Program in Jewish Studies
Professor Samira Mehta, Director
122 UCB
University Club A3
Boulder, CO 80309
T: 303-492-7143
CUJewishStudies@colorado.edu


Programs Offered

Bachelor's Degree

Minors

The Program in Jewish Studies, which is open to all students of all backgrounds, Jewish and non-Jewish, explores Jewish culture, history, society, and thought from a broad, interdisciplinary perspective. The program reflects the core goals of Colorado's flagship university: to provide an outstanding liberal arts education, to foster critical thought, and to instill a keen appreciation of humankind's interrelatedness and diversity. At its core, the major trains students to be global citizens and to engage in and enact social justice in the world.

Jewish Studies is home to internationally acclaimed faculty engaged in cutting-edge research and provides opportunities for students to study with leading artists, scholars and professionals working in the field of Jewish Studies. The program offers an innovative and contemporary curriculum designed to provide a strong foundation in cultural education and to connect Jewish thought and text to action and people's lives.

The program offers a Bachelor of Arts in Jewish Studies (students can pursue either a culture intensive concentration or a foreign language intensive concentration), a minor in Jewish Studies, and a minor in Hebrew and Israel Studies.

An undergraduate degree in Jewish Studies emphasizes knowledge and awareness of:

  • the history of global Jewish communities over time, including the history of Israel and Palestine, biblical and medieval Jewish history, history of Jewish communities in the Mediterranean, the history of the Holocaust and post-Holocaust American Judaism;
  • dimensions of Jewish culture across variant Jewish communities, including differences in Jewish cultural practices, Jewish music and film, and Jewish philosophies, religious practices, mysticisms and thought;
  • Jewish literature from the biblical period to the present, including Israeli literature, the Hebrew origins of western civilization, and contemporary Jewish literature; and
  • global languages of the Jewish people, including Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, German, Ladino and others (for students pursuing the foreign language intensive concentration).

In addition, it is expected that students completing the degree in Jewish Studies will develop:

  • fundamental skills in critical thinking, comparative analysis, oral and written expression;
  • a well-rounded perspective of the diversity of the Jewish experience;
  • an ability to engage in dialogues with people who have different opinions;
  • professional skills intended to aid them in their career ambitions.

Jewish Studies alumni have gone on to careers in politics, international policy, criminal justice, nonprofit, business, education, law, public relations, administration, marketing, real estate, and journalism. Many have pursued additional education in graduate programs and professional schools.

The study of Jewish culture, society, history, and religion is, by its nature, comparative and interdisciplinary. Our program offers many cross-listed classes with other departments on campus to facilitate a well-rounded learning experience. Many of our courses also satisfy core and general education requirements.

The program also offers many professional development opportunities to help students find employment after graduation in a field that fits their interests. The Internship in Jewish Studies (JWST 3930) pairs students with local organizations based on the student's long-term career goals. Majors are also required to complete a Capstone in Jewish Studies (JWST 4000) in which they design an artistic project or research paper under the supervision of a faculty mentor that serves as a summation of their work in Jewish Studies. Majors and minors are eligible to join the Jewish Studies Undergraduate Student Advisory Board. Jewish Studies also highly encourages students to study abroad and has instituted two Global Seminars, one to Istanbul and the other to Israel.

The Program in Jewish Studies also offers undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to apply for fellowships in our archival collections so they can learn how to conduct primary research first-hand.

The Program in Jewish Studies is growing and new courses are continually being added. Visit the Jewish Studies website for the most current course information.

Course codes for this program are JWST and HEBR.

Faculty

While many faculty teach both undergraduate and graduate students, some instruct students at the undergraduate level only. For more information, contact the faculty member's home department.

Boyd, Samuel L.
Associate Professor; PhD, University of Chicago

Goodman, Nan
Professor; PhD, Harvard University

Kalisman, Hilary Falb
Endowed/Named Professor; PhD, University of California, Berkeley

Malin, Jonathan
Associate Professor; PhD, University of Chicago

Mehta, Samira
Assistant Professor, Director, Associate Faculty Director; PhD, Emory University; MDiv, Harvard University

Rivlin, Eyal Ofer
Teaching Associate Professor, Endowed/Named Professor; MA, Naropa Institute

Wartell, Rebecca
Teaching Assistant Professor; PhD, Monash University

Weber, Beverly Marie
Professor; PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Courses

Show only these courses...

