WesMaps - Wesleyan University Catalog 2008-2009       Summer Session       Winter Session       Home       Archive       Search
CS92PROD
The Making of American Jewish Identities: Blood, Bris, Bagels, and Beyond


RELI 384
Spring 2009
Section: 01  
Crosslisting: AMST 383
Certificates: Jewish and Israel Studies
Course Cluster: Jewish and Israel Studies

Jewish identities in the United States, and perhaps elsewhere, have been difficult to define in categorical terms. Jewishness is often seen, and lived, as an amorphous peoplehood--on the boundaries of such categories as religion, race, ethnicity, nation, culture, class gender, and sexuality. This course will examine some of the conceptual and political categories that have been used since the 19th century to construct and interpret American Jewish identities. By examining the ties and tensions among these categories of identity, students will gain a new understanding of American Jewishness, as well as a critical perspective on the process of collective identity formation. What, we will ask, does the endless proliferation of categories around Jewishness tell us about the nature of collective identity, as such? Is Jewishness somehow unique, or distinctive, in this categorical multiplicity? Or does the ambiguity of American Jewishness give us insight into the ambiguity of other identities?

Essential Capabilities: None
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS RELI
Course Format: DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: (AMST)(RELI)
Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available

Last Updated on NOV-13-2024
Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions. Please include a url, course title, faculty name or other page reference in your email ? Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459