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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 76797171.
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 (Siam Bhayro).
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
(Willem Smelik, email: willem.smelik@ucl.ac.uk).
The First and Second Revolt against the Romans; the development
of rabbinic literature in Palestine and Babylon; the use of
archaeological 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 (Dalia Yaron, email: daliayaron@gmail.com).
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 2004/2005. 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 (Fiona Blumfield) 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) (Dalia Yaron, email: daliayaron@gmail.com).
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
and Dalia Yaron, email: daliayaron@gmail.com).
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
and Dalia Yaron, email: daliayaron@gmail.com).
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* (Siam Bhayro).
The Aramaic portions of Daniel and Ezra, studied with reference
to philology and historical background.
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: jewish.studies@ucl.ac.uk).
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; texts from the period of the
Church Fathers, and some secular texts.
C97: Intermediate
Syriac (Gillian Greenberg, email: jewish.studies@ucl.ac.uk).
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. The importance of the study of different manuscripts in
transmission history is also studied.
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 * 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.
B14: Midrash
(Willem Smelik, email: willem.smelik@ucl.ac.uk).
An introduction to the methodology of Jewish scriptural exegesis
as followed in rabbinical circles in late antiquity, based on
treatment of the creation narrative assembled in the early
chapters of Genesis Rabbah. Comparison with the approaches of
other systems - both pagan and Christian - to problems in
cosmology, metaphysics and ethics.
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. This includes a wide range of topics such as Judeo-Spanish song and music, Judeo-Spanish language and literature, food and identity, saint veneration (Morocco and Israel), superstitions, illuminated manuscripts, synagogue architecture, etc.
HEBR7757: From
Sepharad to the Sephardic Diaspora (Hilary Pomeroy, email: Hilarypomeroy@aol.com).
The development of Sephardic communities encompassing Jewish life in Muslim and Christian Spain and the post-Expulsion period and establishment of new Sephardic communities in Western Europe and the New World.
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 ofthe 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.
B107: Jews of
English-Speaking Lands (Michael Berkowitz, email: m.berkowitz@ucl.ac.uk).
An analysis of the development of Engish speaking English
speaking Jewish communities from the 19th Century to
the present, particularly in North America, the UK, Australia,
South Africa and Mandate Palestine.
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.
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.
XX: Jewish
Multicultural and Multiculturalism and the Jews (Sander
Gilman, email: jewish.studies@ucl.ac.uk).
To examine the representation of the figure of the Jew in
contemporary multicultural literature with the intend of
providing students with a model for exploring the complexities
of identity representation in fiction.
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 themes 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).
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.
B121: Women in
Jewish Tradition (John Klier/Ada Rapoport-Albert/Tsila
Ratner/Mark Geller) A review of the position of women in the
Jewish tradition from ancient Biblical through Classical,
Rabbinic, medieval and modern Judaism.
B124: Metropolitan
Life: Jews and the City * 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.
XX: The Short
Story and Novella in Yiddish (Helen Beer, email: h.beer@ucl.ac.uk).
Material will be studied from its content and style within a
social, cultural and literary context.
C70: Ugaritic
* (Siam Bhayro).
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 (Willem Smelik, email: willem.smelik@ucl.ac.uk).
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
(John Klier, email: j.klier@ucl.ac.uk).
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: Nation and Narration (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.
B112: Feminist
Issues in Israeli Women’s Writing (Tsila Ratner, email: t.ratner@ucl.ac.uk).
A survey of feminist thinking in Hebrew literature. The
course will study the development of feminist concepts and their
manifestations in women’s writing in Israel since the 70s. It
will compare these expressions with feminist writing in English
and American literature. The Hebrew texts will be followed by
their translations into English.
B125: Representations
of Trauma: Holocaust Writing (Tsila Ratner, email: t.ratner@ucl.ac.uk;
and other lecturers from the HJS, Dutch, German and French
Departments). The course will examine, in English translation,
selected literary texts on the Holocaust from a variety of
languages and cultures.
XX: Family
Politics in Israeli Fiction (Tsila Ratner, email: t.ratner@ucl.ac.uk).
This course will look at the representations of the family in
Israeli literature. It will discuss the following issues: The
way ideologies shape family structures; The way nation building
narratives use the family; Generations gap; The prevalence of
children’s narratives in Israeli literature; The way women
writers subvert familial narratives; Representations of
parenthood and their perceptions by their children.
XX: From Sepharad to
Sephardic Diaspora (Hilary Pomeroy, email: hilarypomeroy@aol.com).
An overview of the Jews of Spain and Portugal including
anti-Jewish feeling in Spain and the Jew in Spanish literature,
the Inquisition and Exile, the creation of crypto-Jewish
communities in Iberia and the Spanish and Portuguese colonies,
the Sephardic communities of the Ottoman Empire and Western
Europe.
B118 The
Culture of Sephardic Jewry (Hilary Pomeroy, email: hilarypomeroy@aol.com).
This course gives an overview of this multi-faceted culture
including music, literature, life cycle celebrations,
folklore and superstition, architecture, illuminated
manuscripts, Judeo-Spanish, food, etc.
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 * (Siam Bhayro).
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 * (Siam Bhayro).
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 * (Siam Bhayro).
Readings in extracts from the Babylonian Talmud of passages
dealing with magic and incantations.
C8: Aramaic
Papyri * About ten Aramaic papyri, studied with reference to
palaeography, philology and historical background.
C26 Dead Sea
Scrolls (Siam Bhayro).
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
HOLC0001 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.
MISR0001 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.
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