Syllabi
HISTORY OF AMERICAN JEWS
Prof. Deborah Dash Moore
University of Michigan
Winter 2007
Required Reading (Books - all in paperback):
Riv-Ellen Prell, Fighting to Become Americans (Beacon, 2000)
Deborah R. Weiner Coalfield Jews (University of Illinois Press, 2006)
Emily Bingham, Mordecai (Hill & Wang, 2004)
Jenna Weissman Joselit, The Wonders of America (Hill & Wang, 1996) Michael E. Staub, Torn at the Roots (Columbia University Press, 2004)
Required Films:
"Hester Street" "Annie Hall" "Daniel"
"The Chosen"
"America and the Holocaust"
Course description:
This course explores the history of American Jews focusing on immigration, politics, cultural creativity, religious change, and the establishment of a diasporic community with ties to Jews throughout the world. The course asks how Jews resolved the tensions between being Jewish and American.
Course requirements:
Read, think, consider, compare, discuss, write, question, and come to class. Lectures will build upon required reading and viewing. To learn, students will need to engage the material before they come to class and be ready to question and consider alternative interpretations. There will be four short (500 words) response papers. Students can choose the one topic they will not write on. These papers will address readings or films or photos. They are designed to let students explore different methodologies and ways of thinking about sources.
Course Schedule:
Jan. 8 Introduction: What is American Jewish History?
Jan. 10 Immigration: Ghetto Girls and Swells; reading: Prell, pp. 21-57.
Jan. 15 Love, Marriage, and Middle Class Aspirations; reading: Prell, pp. 58-123.
Additional: Joselit, pp. 9-54.
Jan. 17 Acculturation; Film: "Hester Street"
First Response Paper Due
Jan. 22 Second Generation Struggles; reading: Prell, pp. 142-176.
Jan. 24 Jewish American Princess; reading: Prell, pp. 177-208.
Additional: Staub, 241-279.
Jan. 29 Settlement and Work; reading: Weiner, pp. 1-90.
Jan. 31 Making a Living; reading: Weiner, pp. 91-119
Feb. 5 Community and Conflict; reading: Weiner, pp. 120-190.
Richard Nagler, My Love Affair with Miami Beach
Second Response Paper Due
Feb. 7 Picturing Jews; film: "Annie Hall."
Feb.12 Family, Love and Marriage; reading: Bingham, pp. 3-93.
Feb.14 Religious Scruples; reading: Bingham, pp. 127-176.
Feb.19 Conversion and Conflict; reading: Bingham, pp. 191-234.
Third Response Paper Due
Feb.21 Family Dramas; film: "Daniel"
Mar. 5 Politics in Postwar America; reading: Staub, pp. 19-44.
Film: "America and the Holocaust"
Texts: reviews of "America and the Holocaust"
Mar. 7 Civil Rights; reading: Staub, pp. 45-111.
Mar. 8 “’It's ‘Cause I's Black': Jews and the Whiteness Problem”
Lecture by Dr. Andrew Heinze, 7:00 p.m. 2022 Thayer Bldg
Mar. 12 Israel and Vietnam; reading: Staub, pp. 112-152.
Mar. 13 Final Paper topic and bibliography due (optional)
Mar. 14 Radical Zionism; reading: Staub, pp. 194-240,280-308.
Fourth Response Paper Due
Mar. 19 Religious Change; reading: Joselit, pp. 55-133.
Mar. 21 American Judaism in the Making; reading: Joselit, pp. 135-169.
Mar. 26 Kitchen Judaism; reading: Joselit, pp. 171-218.
Mar. 28 Holidays and Holy Days; reading: Joselit, pp. 219-263.
Texts: American Haggadahs
Apr. 6 Fifth Response Paper Due
Apr. 9 Rethinking Orthodox Judaism; film: "The Chosen"
Apr.1 Ritual Behavior; Reading: Joselit, pp. 265-296.
Apr.16 Conclusion