JWST 1040 (3) Beginning Biblical Hebrew, Second Semester

Building on HEBR 1030, continues to build expertise in reading the Hebrew Bible. Modern language acquisition and classical grammar study methods equip students with the tools to translate and read the various genres of the Biblical material. Department enforced prerequisite: HEBR 1030 or JWST 1030 (minimum grade C-).

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HEBR 1040

JWST 1234 (3) Mysticism and the Jewish American Literary Tradition

Explores the mystical tradition within Judaism from ancient times to the present. With roots in the Hebrew Bible, Jewish mysticism is one of the oldest forms of mysticism and has had an influence on some of the greatest philosophical traditions of western civilization.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: ENGL 1340
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Ideals and Values
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 1818 (3) Jewish History to 1492

Focus on Jewish history from the Biblical period to the Spanish Expulsion in 1492. Study the origins of a group of people who call themselves, and whom others call, Jews. Focus on place, movement, power/powerlessness, gender, and the question of how to define Jews over time and place. Introduces Jews as a group of people bound together by a particular set of laws; looks at their dispersion and diversity; explores Jews' interactions with surrounding cultures and societies; introduces the basic library of Jews; sees how Jews relate to political power.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HIST 1818 and RLST 1818
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Historical Context
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective
Departmental Category: Asia Content

JWST 1828 (3) Jewish History Since 1492

Surveys the major historical developments encountered by Jewish communities beginning with the Spanish Expulsion in 1492 up until the present day. Studies the various ways in which Jews across the modern world engaged with the emerging notions of nationality, equality and citizenship, as well as with new ideologies such as liberalism, socialism, nationalism, imperialism and antisemitism.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HIST 1828 and RLST 1828
Additional Information: GT Pathways: GT-HI1 - History
Arts Sci Core Curr: Historical Context
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective

JWST 1830 (3) Global History of Holocaust and Genocide

Examines the interplay of politics, culture, psychology and sociology to try to understand why the great philosopher Isaiah Berlin called the 20th century, "The most terrible century in Western history." Our focus will be on the Holocaust as the event that defined the concept of genocide, but we will locate this event that has come to define the 20th century within ideas such as racism, imperialism, violence, and most important, the dehumanization of individuals in the modern world.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HIST 1830 and RLST 1830
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Historical Context
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective

JWST 1900 (3) Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament

Examine the content of the Hebrew Bible and critical theories regarding its development. Explore the development of these texts, as well as their foundational role for rabbinic literature and the New Testament. Assess the enduring influence of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in world literature and culture (such as in art and music).

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 1900
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective

JWST 1910 (3) Introduction to the New Testament

Examine the background, content and influence of the New Testament books. Studies the diverse perspectives contained in the various books, as well as the process of canonization. Assess the influence of the New Testament on the development of Christianity as well as world (eastern and western) culture.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 1910
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 2350 (3) Introduction to Jewish Culture

Explores the development and expressions of Jewish cultures across the chronological and geographical map of the Jewish people, with an emphasis on the variety of Jewish ethnicities and their cultural productions, cultural syncretism, and changes, including such issues as sexuality and foodways. Sets the discussion in relevant contexts and looks at cultural representations that include literary, religious and visual texts.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: GSLL 2350
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Human Diversity
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-U.S. Perspective

JWST 2502 (3) Representing the Holocaust

Examines representations of the Holocaust in film, memoirs, poetry, novels, graphic novels, memorials. Considers questions such as: How to depict an event that resists representation? How does the memory of the Holocaust transform over generations? How do representations of the Holocaust inform our understanding of other experiences of racism and genocide? What ethical issues are at stake?

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: JWST 2502
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Ideals and Values
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 2551 (3) Modern Jewish Literature

Examines Jewish experience through the study of literary texts from around the world, mainly from the 20th and 21st centuries. Discusses issues pertaining to secularism and tradition; diasporas and homelands; modernity and questions of identity raised by the intellectual transitions brought about by political and social emancipation; sexualities; enormous changes wrought by population redistributions, world wars and rapid cultural transformations.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: GSLL 2551
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Literature and the Arts
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Hebrew

JWST 2600 (3) Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: Abrahamic Religions

In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Abraham is described as a founding figure. In recent times, the label ¿Abrahamic Religions¿ has become increasingly important both as a way to describe the origins and beliefs of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and as a means for finding common ground in political and religious discourse. Yet in each religion Abraham is also used in strikingly different ways and for distinct purposes. In this course, we will look at these three religious traditions and how each one imagines Abraham. In particular, the focus will be on how each religion uses Abraham to construct foundational stories of a special relationship to God, stories that ultimately serve to promote religious identity over time.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 2600
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Ideals and Values
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

