Jews and Cities: Between Communal History and Urban History

MA Seminar

This seminar will focus on the different ways that we research, write and speak about the long-standing connection between Jews and cities.  Are Jews really an inherently urban people? If so, how does this strange state of existence impact the way that they experienced different cities and how we imagine and write about the connection between Jews and cities.  In addition to theoretical literature on the city including works by Simmel, Benjamin and De Certeau, we will also employ a wide variety of intellectual tools - historical, literary, visual, geographic - to re-examine the experiences of Jews in cities as varied as St. Petersburg and London, Salonika and Tel Aviv-Jaffo, and Buenos Aires and New York.

Course Requirements: Active participation, in-class presentation, final paper