Courses

CJS290H1S - Topics in Jewish Studies "Zionism, Anti-Zionism, and Post-Zionism" 

Winter Semester, Monday 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM 

Instructor: Sol Goldberg 

Zionism emerged in late nineteenth-century Europe (alongside other species of Jewish nationalisms) with a radical proposal to change not only Jews’ social and cultural conditions as an ethno-religious minority but also their basic self-conception. This proposal, at once a renewal and a repudiation of Jewish tradition, has been debated by Jews inside and outside the movement ever since. Internally, political Zionists, cultural Zionists, religious Zionists, liberal Zionists, revolutionary Zionists, etc. disagreed among themselves about the movements’ ideals and goals as well as about the proper means to their realization, while, externally, ultraorthodox Jews, Reform Jews, and assimilationist Jews all had their reasons to oppose Zionism in general. In the wake of the Holocaust, most of the world’s remaining Jews acknowledged Zionism’s necessity and took pride in its incredible success in establishing Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Yet, even then, debates about Zionism’s purposes and principles persisted among Jews both within and beyond the new state’s borders. Recent years have witnessed a dramatic intensification of these debates, as Jewish communities around the world find themselves fractured into Zionist, anti-Zionist, and post-Zionist camps that offer competing narratives and assessments about the past 150 years of Jewish history. What might Jews mean today when they identify as Zionist, anti-Zionist, or post-Zionist? What reasons do they give to themselves and to other Jews to justify these identities? How do other Jews respond to Jewish identities that contradict their own? This course takes up these questions to help students understand better these live and heated debates among Zionists, anti-Zionists, and Post-Zionists about Jews’ identity, flourishing, and future.

CJS330H1 F - Who's a Jew? Myth, Theory, and Practice 

Fall Semester, Wednesday 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM 

Instructor: Sol Goldberg 

This course introduces students to the host of core concepts in terms of which Jewish identity has been and continues to be defined and debated. Topics include the difference between insiders and outsiders; collective vs individual identity; the nature of the bond between group members; identification across time, space, and disagreements; social and gendered hierarchies; joining and leaving the group; the identities of outsiders.

Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)

CJS383H1 - Jews and Power 

Winter Semester, Tuesday 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM 

Instructor: Olga Talal 

This course will explore the relationship of Jews to political power. Among the themes to be covered are: How has the relationship of the Jewish community to political authority changed over time? What is the Jewish conception of political authority? How did Jews protect their communal and individual rights in the absence of sovereignty? How did the dynamics of antisemitism, philosemitism, and anti-Jewish violence change over time? How did Zionism and the revival of Jewish sovereignty change the position of Jews in the political order? What are the political and moral dilemmas posed by statehood? And what are the implications of Jewish sovereignty for Jews in the Diaspora? 

Prerequisite: POL101Y1 or CJS200H1 or CJS201H1 

Exclusion: POL383H1 

Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)

CJS391H1F - (Special Topics in Jewish Studies) Soviet Jewish History, Culture, and Diaspora 

Fall Semester, Thursday 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM 

Instructor: Anna Shternshis 

The course examines the history, culture and diaspora of Russian-speaking Jews in the 20th and 21st centuries. We will discuss how Jews experienced the Russian Revolution of 1917, Stalinism, the Soviet Great Terror of 1937, World War II and the Holocaust, post-war challenges, the “Thaw” of the 1960s, “Stagnation of the 1980s”, the Dissident movement, Perestroika, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the development of post-Soviet diasporas. We will read works by both Soviet Jewish authors, including Vassily Grossman, Shira Gorshman, Isaac Babel, Rivka Levin and post-Soviet ones, such as David Bezmozgis, Lara Vapnyar and Boris Fishman, study artifacts of anti-religious propaganda such as Red Passover Celebration scripts, discuss oral histories of Soviet Jews, read scripts of Yiddish theatre performances (in English translation), and scrutinize (and maybe even try) recipes of Soviet Jewish food. No prior knowledge is required, but if you took a course on European history or Jewish history, it will be an asset.

CJS444H1S - Topics in the Study of Antisemitism 

Winter Semester, Thursday 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM 

Instructors: Ron Levi & Sol Goldberg 

This seminar explores in depth one of the many theoretical or methodological issues that confront scholars of antisemitism. Possible topics include definitions of antisemitism and their purposes; philosemitism and its conceptual and real connection with antisemitism; Jewish selfhatred; contextualist vs externalist accounts of antisemitism; classic and contemporary theories of antisemitism.

Pre-requisites: CJS200H1 or CJS201H1, and permission from the CJS Undergraduate Director

HIS196H1S Religion and Violence

Spring Semester, Tuesday 11 am - 1 pm

Instructor: Doris Bergen

This seminar explores the roles of religion in extreme violence. Working backward from the 1990s (Rwanda, Yugoslavia), we will consider cases including Guatemala, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Holocaust, Armenians, German Southwest Africa, and genocide of Indigenous peoples in North America. Students will produce a final project based on original research. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option. 

Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)