Related Brandeis Courses
* Please note that these courses are offered across several departments at Brandeis, as the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies is not a degree-granting program.
Spring 2010
Israel Studies
FA 153A- Israeli Art
Prof. Gannit Ankori
An examination of the visual arts created in Israel since the beginning of the twentieth century. Combines a chronological overview of major trends with an in-depth examination of select case studies of individual artists and specific themes.
Tuesday, Friday 12:10pm - 1:30pm
NEJS 145A- History of the State of Israel
Prof. Ilan Troen
Examines the development of the State of Israel from its foundation to the present time. Israel's politics, society, and culture will be thematically analyzed.
Monday, Wednesday 3:40pm - 5:00pm
NEJS 173A- Trauma and Violence in Israeli Literature and Film
Prof. Ilana Szobel
Explores trauma and violence in Israeli Literature, film, and art. Focuses in man-made disasters, war and terrorism, sexual and family violence, and murder and suicide, and examines their relation to nationalism, Zionism, gender, and sexual identity.
Tuesday, Friday 12:10pm - 1:30pm; Screening time Tuesday 4:40pm - 7:30pm
ANTH 176B- Mythic Tel Aviv
Prof. Maoz Azaryahu
Examines the cultural history of Tel Aviv by exploring the mythical dimensions and texture of the city. Combining historical and cultural analysis, the course explores the different myths that have been part of the vernacular and perception of the city. Although focusing on Tel Aviv, the course in many ways examines the broader complex stories of Israeli nationalism, identity, urbanism and place--illuminating important dimensions of Israeli society, culture and history. Exposes students to the questions, methods and perspectives of cultural geography.
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 1:10pm - 2:00pm
Middle East Studies
IMES 105A- War and Revolution in the Middle East
Prof. Kanan Makiya
Considers the impact of war and revolution in the shaping of the modern Middle East starting with the Arab-Israeli war of 1967. Focuses on the violent turning points that have changed the lives of millions of people.
Tuesday, Friday 9:10am - 10:30am
POL 166B- The Middle East in International Relations
Prof. Shai Feldman
Explores how the concepts, theories, and paradigms from the field of International Relations can be used to understand the politics of the Middle East.
Friday 9:10am - 12:00pm
ECON 122B- The Economics of the Middle East
Prof. Nader Habibi
Examines the Middle East economies--past experiences, present situation, and future challenges--drawing on theories, policy formulations and empirical studies of economic growth, trade, poverty, income distribution, labor markets, finance and banking, government reforms, globalization, and Arab-Israeli political economy.
Tuesday, Thursday 5:10pm - 6:30pm
Language-based Israel Studies
HBRW 34A- Intermediate Hebrew II: Aspects of Israeli Culture
Prof. Guy Antebi and Prof. Sara Hascal
An intermediate- to mid-level course, which helps students to strengthen their skills at this level. Contemporary cultural aspects will be stressed and a variety of materials will be used. Usually offered every semester.
Section 1 - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 10:10am - 11:00am
Tuesday 9:40am - 10:30am
Section 2 - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 1:10pm - 2:00pm
Tuesday 12:40pm - 1:30pm
HBRW 44B- Israeli Culture and Media
Prof. Vardit Ringvald and Prof. Guy Antebi
Reinforces the acquired skills of speaking, listening comprehension, reading, and writing at the intermediate to mid/high level. Contemporary cultural aspects are stressed; conversational Hebrew and reading of selections from modern literature, political essays, and newspaper articles. Required for NEJS majors and Hebrew majors and recommended for others who would like to continue studying Hebrew beyond the foreign language requirement. It is a prerequisite for many upper-level Hebrew courses. Usually offered every semester.
Section 1 - Monday, Wednesday ,Thursday 1:10pm - 2:00pm
Tuesday 12:40pm - 1:30pm
Section 2 - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 12:10pm - 1:00pm
HBRW 121B- Let's Converse in Hebrew II
Prof. Bracha Azoulay
An intermediate- to mid/high-level conversation course for students who wish to improve their speaking skills before entering more advanced-level courses. Role playing, vocabulary building, and guided speaking activities develop conversational skills for various situations. Reading and discussion of contemporary texts assist in vocabulary building.
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 10:10am - 11:00am
Tuesday 9:40am - 10:30am
HBRW 123B- Creative Reading and Writing in Hebrew
Prof. Sara Hascal
An intermediate- to mid/high-level course, which focuses on modern Hebrew prose and poetry stressing major trends. Students are expected to acquire better fluency in reading, writing, and conversation.
