Judaic Studies 221 - Interfaith Relations

How did Jews and Christians engage with one another in the early modern period? While we often think of interfaith dialogue as a modern phenomenon, in reality the relationship between these two religions has a long history, marked by shared cultural production as well as fraught with tension. This course investigates the particular dynamics of Jewish-Christian interactions in the early modern world. It proceeds thematically rather than chronologically, taking these interfaith encounters as its object and zooming in on particular aspects of how they played out. Focusing primarily on Europe but also exploring the Atlantic world, we will examine interactions and clashes between people of different faiths, nations, and races, considering the role of religious difference in the social, cultural, and political life of the early modern world. We will study the encounters between Jews and Christians as a lens onto the broader history of this period, asking how ordinary people experienced these religious divisions, how they interacted with one another, and how they found ways to coexist. (Gen. Ed. HS, DG)