. The course also uses secondary literature, in order to develop a critical reading based on both internal and external criteria.

TH 3100: Being Jewish in Britain (Bill Williams): This course introduces students to the empirical study of Jewish identity in contemporary Britain and to the collection and interpretation of oral testimony. (NOT RUNNING)

TH 3171: The Mystical Tradition in Judaism (Philip Alexander, email: Philip.Alexander@man.ac.uk): (alt: TH 3250): This course considers the ‘canon’ of Jewish mystical literature, starting with Heikhalot mysticism and Jewish Gnosticism in late antiquity, proceeding chronologically to the Qabbalah (Zoharic, Abulafian and Lurianic), mediaeval German Hasidism, the Jewish Sufis of Egypt, Shabbateanism and its offshoots and modern Hasidism, and concludes with an investigation of the vitality of the mystical tradition within Judaism today. Special emphasis is placed on reading and analysing primary sources in English translation, especially from the Zohar. The course also considers the origins of mysticism and its importance in the historical development of Judaism. (NOT RUNNING)

TH 3181: Law and Narrative in the Hebrew Bible (Bernard Jackson, email: Bernard.Jackson@man.ac.uk): (alt: TH 3241): Commencing with an introduction to biblical law and its relation to biblical narrative, the course examines legal aspects of the pre-patriarchal, patriarchal and royal narratives; narratives of law-giving and adjudication; narrative elements in the laws themselves, and the relationship between law, narrative and theology in the Hebrew Bible. (NOT RUNNING)

TH 3191: History of Jewish Law (Bernard Jackson, email: Bernard.Jackson@man.ac.uk): The course traces the history of Jewish law from biblical times the modern State of Israel, with particular attention to its theological assumptions and its inter-relations with other cultures. Substantive topics studied within this framework are the history of family law and personal status, particularly marriage, divorce, inheritance, conversion, criminal law (including the trial of Jesus). Bibliography

TH 3230: Major Themes in Jewish Theology (Philip Alexander, email: Philip.Alexander@man.ac.uk): (alt: TH 3170): The course surveys the history of theology within Judaism from the 2nd Temple period to modern times and studies the relationship of theology to halakhah, mysticism and ethics, the debates over the role of creeds within Judaism , the concepts of God, creation, humanity, sin and evil, Torah and revelation, Israel, the Covenant at Sinai, and eschatology . It concludes with the holocaust, the founding of the State of Israel, modern science and feminism. (NOT RUNNING) 

TH 3241: Early Biblical Law: The Mishpatim of Exodus 21-22 (Bernard Jackson, email: Bernard.Jackson@man.ac.uk): (alt: TH 3181): This course offers an introduction to Biblical Law and an analysis of one of its major texts, the first part of the "Covenant Code" (Exodus 21:1-22:16), discussing its relationship to other collections of Biblical Law. Study of the text raises general questions as to the nature of the rules of Biblical Law, and of the forms of dispute resolution implied by them. Emphasis is placed on the reading and discussion of primary sources in translation. (NOT RUNNING) 

TH 3252: Law and Religion in the Modern State of Israel (Bernard Jackson, email: Bernard.Jackson@man.ac.uk): (alt: TH 3192): The course reviews the debates regarding the relationship between law and religion within the Zionist movement; traces the history of the relationship from the Ottoman Empire through the British mandate to the modern State; and considers the modern "compromise" as it affects both religious practice and the law of personal status (marriage, divorce, conversion) in the State of Israel, together with the definition of "Jew" under the Law of Return and for other purposes. (NOT RUNNING) 

TH 3332 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 3382: Biblical Hebrew Texts II (George Brooke, email: George.Brooke@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 3911: 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.