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 1:10pm - 2:00pm
HBRW 167B- Back to the Roots: The Revival of Modern Hebrew
Prof. Bonit Porath
An advanced course that surveys the origins of the Hebrew language and its development throughout the centuries, focusing on its major stages (biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern). Explores the unique phenomenon of its revival as a spoken language and its adaptation to the modern world.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 11:10am - 12:00pm
HBRW 168B- Hebrew Language Teaching II
Prof. Vardit Ringvald
An advanced-level methodology course that focuses on the theories and methodologies for teaching Hebrew. Course taught in Hebrew and in English. Designed primarily for students at the advanced level who are interested in eventually being able to teach Hebrew.
Monday, Wednesday 3:40pm - 5:00pm
HBRW 170A- Take I: Hebrew through Israeli Cinema
Prof. Bracha Azoulay
An advanced culture course that focuses on the various aspects of Israeli society as they are portrayed in Israeli films and television. In addition to viewing films, the students will be asked to read Hebrew background materials, to participate in class discussions, and to write in Hebrew about the films.
Monday, Wednesday 2:10pm - 3:30pm
Thursday 2:10pm - 3:00pm
Fall 2009
Israel Studies
NEJS 159A- Seminar on Modern Jewish History and Historiography
Prof. Eugene Sheppard
Aims to introduce students to the emergence of history as an academic discipline in the nineteenth century and to provide some acquaintance with the classics of historical scholarship. It will also examine the emergence of Jewish historiography and analyze critically the works of the major Jewish historians. In addition, it will assess the contributions of the "new" historians to historical understanding and see how far their insights can aid in the study of key problems in Jewish history.
Monday, Wednesday 2:10pm - 3:30pm
NEJS 177A- The Holocaust in Jewish Literature
Prof. Ilana Szobel
A broad survey of Holocaust writings in Modern Hebrew literature. Examines the psychological, social, moral, and aesthetic challenges involved in representing the Holocaust in Israeli context through literary texts, theoretical research, works of art, and film.
Tuesday, Friday 12:10pm - 1:30pm
NEJS 178A- Love, Sex, and Power in Israeli Culture
Prof. Ilana Szobel
Explores questions of romance, gender, marriage, and jealousy in the Israeli context by offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of Hebrew texts, works of art, and film.
Tuesday, Friday 10:40am - 12:00am
POL 142A- U.S- Israeli Relations: Interests, Values, Lobbies, and the "Special Relationship"
Lecturer Michal Ben-Josef Hirsch
This course subjects the U.S.-Israeli relationship to theoretically-informed, and historically-grounded critical evaluation. It examines strategic interests, cultural factors, and the activities of domestic and foreign lobbies.
Thursday 2:10pm - 5:00pm
ANTH 135A- The Sanctification of Space in Contemporary Israel
Prof. Yoram Bilu
Explores the myriad ways in which the "idea of the holy" is imprinted on the land in contemporary Israel. Case studies are used (including the commemoration of national death and the Holocaust, the Zionist pantheon at Mount Herzl, museums as sacred sites, Jewish-Moroccan saint veneration) to analyze processes of successful and abortive sanctification, highlight the role of agents of memory in contested cases, and discuss broader political and socio-cultural contexts.
Monday, Wednesday 5:10pm - 6:30pm
Middle East Studies
POL 164A- Conflict and Peacemaking in the Middle East
Prof. Shai Feldman Director, Crown Center for Middle East Studies and Dr. Khalil Shikaki Senior Fellow, Crown Center for Middle East Studies
This course offers students a unique opportunity to familiarize themselves with three different perspectives on the evolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the efforts to resolve it. During the first half of the semester, Prof. Feldman will focus on the regional dimension of the conflict and the efforts to resolve it. During the second half, team-taught by Prof. Feldman and Dr. Shikaki, discussion will shift to the Palestinian-Israeli bilateral dimension of the conflict.
Friday 9:10am - 12:00pm
Language-based Israel Studies
HBRW 34A- Intermediate Hebrew II: Aspects of Israeli Culture
Prof. Guy Antebi and Prof. Esther Shorr
An intermediate- to mid-level course, which helps students to strengthen their skills at this level. Contemporary cultural aspects will be stressed and a variety of materials will be used. Usually offered every semester.
Section 1 - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 9:10am - 10:00am
Tuesday 8:40am - 9:30am
Section 2 - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10:10am - 11:00am
Tuesday 9:40am - 10:30am
Section 3 - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 11:10am - 12:00pm
HBRW 35A- Conversation and Writing Skills
Prof. Bonit Porath
An intermediate-level course designed to improve the linguistic and writing skills of students who have an extensive background in the language but lack the academic skills to fulfill the language requirements or to pursue a higher level of Hebrew or Judaic studies.