JWST 3100 (3) Judaism

Explores Jewish religious experience and its expression in thought, ritual, ethics, and social institutions.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 3100
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Historical Context
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

JWST 3110 (3) Of Jewish Legends, Folktales and the Supernatural

Explores Jewish traditional legends, folktales and stories of the supernatural. Starts with Aggadic Talmud tales and Midrashic texts and focuses on later rabbinic and mystical texts and folktales ca 500-1900 C.E. from around the Jewish world with subjects ranging from didactic narratives extolling the virtues of the simple pure soul, to the horrors of a blood sucking vampiric outside world.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 3110
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 3120 (3) Radical Jews

Explores major Jewish figures, and their cultural productions, who were radical in the challenges they posed and transformative in the effects they had on society. The figures we examine range from the Rabbis of the Talmud who revolutionized a sacrificial cult religion, to Western secularist Baruch Spinoza and American icons such as Allen Ginsberg, Gloria Steinem and Bob Dylan.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 3120
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 3150 (3) Jerusalem: The Holy City in History, Legend, and Religious Thought

The history of Jerusalem and the stories that have given it prominence in the religious imagination continue to shape much of the world in which we live. In this class, we will survey approximately three millennia of the history of the city. We will ask methodological question, such as: What does it mean for a place to be conceived of as holy? How does this perceived holiness come about? What happens when holy places are destroyed and rebuilt? We will examine the biblical stories about Jerusalem not only as important sources themselves, but also for how they shape later religious traditions, specifically Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. As such, we will address what it means for the same place to be perceived as ¿holy¿ by differing, and often competing, groups. These contestations regarding Jerusalem will, then, allow us to engage issues of religious diversity and conflict both historically and in the present.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 3150
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 3200 (3) Religion and Feminist Thought

Examines the origin of patriarchal culture in the theology and practices of Judaism and Christianity. Explores attitudes and beliefs concerning women as Judeo-Christian culture impacts gender roles and gender stratification through reading and discussion. Women's religious experience is studied from the perspective of feminist interpretations of religiosity.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: WGST 3200
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 3202 (3) Women, Gender & Sexuality in Jewish Texts & Traditions

Reads some of the ways Jewish texts and traditions look at women, gender and sexuality from biblical times to the present. Starts with an analysis of the positioning of the body, matter and gender in creation stories, moves on to the gendered aspects of tales of rescue and sacrifice, biblical tales of sexual subversion and power, taboo-breaking and ethnos building, to rabbinic attitudes towards women, sexuality and gender and contemporary renderings and rereadings of the earlier texts and traditions.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HEBR 3202 and RLST 3202 and WGST 3201
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Human Diversity
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective

JWST 3310 (3) The Bible as Literature

No single book has been as influential to the English-speaking world as the Bible. We¿ll read the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament for stories, poetry, and wisdom traditions. We¿ll approach the Bible as literature by analyzing its plots, characters, and meanings. Students study its textual history, how there came to be a ¿Bible,¿ and the many writers, conflicts, and cultures from which it emerged. We¿ll consider the Bible¿s powerful influence on ethics and philosophy. Formerly ENGL 3312.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HUMN 3310 and ENGL 3310
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Ideals and Values
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 3401 (3) The Heart of Europe: Filmmakers and Writers in 20th Century Central Europe

Surveys the major works of 20th century central and central east European film and literature. Examines cultural production in the non-imperial countries and non-national languages of the region including Yiddish, Belarusian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Romanian, among others. Traces the rise of nationalism over the course of the century from the age of empires through the Cold War.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: GSLL 3401
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 3501 (3) The German-Jewish Experience: From the Enlightenment to the Present

Provides insight into the German-Jewish identity through essays, autobiographies, fiction and journalism from the Enlightenment to the post-Holocaust period. Examines the religious and social conflicts that typify the history of Jewish existence in German-speaking lands during the modern epoch.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: GRMN 3501
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Human Diversity
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective

JWST 3530 (3) Global Seminar: Jews and Muslims - The Multiethnic History of Istanbul