POSTGRADUATE

MA in Jewish Studies

FA 6001 Faculty Research Training Course compulsory core course

TH 9651 Sources, Resources and Methods in the Study of Judaism (Philip Alexander, email: Philip.Alexander@man.ac.uk) compulsory core course

TH 9100 Being Jewish in Britain (Bill Williams): 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 8021+ 8031 Modern Hebrew Language (Sophie Garside, email: Sophie.Garside@man.ac.uk): Modern Hebrew at level I.

NE9810 Gender Topics in Rabbinic Judaism (Dalia Hoshen: e-mail: dhoshen@yahoo.co.uk): The course is concerned with two main gender topics: the status of women and sexuality. It is based on both talmudic post talmudic sources, with comparison to non-Jewish parallels where relevant. The course considers different approaches: political, historical, feminist and traditional. It will explore women's status in relation to mitzvot (commandments) and Torah study, and explore the rabbinic conception of sexuality in the context of the marriage bond.

NE9910 Basic Principles of Talmudic Discourse (Dalia Hoshen: email: dhoshen@yahoo.co.uk): This course introduces students to the dialectics of the Babylon Talmud (CE 200-500). It commences with a brief introduction to the Talmud and its sources, and to the structure of the talmudic sugia. The main text studied will be Bavli Bava Qama (hachovel, Vilna edition 84b, chap. 8), which deals with corporal injuries. This sugia exposes us to a combination of concepts regarding law, human sorrow and shame. The course also uses secondary literature, in order to develop a critical reading based on both internal and external criteria.

NE 6012 Modern Hebrew for Graduate Students (Sophie Garside, email: Sophie.Garside@man.ac.uk): The course will give students a useful start to the task of reading books and articles in Hebrew in their field of research. This will be helpful to PhD and MA students from different areas of research, e.g. Archaeology, Biblical Studies, Jewish History, Theology in general and any other area in which the reading and understanding of Modern Hebrew for scholarly purposes will be a beneficial tool. Students with no previous knowledge of Hebrew will be required to take NE1211 Modern Hebrew Language in Semester 1.

TH 6112 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 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 9191 Jewish Law: History, Authority and the Problem of 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).

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

TH 9811Jewish 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 9242 Jewish 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.

TH 9911Jewish 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.

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)

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: eran.argov@brasenose.oxford.ac.uk)
Yiddish language (Kerstin.Hoge@St-Annes.ox.ac.uk)

Questions of Jewish Identity in Yiddish Literature (Joseph Sherman, email: joseph.sherman@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
The religious and cultural legacy of Moses Maimonides (Joanna Weinberg, email: joanna.weinberg@oriental-institute.oxford.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 Government and Politics of Israel (Emanuele Ottolenghi, email: emanuele.ottolenghi@sant.ox.ac.uk)
Jewish and Christian Bible Translation and Interpretation in Antiquity (Alison Salvesen, email: alison.salvesen@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
Septuagint Texts and Studies (Alison Salvesen, email: alison.salvesen@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
Targum Aramaic (Alison Salvesen, email: alison.salvesen@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
Jewish History 200 B.C.E.-70 C.E. (Jonathan Kirkpatrick, email: Jonathan.kirkpatrick@balliol.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)
The Emergence of Modern Religious Movements in Judaism (Miri Freud-Kandel, email: miri.freud-kandel@oriental-institute.oxford.ac.uk)
The rise of normative Judaism and Christianity (Piet van Boxel, email: vanboxel@ochjs.ac.uk)
Witnessing the Holocaust (Zoë Waxman, email: zoe.waxman@mansfield.ox.ac.uk)
The Diaspora in the Roman Empire: Jews, Pagans and Christian to 450 C.E. (Fergus Millar, email: fergus.millar@brasenose.ox.ac.uk)

 

University of Oxford
Website: www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/nme.htm (Faculty of Oriental Studies: Near and Middle East)
The Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, Oxford, OX1 2LE, United Kingdom.
Tel 01865 278200, Fax 01865 278190.

UNDERGRADUATE:
The University offers a BA in Hebrew and a separate BA in Jewish Studies. It is possible to move from one BA to the other after the first public examination (held during the first year of the course).

