Syllabi Archive

A 1998 course by Eliezer Segal at the University of Calgary explores "the principal streams of Jewish religious thought and activity from the end of the Talmudic era until the European Emancipation" with focus on philosophical rationalism, rabbinic activity, and Kabbalah.

A 2006 course taught by Dan Clanton at Doane College serves as "an introduction to the literature and history of the Second Temple Period in Judaism (539 B.C.E.-70 C.E.).

A 2001 course by Roy Furman and Jeffrey Carlson at DePaul University is "a critical consideration of the moral, religious and theological implications of Nazi Germany’s "war against the Jews," the intentional and calculated destruction of some 6 million European Jews" through analysis of "the development of racial anti-Semitism and religious anti-Judaism."

A 2004 course by Annette Reed at McMaster University explores "classical Rabbinic biblical interpretation in its socio-historical, literary, and theological contexts. We will consider the emergence of a distinctively Rabbinic approach to exegesis and the development of literary forms for its expression, while also investigating the place of Torah in the ideology of Rabbinic Judaism and in the evolving self-conception of the Sage."

A course by Naomi Sokoloff at the University of Washington offers a "survey of modern Hebrew literature and its major developments in the past 100 years includes selections of fiction and poetry by a range of writers from Europe, Israel and the U.S."

A 1999 course by Eliezer Segal at the University of Calgary surveys "the main currents of modern Jewish thought and religious life, dealing with theological, literary and sociological topics."

A 2010 course by Ira Chernus at the University of Colorado at Boulder provides " a basic introduction to the historical development of Judaism from its beginnings to the present day. We will focus on the religious experiences, worldviews, beliefs, behaviors, and symbols of the Jewish tradition, and on the historical forces--cultural, political, social, and economic--that have shaped Judaism."

A course by Peter Haas at Vanderbilt University serves as an introduction to Judaism.

A course by Stephen Wasserstrom at Reed College analyzes "Judaism’s understanding of itself by examining such central concepts as God, Torah and Israel. This central self-definition will then be tested by means of close readings of selected representative texts, and by investigating the range of Jewish history. In the final Unit we will study the rise of the State of Israel, the Holocaust, and American Jewish movements."

A 2013 course by David Ariel-Joel at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary that surveys "the dominant values and practices of what became traditional Judaism."