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 1:20pm - 2:00pm
Tuesday 12:40pm - 1:30pm
HBRW 44B- Israeli Culture and Media
Prof. Bracha Azoulay and Prof. Bonit Porath
Reinforces the acquired skills of speaking, listening comprehension, reading, and writing at the intermediate to mid/high level. Contemporary cultural aspects are stressed; conversational Hebrew and reading of selections from modern literature, political essays, and newspaper articles. Required for NEJS majors and Hebrew majors and recommended for others who would like to continue studying Hebrew beyond the foreign language requirement. It is a prerequisite for many upper-level Hebrew courses. Usually offered every semester.
Section 1 - Monday, Wednesday ,Thursday 1:10pm - 2:00pm
Tuesday 12:40pm - 1:30pm
Section 2 - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 12:10pm - 1:00pm
HBRW 123A- Creative Reading and Writing in Hebrew
Prof. Sara Hascal
An intermediate- to mid/high-level course, which focuses on modern Hebrew prose and poetry stressing major trends. Students are expected to acquire better fluency in reading, writing, and conversation.
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 1:10pm - 2:00pm
Tuesday 12:40pm - 1:30pm
HBRW 144A- Hebrew through Plays and Drama
Prof. Bracha Azoulay and Prof. Sara Hascal
Helps improve Hebrew language skills at the intermediate-high/advanced-level by focusing on various creative aspects such as improvisations, drama, performance, and other acting techniques such as movement, imagination, and other basic skills necessary to act out scenes from various plays in the Hebrew language. Writing assignments and self-critique enhance the students' skills in language acquisition. The course culminates in the writing of one-act plays in Hebrew along with a theatrical performance and production.
Monday, Wednesday 2:10pm - 3:30pm
Thursday 2:10pm - 3:00pm
HBRW 146A- The Voices of Jerusalem
Prof. Sara Hascal
Aims to develop students' language proficiency through analysis of selected materials that depict the unique tradition, literature and poetry, history, politics, art, and other features related to Jerusalem.
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 12:10pm - 1:00pm
HBRW 161B- What's Up? Hebrew through Israeli News Media
Prof. Bonit Porath
For advanced students who wish to enhance proficiency and accuracy in writing and speaking. Israeli newspapers, films, clips from Israeli TV series and shows, and on-line resources will be used to promote language and cultural competency.
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 10:10am - 11:00am
Friday 9:40am - 10:30am
HBRW 168A- Hebrew Language Teaching I
Prof. Vardit Ringvald
An advanced-level methodology course that focuses on the theories and methodologies for teaching Hebrew. Course taught in Hebrew and in English. Designed primarily for students at the advanced level who are interested in eventually being able to teach Hebrew.
Monday, Wednesday 3:40pm - 5:00pm
Past Courses
Israel Studies
Gannit Ankori
- Israeli Art&
- Art and Trauma: Israeli, Palestinian, Latin American
and United States Art
Esther Carmel-Hakim, Lecturer in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
- Jewish Women in Pre-State Israel, 1882-1948
Gordon A. Fellman, Professor of Sociology
- Sociology of the Israeli-Palestinian Confrontation
Benjamin Gidron, Heller School for Social Polic and Management, Hornstein Professional Jewish Leadership Program
- Topics in Sustainable Development
- The Third Sector in Society & Non Profit Organization
and Society
Motti Inbari, Schusterman Center and NEJS Post-Doctoral Fellow
- Fundamentalism in a Comparative Perspective
- Messianism and the State of Israel
Edward Kaplan, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
- Abraham Joshua Heschel: Spirituality and Action
Yehuda Kurtzer, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
- Diaspora and Jewish Identities
Hanna Naveh, Visiting Professor, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
- Family Myths: Imagining the Family in Modern Hebrew
Literature - Heroes and Anti-Heroes in Modern Hebrew Literature
Benjamin Ravid, Jennie and Mayer Weisman Professor of Jewish History
- Anti-Judaism, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Zionism
Sharon Rivo, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Film Studies
- Jews on Screen
Ambassador Dennis Ross, Fred and Rita Richman Distinguished
Visiting Professor
- The Arab-Israeli Conflict
Eugene Sheppard, Associate Professor of Modern Jewish History and Thought; Associate Director of the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry; Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
- History of Zionist Thought
- Major Trends in Modern Jewish Philosophy
- Trials of Truth, Power, and Justice
- Zionism and Its Critics: Contested Visions of Jewish
Nationalism - Seminar on Modern Jewish History and Historiography
