This year-long course introduces students to modern, spoken Hebrew by a systematic study of grammar and vocabulary. Emphasis will be placed on conversational Hebrew as it is spoken in Israel today. Some attention will be given to the cultural setting of modern Hebrew as well. No previous knowledge necessary.

This course provides a critical introduction to the writings contained in the Hebrew Bible (also known as the Old Testament). It investigates the social and historical context of the ancient Israelites, examines a range of ancient Near Eastern literature, and introduces the principal methods of biblical studies. Participants will read much of the Hebrew Bible as well as select non-Israelite sources.

This course emphasizes skills necessary for proficiency in reading, writing, and conversational Hebrew. It presents new grammatical concepts and vocabulary through texts about Jewish and Israeli culture and tradition, as well as popular culture and day-to-day life in modern Israel. Course material includes newspapers, films, music, and readings from Hebrew short stories and poetry. Starts a transition from simple/simplified Hebrew to a more literate one, and sharpens the distinction between different registers of the language.

A religious, cultural, and political history of one of the Western world's most enduringly important cities.

Martin Buber famously wrote that we must read the Bible 'as though it were something entirely unfamiliar, as though it had not been set before us ready-made.' Whether you come to the Bible from within a faith tradition or not, this course will ask you to do just that. We'll take a text that for more than two-thousand years has stood at the heart of the Western tradition and ask how we can approach that text today, from the place where you stand. What does it mean to read a sacred text? How has it been read by people situated both within and at the margins of Western culture?

Students will subscribe to this venerable and influential magazine and will closely examine the best items across departments, from the editorial board's short pieces on politics, to analytical articles, amusing vignettes, opinionated reviews and the famous cartoons (occasional readings will be drawn from the New Yorker's archive).

The four-skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) introduction to the Russian Language with the focus on communicative skills development. Major structural topics include pronunciation and intonation, all six cases, basic conjugation patterns, and verbal aspect. By the end of the course the students will be able to initiate and sustain conversation on basic topics, write short compositions, read short authentic texts and comprehend their meaning, develop an understanding of the Russian culture through watching films and listening to songs.

A four-skills (understanding, speaking, reading, and writing) introduction to the Russian language with a focus on aural-oral training. Major topics include: pronunciation and intonation, all cases, basic conjugation patterns and tenses, and verbal aspect. The textbook, Beginner's Russian, includes an interactive website of diverse oral and written exercises, music and video clips.

In-depth review of grammar topics and expansion of vocabulary with the goal of developing communicative proficiency. Readings include short stories, poetry, and newspaper articles. Students watch Russian films and discuss them orally and in writing. Classes are conducted mostly in Russian.

In no other culture has literature occupied the central role it enjoyed in nineteenth-century Russia. Political, social, and historical constraints propelled Russian writers into the roles of witness, prophet, and sage. Yet, far from being limited to the vast, dark 'Big Question' novels of legend, Russian literature offers much humor, lyricism, and fantasy. We will focus on the Russian novel as a reaction to western European forms of narrative and consider the recurring pattern of the strong heroine and the weak hero.