Transfer Student Courses in Judaic Studies (Division 407)

Winter Term, 2000 (January 5 - April 26, 2000)

To see what Transfer Student courses have been added or changed in Judaic Studies this week go to What's New This Week.

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Judith Nysenholc (jnysenho@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Yiddish 101. (3). (LR).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This is the second of a two-term sequence designed to develop basic skills in speaking, understanding, reading, and writing Yiddish. Active class participation is required as are periodic quizzes, exams, a midterm and final.

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Judith Nysenholc (jnysenho@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Yiddish 201. (3). (LR).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This is the fourth term of a language sequence in Yiddish. The course is designed to develop fluency in oral and written comprehension, and to offer a further understanding of the culture within which Yiddish has developed. Special emphasis will be devoted to reading material. Course grade will be based on exams, quizzes, written work, and oral class participation.

Section 001 – Modern Yiddish Literature and Jewish Nationalism.

Instructor(s): Judith Nysenholc (jnysenho@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

We will study how the consciousness of Yiddish as a Jewish national language emerged and developed and how modern Yiddish writers construct, explore and explode myths of Jewish nationalism. We will discuss such questions as: Why is Yiddish chosen for cultural expression? What is the significance of writing in a homeless language? How is Jewish nationalism understood and configured in this literature? How do these writers relate to a Jewish homeland, to Jewish tradition and history, to other national literatures? To explore these issues, we will read a selection of texts in various genres (fiction, poetry, drama, essays), from different periods (from the nineteenth century to the aftermath of the Holocaust), and from Eastern Europe as well as America. Possible authors will include the classic Yiddish fiction writers (Mendele Moykher-Sforim, Sholem Aleykhem, I.L. Peretz), playwright Sh. Ansky, Nobel Prize winner I.B. Singer, poets Mani Leyb, Moyshe-Leyb Halpern, Kadya Molodovsky, Dovid Hofshteyn, Itsik Feffer, Yankev Glatshteyn, Avrom Sutzkever. When appropriate, we will complement our exploration with examples from film, music and the visual arts.

Course requirements: attendance, participation, one group-led discussion (if class size permits), short response papers, one longer paper and a final.