History 202 - Jewish History through Jewish Languages

(Offered as HIST 202 and ASLC 202) This course explores Jewish history through the diverse languages spoken by Jewish communities from antiquity to today. From the scriptural centrality of Biblical Hebrew to the vibrancy of modern Yiddish culture in the United States, we will investigate what attitudes towards language reveal about Jewish creative, spiritual, and political life. Engaging directly with texts in Aramaic, Ladino, Yiddish, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Persian, and other Jewish languages (in translation), students will examine how Jews interacted historically with surrounding cultures. Political and theoretical frameworks—including religion, immigration, Zionism, socialism, popular culture, and myth—will help uncover commonalities across time and geography, challenging fixed notions of culture, nationalism, and ideology. The course culminates in an independent research paper tailored to student interests, suitable for all students regardless of major or prior coursework. Two meetings weekly.

Fall semester. Professor Amir.

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Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Close analysis of historical evidence, which may include written documents, images, music, films, or statistics from the historical period under study. Exploration of scholarly, methodological, and theoretical debates about historical topics. Extensive reading, varying forms of written work, and intensive in-class discussions.