Spend two weeks in Istanbul and examine Jewish-Muslim relations in a place that was for 500 years the crossroads of civilization. The only Muslim city in the 21st century with a large, thriving Jewish community, Istanbul models how people from different social classes, ethnicities and religious backgrounds can coexist.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: IAFS 3530 and RLST 3530
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Human Diversity
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective

JWST 3600 (3) Contemporary Jewish Societies

Uses transnational lens to explore contemporary debates about Jewish people, places and practices of identity and community; places that Jews have called 'home', and what has made, or continues to make those places 'Jewish'; issues of Jewish homelands and diasporars; gender, sexuality, food and the Jewish body; religious practices in contemporary contexts. Readings drawn primarily from contemporary journalism and scholarship.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: IAFS 3600 and GSLL 3600
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Human Diversity
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Social Sciences
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-U.S. Perspective

JWST 3610 (3) Topics in International Affairs and Jewish Studies

Explores topics in international affairs as it relates to Jewish culture and society. Subjects addressed under this heading vary according to student interest and faculty availability.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: IAFS 3610
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours.

JWST 3650 (3) History of Arab-Israeli Conflict

Explores the origins and development of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Traces Arab-Jewish/Israeli relations from the 19tj century through the Palestine Mandate, the evolution of Arab and Jewish nationalism and the creation of Israel to the present day.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: IAFS 3650
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Historical Context
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

JWST 3681 (3) Refugees in German Culture

This interdisciplinary course introduces the diversity of refugee migration in German culture through artistic and cultural "texts," including those created by or in collaboration with refugees (film, comic journalism, literature, blogs, hashtag campaigns, music, etc). These texts are discussed in relationship to theories of racism, precarity, and biopolitics together and contextualized by work from other disciplines. This interdisciplinary course is methodologically informed by the theory and practice of cultural studies.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: IAFS 3681 and GRMN 3681
Recommended: for students with sophomore standing or higher.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 3820 (3) Topics in Jewish Studies

Intensive study of a selected area or problem in Jewish Studies.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 3930 (3) Internship in Jewish Studies

Learn beyond the classroom by interning in a local non-profit organization that connects with the Program in Jewish Studies through its mission and/or program. Interns will attend class to learn about work place ethics, professional development and leadership skills through a Jewish Studies lens. Interns will be supervised by the faculty member of record as well as the employer housing the intern.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 6.00 total credit hours.
Recommended: Prerequisites HEBR 2350 or JWST 2350 or HIST 1818 or JWST 1818 or HIST 1828 or JWST 1828.

JWST 4000 (1-3) Capstone in Jewish Studies

Serves as the final product for students completing the major in Jewish Studies. Students will design a project under the supervision of a mentor that serves as the summation of their past work in Jewish Studies. Capstone projects can take the form of a thesis, film or another media. Instructor consent required for JWST minors.

Requisites: Restricted to students with 87-180 credits (Senior, Fifth Year Senior) Jewish Studies (JWST) BA majors only. Excludes JWST minors.

JWST 4050 (3) Anthropology of Jews and Judaism

Explores topics in Jewish anthropology. Uses the lens of anthropological inquiry to explore, discover and analyze different concepts within Jewish culture. Topics explored will include customs, religious practices, languages, ethnic and regional subdivisions, occupations, social composition, and folklore. Explores fundamental questions about the definition of Jewish identity, practices and communities.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: ANTH 4050
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4101 (3) Topics in Hebrew Studies

Explores topics in Hebrew and Jewish literature and cultures. These may include topics such as diasporic literatures, Jewish artists and thinkers, courses on specific authors, figures or communities. Topics change each semester. Taught in English.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HEBR 4101
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4122 (3) Music in Jewish Culture

Introduces students to a wide range of musical styles, traditions, genres, performers, composers, events and works that are part of Jewish culture, focusing on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Provides tools for understanding music on its own and in connection with issues of identity, diaspora, memory and liturgy. Includes opportunities for creative and critical engagement with Jewish music.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: MUSC 4122
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4170 (3) God and Politics

Explores the relationship between religion and politics. Examining traditions such as Judaism and Christianity, this course considers diverse ways in which ancient, medieval and modern sources have imagined the role of religion in civic life. Some topics include the status of religious minorities, the nature of religious freedom and contemporary debates surrounding issues such as torture, sexuality and climate change.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4170 and RLST 5170
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4180 (3) Is God Dead?

