Jewish Studies

Programs

Courses

JSTU 218  - Convergence and Divergence in African American and Jewish Relations: Historical and Contemporary  (3 Credits)  
An examination of African American and Jewish American inter-ethnic, historical and contemporary connections and disconnections. Implications for educational, social, and social settings are considered.
Cross-listed course: AFAM 218, EDTE 218
Carolina Core: GSS, VSR
JSTU 230  - Introduction to Judaism  (3 Credits)  
Overview of Jewish experiences, beliefs, practices from a contextual point of view.
Cross-listed course: RELG 230
JSTU 242  - Language and Humor at the Intersections of Religion, Race, Ethnicity, and Gender  (3 Credits)  
Explores language and humor, looking at (i) the linguistic structure and psychology of humor, (ii) changing societal standards for humor, (iii) racial, ethnic, religious, and gender-based humor, and (iv) socio-political questions surrounding the use of these.
Cross-listed course: LING 242
JSTU 301  - Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)  (3 Credits)  
Modern study of the Hebrew Bible from historical, literary, and archeological points of view. Reading and analysis of texts in translation.
Cross-listed course: RELG 301
JSTU 373  - Literature and Film of the Holocaust  (3 Credits)  
Film, poetry and literature created in response to the Holocaust as the means for a decades long cultural discussion, in European and American societies, of the moral and religious implications of the Holocaust on our self-understandings as religious and moral beings.
Prerequisites: C or better in ENGL 101 and ENGL 102.
Cross-listed course: ENGL 373
Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Global Learning
JSTU 381  - Jewish History I: Late Antiquity to 1500  (3 Credits)  
The religious, cultural, social, and political conditions that shaped the Jewish experience in the Near East and Europe from Late Antiquity to 1500.
Cross-listed course: HIST 383, RELG 381
JSTU 382  - Jewish History II: 1500 to the Present  (3 Credits)  
Case studies of Jewish history in Europe, America, and the land of Israel, 1500 to the present.
Cross-listed course: HIST 384, RELG 382
JSTU 387  - Jews and Muslims  (3 Credits)  
Jewish-Muslim relations in the Near East and the US; an exploration of Jewish-Muslim encounters, issues of religious law, politics, radical religious ideologies, and their repercussions for today.
Cross-listed course: RELG 387
Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy
JSTU 388  - Kabbalah: Science, Religion and Nature in Western History  (3 Credits)  
Historical investigation of kabbalah, a philosophical system and mystical current common to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, from the medieval period to the present; focus on its formative role in early modern Western cosmology and science, and its ecological implications today.
Cross-listed course: HIST 388, RELG 388
JSTU 471  - American Jewish History  (3 Credits)  
Examination of experiences of Jews in the United States from Colonial Period to late 20th century, especially Jewish immigration, political behavior, social mobility, religious affiliation, group identity formation, and meaning of Anti-Semitism in American and global contexts.
Cross-listed course: HIST 471
JSTU 475  - Visions of Apocalypse  (3 Credits)  
Symbolic visions, tours of heaven and hell, cosmic battles, divine judgment, messianic figures, prophecy, or other forms of revelation as found in literature, art, or social movements from diverse geographical and historical locations.
Cross-listed course: RELG 475
JSTU 491  - Special Topics in Jewish Studies  (3 Credits)  
Intensive study of special topics in Jewish Studies; may emphasize interdisciplinary themes. Maybe be repeated as content varies by title.
JSTU 492  - History of the Holocaust  (3 Credits)  
Introduction to Nazi Germany’s systematic mass-murder of Europe’s Jews and other minorities during war. Examination of forces that led to the Holocaust, including scientific racism, Nazi policy implementation, and dynamics of annihilation during war.
Cross-listed course: HIST 380