This course focuses on the way in which writers, filmmakers, artists and cultural
institutions (museums, schools, etc.) have contributed to the construction of an indelible
“Holocaust memory” in America and elsewhere since the end of WWII. We will study the
representations of the Holocaust through a variety of media and genres: documentaries,
feature films, museum exhibits, oral histories and some of the classics of Holocaust
literature (in memoirs, fiction, and sequential art). A selection of secondary sources
will illustrate the historical context of the Holocaust and enrich our discussions
with interesting and discomforting questions from the perspective of literary theory,
gender studies, philosophy, and more. The main concern of our exploration is not “how”
(or “why”) this atrocious genocide happened, but in what way such untellable experiences
can be told through the arts. And if they can be told at all.
This seminar draws from many disciplines, including education, the arts and humanities,
history, religion, African American studies, Jewish studies, and popular culture (including
film, literature, social media and music). Consideration will be given to the historical
antecedents which form the basis of contemporary educational pedagogies derived from
Black and Jewish culture. Specific historical and contemporary events where Blacks
and Jews worked together or were pitted against each other will be deliberated. By
looking at sites of connection and disconnection between these two ethnic groups,
students will consider the current state of Blacks and Jews with an emphasis on the
role of education. The course will draw from social constructivist, critical race,
emancipatory, and decolonizing frameworks.
An understanding of the African American and Jewish interrelated experiences requires
a basic understanding of the cultural constructs of race, systemic racism, colonization,
assimilation, and activism. By using the interrelated experiences of the African American
and Jewish communities, students will gain understanding of how the consciousness
of minoritized people can be manipulated in American society at large and specifically
in schooling systems. Accordingly, the course will use multiple theories to analyze
and deconstruct institutional structures, events, and people based on race, religion,
and class. In addition, the course will offer new paradigms for understanding the
impact of power and privilege in and out of school systems that affected both groups.
The Hebrew Bible is a cornerstone of Western culture, literature, and religion. For
more than two thousand years, the Hebrew Bible – from its stories to laws, hymns to
prophecies – has served as religious, artistic, and psychological inspiration for
multitudes. This course will offer the opportunity to experience, contextualize, critique,
and enjoy the Hebrew Bible in its diversity. JSTU 301 will immerse you in the diverse literary worlds of the Hebrew Bible, emphasizing
how rich the multiple voices contained within the various biblical texts can be.
