Jewish Studies (JWST)Arts and Sciences

Showing 23 results.

Course descriptions provided by the 2026-2027 Catalog.

Last Updated

  • Schedule of Classes - March 20, 2026 3:39PM EDT

JWST 1101
Elementary Modern Hebrew I

An introductory course in Modern Hebrew is designed for students with no prior experience in the language. It provides a comprehensive foundation in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, gradually ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HEBRW 1101

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  8896 JWST 1101   SEM 101

  •  
    • MTWR
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Shoer, S

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    For scheduling conflicts, contact instructor.

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HEBRW 1101

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  8897 JWST 1101   SEM 102

  •  
    • MTWR
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Shoer, S

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    For scheduling conflicts, contact instructor.

JWST 1103
Elementary Modern Hebrew III

Intermediate Modern Hebrew is designed to strengthen students' proficiency in Modern Hebrew by advancing their reading, writing, listening, and conversation skills. The curriculum incorporates ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HEBRW 1103

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  8899 JWST 1103   SEM 101

  •  
    • MTWR
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Shoer, S

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    For scheduling conflicts, contact instructor.

JWST 1776
Elementary Yiddish I

Elementary Yiddish I is the first in a three-class sequence that will enable students to meet their Arts & Sciences language requirement in Yiddish. It provides an introduction to reading, writing, listening, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: GERST 1776, YIDSH 1776

  • 4 Credits Graded

  •  8995 JWST 1776   SEM 101

  •  
    • MTWR
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Forman, D

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

JWST 1987
FWS: Jews on Film: Visible and Invisible

Why were Jews virtually invisible in films produced during the Hollywood's golden age? Is this a surprise, given the leading role played by American Jews in founding the studio system? Writing about the ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  •  2612 JWST 1987   SEM 101

  •  
    • TR
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Shapiro, E

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://knight.as.cornell.edu/.

JWST 2001
Russian Jews and Jewish Russians in Literature and Film

Explore the ways of 19th to 21st century Russian Jewry through survey of literature and film. Learn about life in Russia from the perspective of Jewish and Russian-Jewish writers as well as through portrayal ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: RUSSL 2001

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  2743 JWST 2001   SEM 101

  •  
    • TR
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Krivitsky, R

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

JWST 2195
Biography, History, and Modernity

Drawing on a combination of primary and secondary sources, this course explores the multiple forms and evolution of biographical writing from the Renaissance onward. We will interrogate the relationship ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: HIST 2195, SHUM 2195

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 16313 JWST 2195   SEM 101

  •  
    • TR

    • Juni, M

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  • 16314 JWST 2195   IND 601

  •  

    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies

JWST 2467
Holocaust in History and Memory

This course explores the history of the Holocaust during which the Nazis murdered six million Jews. Topics covered in this class include the history of antisemitism in Europe and twentieth-century Germany, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: GERST 2567, HIST 2567, SHUM 2467

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  9023 JWST 2467   LEC 001

  •  
    • MW
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Burzlaff, J

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

JWST 2488
Modern Israel: History, Culture, Society

This course is an introductory survey to various aspects of Israeli culture, society, and history. Through a close examination of various media (film, music, literature) as well as key events and social ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: NES 2488

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  9027 JWST 2488   LEC 001

  •  
    • MW
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Burns, R

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

JWST 2580
Imagining the Holocaust

How is the memory of the Holocaust kept alive by means of the literary and visual imagination? Within the historical context of the Holocaust and how and why it occurred, we shall examine major and widely ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 2580, ENGL 2580

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  8862 JWST 2580   LEC 001

  •  
    • TR
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Schwarz, D

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

JWST 2666
Apocalypse!

