10573 German Jewry and the Challenge of Modernization 1
Credits: 6 advanced credits in Modern History of the Jewish People
Prerequisites: 36 credits, including one course in Modern History or in Modern History of the Jewish People. Students must also fulfill all English requirements and take bibliographic instruction in the Library.
The course is based on Between Dissimilation and Assimilation – German Jewry 1780-1918, by Shulamit Volkov (The Open University, 2003, Hebrew).
Jews in an Era of Transition (10204) discussed changes that took place in the lives of the Jewish minorities as a result of modernization processes. This course probes deeper into the changes that occurred in the Jewish community in Germany and covers the period from the Enlightenment until 1918, while highlighting the main social, economic, political, and cultural themes in the history of German Jewry and their relations with their non-Jewish surroundings.
Topics: Jewish Enlightenment; Jewish emancipation; Wissenschaft des Judentums; Different religious movements among German Jewry; Major political movements among German Jewry at the end of the 19th century.
1Students may write a seminar paper in this course although it is not required.
Students enrolled in this course may only take one additional course from among the following: French Jewry from the French Revolution to the Dreyfus Affair (10308), Modernization of East European Jewry (10310).