Explores debates about the following questions: does it make sense to believe in God? Should believing or not believing in God make a difference for how individuals behave? Examining ancient and modern views on the existence and nature of a higher power, this course considers topics including evil and suffering, religion and science and religion's role in politics.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4180 and RLST 5180
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4190 (3) Love and Desire

Explores debates about the following questions: what and whom should humans and gods love, and what role should passions play in religion? Examining traditions such as Judaism and Christianity, this course considers diverse views on topics including religion and sexuality, the promise and perils of loving gods and humans, and the relationship between love, politics, and violence.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4190 and RLST 5190
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4200 (3) Religion and Reproductive Politics in the United States

Focuses primarily on how Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish conversations about sexuality and reproduction have shaped access and attitudes towards reproductive health in the US over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: WGST 4200, WGST 5200 and JWST 5200
Requisites: Restricted to students with 27-180 credits (Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors) only.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-U.S. Perspective

JWST 4203 (3) Israeli Literature: Exile, Nation, Home

Examines the creation and development of Israeli literature from its pre-State beginnings to the present day, from the writings of immigrants for whom Hebrew was not their mother tongue to a literature written by native Hebrew speakers. Considers texts written by Israeli Jewish and Arab writers and explores how ideas of exile, nation, and home play into the Israeli experience.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HEBR 4203
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 6.00 total credit hours.
Recommended: Prerequisites ENGL 4677 or JWST 4677 or GRMN 2502 or JWST 2502 or JWST 2551 or WRTG 3020.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Literature and the Arts
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4260 (3) Topics in Judaism

Examines in depth central themes, schools of thought, and movements in Judaism, along with other traditions, across a range of historical periods.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4260 and RLST 5260
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4301 (3) Venice: The Cradle of European Jewish Culture

Explores the development of European Jewish culture from the late Middle Ages to the present by focusing on Jewish life in the city of Venice, Italy. Emphasis is on the development of Venetian print culture and emergence of Italy as a center of Jewish publishing in both the religious and secular world. Examines a variety of cultural and historical material including early printings of the Talmud, the creation of Yiddish popular literature, Hebrew rabbinic literature, responses to political turmoil, and the aftermath of the Nazi genocide. Taught in English. Department enforced prerequisite: HEBR 2350 or JWST 2350 (minimum grade C-).

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HEBR 4301
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Literature and the Arts
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4302 (6) Global Seminar: Justice, Human Rights and Democracy in Israel

Explore the challenges and complexities of justice, democracy and human rights in Israel and the West Bank through field trips, course work and service learning projects with Jerusalem based non-profit organizations. Acquire new knowledge and lived experience on critical issues facing Israelis and Palestinians with the wider scope of Middle East politics.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: IAFS 3520
Recommended: Prerequisites ANTH 4050 or JWST 4050 and IAFS 3600 or JWST 3600.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Contemporary Societies
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Social Sciences
Departmental Category: Asia Content

JWST 4338 (3) History of Modern Israel/Palestine

Explore the history culture, and politics of this crossroads of Europe and Asia from the late Ottoman period to the present. Topics include: nationalism and colonialism, development of Zionist ideology, Palestinian nationalism, the Jewish community (Yishusv) under British rule, the founding of the State of Israel, Arab-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli relations, Israel's minorities, and the conflict of religion and state.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HIST 4338
Recommended: Prerequisite HIST 1818 or JWST 1818 or HIST 1828 or JWST 1828 or HIST 1308 or JWST 2350 or other course work in Middle Eastern or Jewish History.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4348 (3) Topics in Jewish History

Covers topics in Jewish history from biblical beginnings to present day. Topics vary each semester. Consult the online Schedule Planner for specific topics.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HIST 4348
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 6.00 total credit hours.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4378 (3) History of Modern Jewish-Muslim Relations

Examines the modern history and culture of Jewish communities under Islamic rule in the Middle East and North Africa; Jews' and Muslims' encounters with empire, westernization and nationalism; representations of Sephardi and Eastern Jews; Jewish-Muslim relations in Europe and the U.S.; and contact and conflict between Jews and Muslims in (and about) Israel/Palestine. Sources include memoirs, diaries, newspapers and films.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HIST 4378
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

JWST 4388 (3) History Today: Global Intensive in Israel/Palestine

This global intensive analyzes history, memory and nationalism in one of the areas where the relationship between these three categories is the most fraught: Israel/Palestine. After learning the historical background to the Arab/Israeli and Palestinian conflict in Boulder, students will visit Israel and the West Bank/Occupied Territories/Judea and Samaria. Through this course, students will gain a nuanced, multi-sided perspective of Israel, Palestine and the uses of history and memory.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HIST 4388
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4454 (3) Jewish Thought in Modern History