Ellen Smith, Lecturer in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program; Associate Director of Hornstein’s Gralla Fellows Program for Religion Journalists
- Foster Seminar in Israel on Contemporary Jewish Life
Asher Susser, Senior Fellow on the Myra and Robert Kraft Chair in Arab Politics; Former Director of the Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University
- Contemporary Politics in the Middle East
- Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinians: Between War and
Peace
Ilana Szobel, Assistant Professor on the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Chair
in Hebrew Literature
- Advanced Survey of Hebrew and Israeli Literature II
- (Re)Imagining Israel: Narrative, Identity, and Zionism
in Hebrew Literature - Representing the Holocaust in Hebrew Literature
- When a Man Loves a Woman: Love, Power, and Gender in
Modern Hebrew Literature - The Howl of Simple Words: Reading Gender in Israeli
Literature and Cinema - Promises and Fulfillment: Israeli Life in Hebrew
Literature - Line of Resistance: Israeli Women Writers on War
and Peace
Ilan Troen, Director, Schusterman Center for Israel Studies; Karl, Harry, and Helen Stoll Family Chair in Israel Studies
- Conflict and Controversies in Israeli History: graduate
seminar - Divergent Jewish Cultures: Israel and America
- History of the State of Israel, Zionism to the Present
- Schusterman Graduate Scholars Seminar
- Topics in Israeli Social and Political History
- War and Peace in Israeli Thought and Praxis
David Wright, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
- The World of the Ancient Near East
Middle East Studies
Shai Feldman, Director, Crown Center for Middle East Studies
- Arms Control in the Middle East
- Conflict and Peacemaking in the Middle East
Eric S. Graber, Lecturer on the Henry J. Leir Chair on the Economics of the Middle East; Senior Fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies
- The Economics of the Middle East
Nader Habibi, Henry J. Leir Professor of the Economics of the Middle East; Fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies; Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics
- The Economics of the Middle East
Banu Eligur, Madeleine Haas Russell Visiting Assistant Professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies; Research Fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies
- Civil Society in the Middle East
- Political Islam: Introduction to Islamist Social
Movements in the Middle East
Avigdor Levy, Professor of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies; Director of the Graduate Program in Middle East Studies, NEJS
- The Destruction of the Ottoman Empire, 1800-1923
- Jews in the World of Islam
- Religion and Society in the Modern Middle East
- The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1800
- Seminar on States and Minorities in the Middle East
Kanan Makiya, Sylvia K. Hassenfeld Professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
- Describing Cruelty
- The Monument and the City
- Political Cultures of the Middle East
Yitzhak Nakash, Associate Professor of Modern Middle East Studies
- History and Memory of the Modern Middle East
- The Making of the Modern Middle East
- Political Cultures of the Middle East
Lawrence Rubin, Lecturer Crown Center for Middle East Studies
- Contemporary Politics in the Middle East
Franck F. Salameh, Lecturer in Arabic
- Societies in Conflict: Exploring the Middle East through
Authentic Materials
Cengiz Sisman, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
- Political Islam
- Islam, the Middle East and the West
Nagmeh Sohrabi, Lecturer in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
- Modern Middle East through Art and Culture
- History of the Modern Middle East
Language-based Israel Studies
Bracha Azoulay
- Israeli Cinema
Guy Antebi, Lecturer in Hebrew Language
- Intermediate Hebrew II: Aspects of Israeli Culture
- Israeli Culture and Media
Aliza Brosh, Lecturer in Hebrew Language
- Advanced Hebrew Conversation
- Intermediate Hebrew II: Aspects of Israeli Culture
Sara Hascal, Lecturer in Hebrew Language
- Introduction to Modern Hebrew Literature I
- Introduction to Modern Hebrew Literature II
- Intermediate Hebrew II: Aspects of Israeli Culture
- Israeli Theater
- Portrait of the Israeli Woman
- The Voices of Jerusalem
Bonit Porath, Senior Lecturer in Hebrew Language
- Introduction to Modern Hebrew Literature II
- Israel Today: Advanced Conversation and Writing
Vardit Ringvald, Professor of Hebrew Language; Director of the Hebrew
& Arabic Language Program
- Israeli Cinema
- Societies in Conflict: Exploring the Middle East through
Authentic Materials
Guy Abutbul Selinger, Lecturer in Hebrew Language
- Conversation: Israel, The Early Years
Esther Shorr, Lecturer in Hebrew Language
- Intermediate Hebrew II: Aspects of Israeli Culture
Rina Winkelman, Lecturer in Hebrew Language
- Advanced Hebrew: Aspects of Israeli Culture
- Conversation: Israel, Immigrants and Minorities
- The Voices of Jerusalem
Michal Yohay, Lecturer in Hebrew Language
- Israeli Cinema