BA Jewish Studies: Tuition for general paper in Jewish History, Religion and Culture, and in Hebrew language, throughout the course.

Tutorials and classes:

Biblical Texts (Hugh Williamson, email: hugh.williamson@orinst.ox.ac.uk, J.F. Ewolde, email: jfelwolde@aol.com)
Rabbinic and Medieval Hebrew Texts (Joanna Weinberg, email: joanna.weinberg@oriental-institute.oxford.ac.uk)
Modern Hebrew Literature (Glenda Abramson, email: glenda.abramson@stx.ox.ac.uk)
Jewish Aramaic (David Taylor, email: david.taylor@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
Biblical History (Hugh Williamson, email: hugh.williamson@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
Biblical Religion (John Day, email: john.day@theology.ox.ac.uk, Paul Joyce, email: paul.joyce@theology.ox.ac.uk)
Biblical Archaeology (Hugh Williamson, email: hugh.williamson@orinst.ox.ac.uk, John Day, email: john.day@theology.ox.ac.uk)
Biblical Narrative (Hugh Williamson, email: hugh.williamson@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
Prophets and Prophecy (Hugh Williamson, email: hugh.williamson@orinst.ox.ac.uk, John Barton, email: john.barton@oriel.ox.ac.uk)
Second Temple Judaism (Jonathan Kirkpatrick, email: Jonathan.kirkpatrick@balliol.ox.ac.uk)
Second Temple History (Jonathan Kirkpatrick, email: Jonathan.kirkpatrick@balliol.ox.ac.uk)
History of the Tamudic Period (Jonathan Kirkpatrick, email: Jonathan.kirkpatrick@balliol.ox.ac.uk)
Medieval Jewish History (Joanna Weinberg, email: jweinberg@oriental-institute.ox.ac.uk)
Medieval Jewish Thought (Joanna Weinberg, email: jweinberg@oriental-institute.ox.ac.uk)
Jewish Aramiac Literature (David Taylor, email: david.taylor@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
Formation and Historical Context of the Talmuds (Norman Solomon, email: normanatoxford@aol.com)
Haskalah (David Rechter, email: david.rechter@history.ox.ac.uk, Glenda Abramson, email: glenda.abramson@stx.ox.ac.uk, Joseph Sherman, email: joseph.sherman@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
Jewish History, 1750-1948 (David Rechter, email: david.rechter@history.ox.ac.uk)
Modern Jewish Society (Miri Freud-Kandel, email: miri.freud-kandel@oriental-institute.oxford.ac.uk, Jonathan Webber)
State of Israel (Emanuele Ottolenghi, email: emanuele.ottolenghi@sant.ox.ac.uk)
Modern Hebrew Literature (Glenda Abramson, email: glenda.abramson@stx.ox.ac.uk)
Yiddish Literature (Joseph Sherman, email: joseph.sherman@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
Modern Jewish Thought (Miri Freud-Kandel, email: miri.freud-kandel@oriental-institute.oxford.ac.uk)
History of Jewish-Christian Relations (Jonathan Kirkpatrick, email: Jonathan.kirkpatrick@balliol.ox.ac.uk, Joanna Weinberg, email: jweinberg@oriental-institute.ox.ac.uk, Norman Solomon, email: normanatoxford@aol.com)*
History of Jewish-Muslim Relations (Ronald Nettler, email: ronald.nettler@mansf.ox.ac.uk)
History of Jewish Bible Interpretation (Joanna Weinberg, email: jweinberg@oriental-institute.ox.ac.uk)
History of Hebrew Literature (Hugh Williamson, email: hugh.williamson@orinst.ox.ac.uk, Joanna Weinberg, email: jweinberg@oriental-institute.ox.ac.uk, Glenda Abramson, email: glenda.abramson@stx.ox.ac.uk)

Specialised lecture courses:

