2012 Winter Program

Course List · January 10 – 26, 2012

Sholem Aleichem, Isaac Babel, Philip Roth

Instructor: Jonathan Brent

Students will study the works of three Jewish authors and explore how they relate to their own Jewish identity and to their literary and historical contexts. Readings include selections from the Tevye stories, Red Cavalry, The Odessa Stories, and The Ghost Writer.

Jewish Lublin: From its Constitution to its Restitution

Instructor: Adina Cimet

The course reviews the history and culture of Jewish Lublin from a sociological perspective. Delving into specifics of Jewish history and culture, students will seek to understand the effervescence that produced the varied branches of modern Jewish life. It will also examine the effects of the violence this culture endured and modern efforts at ‘”cultural restitution.”

The History of East European Jewish Life

Instructors: David Fishman and Samuel Kassow

This course will provide an introduction to all facets of East European Jewish Life: social, religious, economic, intellectual, and political. It will trace the evolution of Eastern Ashkenazic culture from the early Jewish settlements in Poland at the end of the Middle Ages through the rise and fall of the shtetl, the breakdown of orthodox hegemony, the new movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the Holocaust.

Introduction to the History and Geography of Yiddish

Instructor: Paul Glasser

This course will explore the origins of the Yiddish language and its development throughout its millennium of existence. It will trace the history of Yiddish from its emergence in a corner of Western Europe to the height of its spread across the globe and through its place in the modern era. Some knowledge of Yiddish recommended.

East European Jewish Folklore

Instructor: Itzik Gottesman

This course will investigate the rich world of Jewish Folklore in Eastern Europe including: daily folklife, folksong, folktale, festival, custom and belief. We will examine and discuss the folktexts and analyze and interpret them from various viewpoints.

The Art of Yiddish Translation

Instructor: Barbara Harshav

How does a translator remain faithful to both the content and the style of a text? Is Yiddish more difficult to translate than other languages? In what ways can a translator capture the significance of Yiddish’s use of its Hebraic, Germanic, and Slavic components? These questions and others will be explored in depth. Some knowledge of Yiddish recommended.

Marc Chagall

Instructor: Benjamin Harshav

This course will explore the life, art, and writings of the great Russian-Jewish painter. It will investigate Chagall’s relationships to the great events and ideologies of his time: from Communism and the Russian Revolution to surrealism to Zionism. Particular attention will be paid to the complex relationships between Chagall’s three cultural identities: Jewish-Russian-French.

Archival Research in Yiddish Sources

Instructor: Robert Shapiro

This course will introduce students to archival and published resources for conducting research into the history and culture of Polish Jewry by focusing on materials related to the city of Łódź. Students will discuss how to evaluate various types of primary sources. Special emphasis will be given to resources available in the YIVO Archives. Open to students taking the class for credit only

Vitebsk: From Jewish Settlement to the Center of the Russian Avant-Garde

Instructor: Aleksandra Shatskikh

The city of Vitebsk, in what is now the republic of Belarus, was for a few years in the early 20th century one of the most vibrant artistic centers in Europe. In addition to Marc Chagall, many prominent figures in Russian and Yiddish culture were associated with Vitebsk. In 1918-1922 Vitebsk served as a seeming oasis within the turbulence of revolution, civil war and famine, and provided a temporary haven for some of the most advanced concepts in European art.

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