Course Schedule and Catalog

Long Title: WHY THE JEWS? THEORIES OF ANTISEMITISM

Department: Jewish Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Language of Instruction: Taught in English

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 3

Description: This class explores some of the major theoretical statements on antisemitism produced
in the modern period. Beginning with a brief look at the history of Jewish emancipation
and the ensuing debates about the “Jewish Question,” the course will consider the ways that antisemitism has been understood from the perspectives of history, theology, psychoanalysis, Marxism, critical theory, postcolonial thought, and more. The class will conclude with a consideration of the fraught contemporary arguments about the relationship between antisemitism and Zionism.