Takes students on a journey from Medieval Spain to contemporary United States to explore how Jews, living in different societies, have attempted to reshape and interpret central Jewish values and beliefs in accordance with the prevailing ideas of their host societies. Focuses on the historical context of each Jewish society that produced the thinkers and ideas considered in this course.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HIST 4454
Requisites: Restricted to students with 27-180 credits (Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors) only.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4524 (3) Expulsions and Diasporas: The Jews of Spain and Portugal

Considers the experience of Jews and converses during the Spanish Inquisition and the Iberian expulsions of the 1490s. Sephardic refugees faced social, economic, and political upheavals in the decades after their exile, leading to new communities in settings as diverse as North Africa, India, Turkey, the Caribbean, and the Americas. The study of texts and traditions from the Sephardic diaspora will explore themes including forced conversion, rabbinic authority, colonialism, and mercantile networks. Previously offered as a special topics course.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HIST 4524
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4534 (3) Modern European Jewish History

Focus on the last 500 years of European Jewish history, from 1492 until the present, to examine Jews' place in European history and how Europe has functioned in Jewish history. Does not end with the Holocaust, since, although Hitler and the Nazis attempted to destroy European Jewish civilization, they did not succeed. Rather, this course will spend several weeks looking at European Jewish life in the past sixty year.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HIST 4534
Recommended: Prerequisite HIST 1818 or JWST 1818 or HIST 1828 or JWST 1828 or HIST 1012.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4544 (3) History of Yiddish Culture

Jews have produced culture in Yiddish, the vernacular language of Eastern European Jewry, for 1000 years and the language continues to shape Jewish culture today. We will look at the literature, film, theater, music, art, sound and laughter that defined the culture of Eastern European Jewry and, in the 20th century, Jews around the world.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HIST 4544 and HIST 5544
Recommended: Prerequisite HIST 1818 or JWST 1818 or JWST 1828 or GSLL 2350 or JWST 2350.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4580 (3) The Holocaust: An Anthropological Perspective

Focuses on the Holocaust during the Third Reich, which involved the murder of millions of people, including six million Jews. Reviews the Holocaust's history, dynamics and consequences as well as other genocides of the 20th century, using an anthropological approach.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: ANTH 4580
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4677 (3) Jewish-American Literature

This course explores a variety of Jewish-American literary works from the late-nineteenth century to the present, from Abraham Cahan to Philip Roth to Cynthia Ozick. We examine a number of issues, including what a Jewish-American writer is or is not, what role the immigrant experience plays in Jewish writing, how assimilation is represented, how this literature changes over time, what the significance is of gender roles, and how it draws from spiritual and mystical traditions. Formerly ENGL 3677.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: ENGL 4677
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Human Diversity
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-U.S. Perspective

JWST 4800 (3) Ethics, Medicine and the Holocaust: Legacies in Health and Society

Engages the disturbing fact that German health care professionals actively participated in the architecture and machinery of the Third Reich; explores the implications of these facts for contemporary health care ethics; expands beyond the Holocaust to consider the ramifications for our understanding of the problem of evil in general.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: JWST 5800
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4827 (3) Modern U.S. Jewish History since 1880

Explores the experience of Jews in the United States from the 1880's when the great migration of Jews from Eastern Europe began, through the twentieth century. Students will explore the changing ways in which Jews adapted to life in the U.S., constructed American Jewish identities, and helped to participate in the construction of the United States as a nation.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HIST 4827
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4837 (3) Jews in the American West

Explores the history of Jewish migration and settlement in the American West. Jewish pioneers in the nineteenth century included explorers, businessmen, and cowgirls that established small communities in territories that had not yet achieved statehood. As westward expansion progressed, Jews continued to find opportunity in the West, balancing assimilation with unique expressions of religious identity. The history of communal institutions including synagogues, hospitals and summer camps offers new perspectives on this underrepresented segment of American Jewry.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HIST 4837
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

JWST 4900 (1-6) Independent Study in Jewish Studies

Working with a faculty member in Jewish Studies on an independent study research project provides students with an opportunity to learn outside the formal classroom structure, with individual direction from Jewish Studies faculty on a topic of mutual interest not offered in regularly scheduled classes. (Independent study may not be used to substitute for a regular course not being offered in a given term.)

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 6.00 total credit hours.