Modern and Contemporary Hebrew Literature (Glenda Abramson, email: glenda.abramson@stx.ox.ac.uk)
The Literature of the Holocaust (Glenda Abramson, email: glenda.abramson@stx.ox.ac.uk)
Modern Jewish Literature (Glenda Abramson, email: glenda.abramson@stx.ox.ac.uk)
The Exilic Age (John Barton, email: john.barton@oriel.ox.ac.uk)
The Post-Exilic Biblical Literature (John Barton, email: john.barton@oriel.ox.ac.uk)
Genesis 1-11 (John Day, email: john.day@theology.ox.ac.uk)
Genesis 6-9, Exodus 20, 24, Hebrew Text (John Day, email: john.day@theology.ox.ac.uk)
The Book of Amos (Susan Gillingham, email: susan.gillingham@worc.ox.ac.uk)
Judaism and Islam : an encounter of Religions in the Middle East (Ronald Nettler, email: ronald.nettler@mansf.ox.ac.uk)
A Survey of Muslim Jewish Relations (Ronald Nettler, email: ronald.nettler@mansf.ox.ac.uk)
Israeli Government and Politics (Emanuele Ottolenghi, email: emanuele.ottolenghi@sant.ox.ac.uk)
The Jews of Europe, 1789-1945 (David Rechter, email: david.rechter@history.ox.ac.uk)
Modern Jewish History (David Rechter, email: david.rechter@history.ox.ac.uk)
Jewish Politics and the Jewish Question, 1840-1945 (David Rechter, email: david.rechter@history.ox.ac.uk)
Modern Jewish Politics and Ideologies (David Rechter, email: david.rechter@history.ox.ac.uk)
Jewish Liturgy (Jeremy Schonfield, email: jjschon@globalnet.co.uk)
Introduction to Judaism (Jeremy Schonfield, email: jjschon@globalnet.co.uk)
Questions of Jewish Identity in Yiddish Literature (Joseph Sherman, email: joseph.sherman@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
Elementary and advanced classical Hebrew (Hugh Williamson, email: hugh.williamson@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
Reading classes on a wide variety of Biblical texts (Hugh Williamson, email: hugh.williamson@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
Ancient Israelite history (Hugh Williamson, email: hugh.williamson@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
Jewish History, 200 BCE-70 CE (Jonathan Kirkpatrick, email: Jonathan.kirkpatrick@balliol.ox.ac.uk)
Jews in the Roman World, 70 CE- 429 CE (Jonathan Kirkpatrick, email: Jonathan.kirkpatrick@balliol.ox.ac.uk)
Varieties of Judaism in the Second Temple Period (Jonathan Kirkpatrick, email: Jonathan.kirkpatrick@balliol.ox.ac.uk)
Josephus (Jonathan Kirkpatrick, email: Jonathan.kirkpatrick@balliol.ox.ac.uk)
Jewish Greek Historiography (Jonathan Kirkpatrick, email: Jonathan.kirkpatrick@balliol.ox.ac.uk)
Jews and Christians in the Early Roman Empire (Jonathan Kirkpatrick, email: Jonathan.kirkpatrick@balliol.ox.ac.uk)
Modern Jewish Theology (Miri Freud-Kandel, email: miri.freud-kandel@oriental-institute.oxford.ac.uk)
Introduction to the Septuagint (Alison Salvesen, email: alison.salvesen@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
Midrash (Joanna Weinberg, email: jweinberg@oriental-institute.ox.ac.uk)

POSTGRADUATE:

MSt in Jewish Studies (administered by the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies)
MSt in Classical Hebrew
MSt in Jewish Studies in the Graeco-Roman Period
MSt in Modern Jewish Studies
MPhil Jewish Studies in the Graeco-Roman Period
MPhil Judaism and Christianity in the Graeco-Roman World
MPhil in Modern Jewish Studies
MSt in Oriental Studies (tailor-made MSts)
MPhil in Modern Middle East (with option to specialise in Israel and the
Middle East)

