AP/JWST 3860 6.00

Modern History of the Jews

What defines the modern era in the history of the Jews? This course proposes multiple answers to that question as it explores developments in Jewish culture, identity, religion, and politics, as well as relations between Jews and their non-Jewish neighbours, from the sixteenth century until the present. It employs a comparative perspective and surveys developments across the globe. Among the themes examined are the breakdown of traditional society, messianism, Emancipation and integration, religious reform, antisemitism, Jewish nationalism and socialism, the Holocaust, language politics, the emergence of the State of Israel, and trends in post-World War II Jewish life. The focus will be on the Jews of Europe and the Ottoman Empire and the centres of contemporary Jewish life, Israel and North America.