American Jews have played vital roles in shaping the critical reform movements that have defined twentieth- and twentieth-first-century American society. This course will explore the striking profile of Jewish engagement in broad social movements including labor, civil rights, and feminism. In addition, it will examine how the creation of organizations meant to address particular Jewish interests propelled Jews and Jewish communities into the forefront of American municipal reform and social welfare efforts.

Even as conflicts over civil rights and support for Israel in recent decades have called American Jewish progressivism into question, Jews continue to display a liberalism that undermines conventional explanations for the political behavior of all comparable groups. How should we understand this legacy of American Jewish social and political activism? Is it a meaningful reflection of Jewish teachings and historical experience? What might it teach about the complex political, religious, class, social, and racial dynamics that have shaped the contours of American Jewish identity?