Courses

A study of medieval Jewish life in the Roman Catholic world. Attention will focus on the development of northern European Jewry, its alliance with the political powers, its communal organization, and its religious and intellectual vitality.

The history and culture of Russian Jews from 1881 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

An examination of courts as political and governmental institutions. Rules of law, procedure, court decisions, and concepts of jurisprudence discussed only when directly relevant. Emphasis on judicial recruitment, politics of judicial settlements, legal values and judicial decisions, political and social attributes and attitudes in judicial decision-making, and the impact of judicial decisions.

An overview of the Latin American political revolutions of the early nineteenth century, which culminated with the erection of new Spanish American republics and an independent Brazilian Empire in the 1820s. The course begins with the imperial reforms on the eighteenth century and proceeds to examine the processes by which the Spanish and Portuguese empires lost legitimacy in the Americas.

An examination of the structures and functions of legislative bodies with particular emphasis on the United States.

Biblical literature in English translation, including narratives, prophetic literature, gospels, apocalypses, and poetry. Material is studied with attention to its sociological and historical background, its literary value, and its relevance to two religions. Biblical influence on English language literature may be examined in such authors as Milton, Dryden, Smart, Blake, Byron, Melville, Dickinson, and twentieth- century and contemporary English-language poetry.

The experiences of European Jewry during the Second World War and the years leading up to it as reflected in Yiddish literature. The course will explore such topics as genocide, ghetto life, concentration camps, Jewish resistance and escape, the response of the Western world and the Soviet Union.

Major European texts in a variety of forms and genres, studied in their historical, social, intellectual, and religious contexts.

Interrogation of the historical, political, social, and ideological processes and practices that have shaped racialized identities. This course will focus on [re]presentations of racial identities on contemporary media through (1) music,(2) film, (3) television but will also analyze gendered and sexualized identities, while being attentive to the ways in which US society has been affected by the varied portrayals present in today?s media-saturated era.

A topic-focused, problem-solving course on micro-oriented applications of economic reasoning. The laws of supply and demand are introduced in a framework that concentrates on how firms, consumers, investors and the government interact to produce relevant economic outcomes. The course may not be taken for credit if ECON 102 has already been taken.