No of DPhil students (Jewish Studies related): about 25 in July 2002

Members of the learning unit not currently teaching a JS subject:

Sebastian Brock, email: sebastian.brock@orinst.ox.ac.uk
Roger Moorey, email: roger.moorey@ashmus.ox.ac.uk
Avi Shlaim, email: avi.shlaim@sant.ox.ac.uk
Geza Vermes, email: geza.vermes@orinst.ox.ac.uk

 

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

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 (Brian Cheyette, email: bhc@soton.ac.uk)
Out of the Ghetto: Heine, Disraeli and the Warner Brothers (Tony Kushner, email: ark@soton.ac.uk and Nils Roemer, email: nr2@soton.ac.uk)
The Jews of Europe, 1789-1914 (David Cesarani, email: dc11@soton.ac.uk)
Making of Englishness, Race, Ethnicity and Immigration in British Society, 1841 to the Present (Tony Kushner, email: ark@soton.ac.uk)
Who is Anne Frank? (Tony Kushner, email: ark@soton.ac.uk)
The Holocaust: Policy, Responses and Aftermath (Mark Roseman, email: m.roseman@soton.ac.uk and Svenja Goltmann, email: sg2@soton.ac.uk)
Masada, History and Myth (Sarah Pearce, email: s.j.pearce@soton.ac.uk)
From the Dead Sea Scrolls to Jesus (Sarah Pearce, email: s.j.pearce@soton.ac.uk) NOT RUNNING
Jews in the Greco-Roman Period (Sarah Pearce, email: s.j.pearce@soton.ac.uk) NOT RUNNING
German-Jews and Jewish Germans in Modern Times (Nils Roemer, email: nr2@soton.ac.uk)
Israel or Palestine? The British in Palestine 1917-1948 (Mark Levene, email: ml1@soton.ac.uk)
Jews and Judaism; Inside and Outside the Enlightenment (Nils Roemer, email: nr2@soton.ac.uk)
Looking beyond the Holocaust; Genocide in Contemporary History (Mark Levene, email: ml1@soton.ac.uk)
Israel or Palestine? The British in Palestine 1917-1948 (Mark Levene, email: ml1@soton.ac.uk)
Islam and the West: Historical Roots of Current Disjunctures (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 and Daphne Freedman, email: d.freedman@soton.ac.uk)
From the Nile to Jerusalem and Further East, Jews under Persian Rule (Daphne Freedman, email: d.freedman@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)
Jews in the City; The Urban Experience in Eastern Europe up to the Holocaust (Natan Meir, email nmm7@columbia.edu)

POSTGRADUATE:

MA coordinator: Sarah Pearce, email: s.j.pearce@soton.ac.uk
Application forms and instructions available at: www.soton.ac.uk/~prospect/forms

MA Jewish History and Culture

 

Relations between Jews & Non-Jews in the Hellenistic World (Tony Kushner, email: ark@soton.ac.uk, Sarah Pearce, email: s.j.pearce@soton.ac.uk)
Jews and Non-Jews in the Hellenistic World (Sarah Pearce, email: s.j.pearce@soton.ac.uk)
Approaches to Jewish History and Culture (Bridget Thomson, email: B.J.Thomson@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)
D
iasporas 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)
The Holocaust and American Film (James Jordan, email: j.a.jordan@soton.ac.uk)

 

Masters by Research MRes (full and part-time) in Jewish History and Culture
Co-ordinator is Sarah Pearce, email:
s.j.pearce@soton.ac.uk. The MRes in Jewish History and Culture offers students the opportunity to focus their studies on independent research in Jewish History and Culture, whilst also benefiting from the support of foundation courses in research skills and Jewish Studies.

 

PhD (Jewish Studies related)

 

 

 

 

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CJS Home Page | MA Jewish Studies | Religions & Theology Home Page | Postgraduate Study
 

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