For thousands of years, people have believed that the world is ending imminently. In this course, we will examine the roots of apocalyptic thinking in the ancient world, especially among Jews and Christians. ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •  8914 JWST 2666   LEC 001

  •  
    • MW
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Haines-Eitzen, K

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

JWST 2724
Conflict and Coexistence in the Jewish Bible-Old Testament

The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) is a repository of ancient Israelite religious, political, social, historical, and literary traditions. For the modern reader these ancient traditions are often obscured ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: NES 2724, RELST 2724

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  8972 JWST 2724   LEC 001

  •  
    • TR
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Monroe, L

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

JWST 2852
Judaism and the Origins of Christianity

Most people think of Christianity as the daughter religion of Judaism. In this course, we will see that what we now know as Judaism and Christianity both claimed ownership of the same textual tradition ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HIST 2852, RELST 2852

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16272 JWST 2852   LEC 001

  •  
    • MW

    • Litvak, O

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

JWST 2925
The Anthropology of Israel-Palestine

This course is an introductory survey of the history, culture, and society of Ottoman and Mandate Palestine and Palestine/Israel. Students will learn about the history the region from the 19th Century ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ANTHR 2925, NES 2925

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  9036 JWST 2925   LEC 001

  •  
    • TR
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Silver, J

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

JWST 3101
Advanced Modern Hebrew I

This constitutes the first course in our third year of the Modern Hebrew language sequence. Development of speech proficiency will be emphasized. Over the course of the semester, students will develop ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HEBRW 3101

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  8918 JWST 3101   SEM 101

  •  
    • MTW
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Goldfeld, A

    • R
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Goldfeld, A

    • R
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Goldfeld, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

JWST 3103
Advanced Hebrew Through Media

This course is intended to continue the development of all aspects of Hebrew language skills. Emphasis, however, will be placed on speaking skills and understanding through the use of various outlets in ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HEBRW 3103

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  9003 JWST 3103   SEM 101

  •  
    • MTWR
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Goldfeld, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

JWST 3175
Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition: Inquisitors, Heretics, and Truth in the Early Modern World

This course uses the history of the Spanish Inquisition, and the richness of its archival records, to explore the variety of ways in which the pursuit of heresy was intertwined with transforming how knowledge ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one independent study. Combined with: HIST 3175, NES 3175, SHUM 3175

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 16320 JWST 3175   LEC 001

  •  
    • TR
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Juni, M

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  • 16321 JWST 3175   IND 601

  •  
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies

JWST 4310
Methods in Medieval

Topic: Writing Through the Forest in Search of Trees. Hello, Humanities Student! Are you a plotter or a pantser? Not sure? Come and join us to find out, and to gain valuable insight into what kind of a ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •  5489 JWST 4310   SEM 101

    • M
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Robinson, C

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    Instructor Consent Required (Add)

JWST 4548
The Bible in America

This course will focus on the array of perspectives offered in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament on such contemporary social issues as: immigration; abortion rights, surrogate childbirth, gay marriage, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: AMST 4548, NES 4548, RELST 4548

  • 3 Credits Graded

  •  8984 JWST 4548   SEM 102

  •  
    • R
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Monroe, L

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

JWST 4769
Research in Jewish Studies

This course offers Jewish Studies majors a chance to write a significant research essay that allows for depth of study of a topic of interest to each individual student. Because it is a required course ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  •  9009 JWST 4769   SEM 101

  •  
    • TR
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

JWST 4913
Walter Benjamin

This extraordinary figure died in 1941, and his death is emblematic of the intellectual depredations of Nazism. Yet since World War II, his influence, his reputation, and his fascination for scholars ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none

  • 13146 JWST 4913   SEM 101

  •  
    • M
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Boyarin, J

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

JWST 4998
Honors Research I

The first half of a two-semester sequence for Jewish Studies majors who wish to conduct research for an honors thesis. In this class, student research will be guided through individual meetings with the ... view course details

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  •  9010 JWST 4998   SEM 101

    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    Instructor Consent Required (Add)

JWST 6310
Methods in Medieval

Topic: Writing Through the Forest in Search of Trees. Hello, Humanities Student! Are you a plotter or a pantser? Not sure? Come and join us to find out, and to gain valuable insight into what kind of a ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none

  •  5512 JWST 6310   SEM 101

  •  
    • M
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Robinson, C

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

JWST 7913
Walter Benjamin

This extraordinary figure died in 1941, and his death is emblematic of the intellectual depredations of Nazism. Yet since World War II, his influence, his reputation, and his fascination for scholars in ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none

  • 13151 JWST 7913   SEM 101

  •  
    • M
    • Aug 24 - Dec 7, 2026

    • Boyarin, J

  • Instruction Mode: In Person