This course examines contemporary manifestations of antisemitism and islamophobia in Canada. It begins by providing a brief historical review of Christian anti-Jewish thought and theology as put forward by the early Church fathers, Augustine and the subsequent papal bulls. The significance of the role of the Jew as moneylender in medieval feudal Europe will be […]
This course offers an exploration of Jewish beliefs, institutions, and bodies of literature, emphasizing continuities and changes in religious expression within and across different places, circumstances, and times. Themes covered include God, the Jewish people, Torah and its interpretation, the land of Israel; the commandments (mitzvot) and their legal (halakhic) expressions; the Sabbath; daily and […]
The origins of modern antisemitism can be traced to pagan hostility toward the Jews, Christian anti-Judaism, and the popular demonization of the Jews by the Middle Ages. The emergence of ideologies supported by pseudo-science to justify the exclusion and removal of the Jews from European society and their eventual extermination is very much a result, […]
This course examines how the Holocaust is represented and taught in Canada, Germany and Poland in the context of racism and multiculturalism in these three countries. It combines aspects of cultural studies, history, religious studies and literary studies.
A survey of the literature of the Hebrew Bible within the context of its world. Students examine the text in translation and become familiar with a variety of literary, historical and theological approaches to the text.
This course analyzes themes and art relevant to children and youth in adolescents' and children's Holocaust literature. Participants apply cognitive and affective modes of perception-ways of knowing, perceiving, and sensing- to read through the eyes of the main characters, predominantly children and youth.
This course analyzes themes and art relevant to children and youth in adolescents’ and children’s Holocaust literature: novels, picture books and poetry. Participants apply cognitive and affective modes of perception—ways of knowing, perceiving, and sensing— to read through the eyes of the main characters, predominantly children and youth. Themes include growing up/down in ghettos and […]
This course takes a historical approach to writings produced in the second generation of the Jesus movements, including the gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John. The course begins with a discussion of the first-century Palestinian context for traditions about Jesus before turning to the ways Jesus was portrayed in the earliest narratives about him. […]
This course explores the literary, social and cultural context of the apostle Paul and the recipients of his letters while also considering the legacies of Paul after his death. The course begins with a study of Paul's own writings (seven letters written ca. 50-60 CE to Christian communities throughout the Mediterranean world), through early biographical […]
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 […]