HEBR 1001 Elementary Hebrew (4 Credits)

Hebrew 1001 is designed for students with little or no prior knowledge of Hebrew. This course aims to provide practical language skills for meaningful communication in real-life situations. It is designed to develop all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, weaving them all into daily classes through a communicative-cultural approach. First course in a three-quarter sequence.

HEBR 1002 Elementary Hebrew (4 Credits)

Hebrew 1002 is the second course in a three-quarter sequence. This course aims to provide practical language skills for meaningful communication in real-life situations. It is designed to develop all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, weaving them all into daily classes through a communicative-cultural approach. Prerequisite: HEBR 1001 or equivalent.

HEBR 1003 Elementary Hebrew (4 Credits)

This is the third course in the elementary Hebrew sequence. It aims to provide practical language skills for meaningful communication in real-life situations. It is designed to develop all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, weaving them all into daily classes through a communicative-cultural approach. Prerequisite: HEBR 1002 or equivalent.

HEBR 2001 Intermediate Hebrew (4 Credits)

Continuation of language study with emphasis on the living language of contemporary Israel. Three-quarter sequence. Prerequisite: HEBR 1003 or equivalent.

HEBR 2002 Intermediate Hebrew (4 Credits)

Continuation of language study with emphasis on the living language of contemporary Israel. Three-quarter sequence. Prerequisite: HEBR 2001 or equivalent.

HEBR 2003 Intermediate Hebrew (4 Credits)

Continuation of language study with emphasis on the living language of contemporary Israel. Three-quarter sequence. Prerequisite: HEBR 2002 or equivalent.

HEBR 2370 Multicultural Israel: Food, Film and Beyond (4 Credits)

In this course participants will examine Israeli culture and identity using a broad array of materials and topics, including popular music, film, sports, and food. Topics include Israel’s society, ethnic relations, and the Arab minorities in the Jewish state. Students also discuss whether there is a unique Israeli culture and the struggle for Israel’s identity. Emphasis is on interdisciplinary approaches to exploring how cultural processes and artifacts are produced, shaped, distributed, consumed, and responded to in diverse ways. Through discussion, research, writing and various media resources, class members investigate these varied dimensions of culture; learn to understand them in their broader social, aesthetic, ethical, and political contexts. This course fulfills the Analytical Inquiry - Society & Culture common curriculum requirement.

HEBR 2380 Multicultural Israel through Popular Music (4 Credits)

The music of Israel is a combination of Jewish and non-Jewish music traditions that have come together over the course of a century to create a distinctive musical culture. This course presents a brief cultural history of Israel through popular music. To examine the central and lively role that songs have played in the shaping of Israeli identity, this class examines a range of diverse lyrics, including selections from folk music, pop and rock music, Levant influenced music, and more. Topics covered include Shirei Eretz Israel (the songs of the land of Israel), military ensembles, song festivals and competitions, the rise of minorities, outstanding performers and songwriters, international influences, and media’s impact on audience preferences. This course fulfills the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture common curriculum requirement.

HEBR 2745 Israeli Television and Cinema: Representing Cultural Diversity in Israeli Life (4 Credits)

The course goals are three-fold: a) to facilitate students' communicative competence in Hebrew across the interpretive, interpersonal and presentational modes through constant immersion in Hebrew, b) to expand students' knowledge and understanding of Israeli society and culture while interacting solely in Hebrew, and c) to help students develop a lifelong interest in learning the Hebrew language and its culture. Screening of Israeli films is a central part of the course. All the films are in Hebrew. The course is not open to native speakers of Hebrew. Cross listed with JUST 2745. Prerequisite: HEBR 2003 or equivalent.

HEBR 3010 Aspects of Modern Hebrew: Readings, Films, Songs, and Discussion (4 Credits)

This course is designed for students who have successfully completed Intermediate Hebrew. It facilitates communicative competence in Hebrew across interpretive, interpersonal and presentational modes through constant immersion in Hebrew. It also expands knowledge of Israeli culture while interacting solely in Hebrew. This course is not open to native speakers of Hebrew. Cross listed with JUST 3010. Prerequisite: HEBR/JUST 2003.

HEBR 3991 Independent Study (1-5 Credits)

JUST 1600 Jews in the Islamic World, 632 C.E. - 1948 C.E. (4 Credits)

This course deals with Jewish history in the Islamic world from the death of Muhammad to the establishment of the state of Israel. Students are exposed to the political, social, and economic histories of various Jewish communities, many of which no longer exist, in numerous Islamic empires and/or political units. While studying these communities we also compare the treatment of Jews under Islamic rule to the treatment of Jews under Christian rule and the treatment of Christians under Islamic rule. Cross listed with HIST 1600. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

JUST 1610 The History of the Crusades: 1095-1300 (4 Credits)

This course traces the origins and development of the Crusading movement as well as its impact on Christian, Muslim, and Jewish society in Europe and the Middle East from the 11th through the 14th centuries C.E. This course also examines ideas of Christian/Muslim/Jewish difference in this period. We pay special attention to primary source material. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. Cross listed with HIST 1610.

JUST 2004 Anthropology of Jews & Judaism (4 Credits)

This course is cross-listed with ANTH 2004 and RLGS 2004. This course pairs anthropological texts about American Jews and Judaism with related film, television, and literary representations. The objective of this course is to teach course participants to use anthropology as an interpretive lens through which to consider American Jewish life and culture. Through the study of texts on Jewish nostalgia and memory, class, race, gender, and heritage tours, course participants will learn the history of the study of Jews within anthropology and the place of Jews in the history of disciplinary anthropology. The ultimate objective of this course is to introduce anthropological theory and method in a way that provides students with a powerful analytical tool for thinking about contemporary Jewish life.

JUST 2008 Stereotyping and Violence in America Today (4 Credits)

This course is cross-listed with PHIL 2008, COMN 2008, RLGS 2008. This course offers students the opportunity to explore key issues relating to diversity and inclusion in the contemporary United States, focusing on the themes of stereotyping and violence, from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Students will engage with scholarly and popular culture artifacts to examine the kinds of stereotyping and types of violence, visible and invisible, that characterize and challenge political, social, cultural, economic, religious, and educational life in today’s United States, and will do so by working with the course instructor as well as faculty members from across the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Students will work together to connect the given week’s speaker’s assigned readings and insights to readings and insights from previous weeks’ speakers; assignments and classroom discussion will in this way be very interdisciplinary and will compare and contrast multiple diverse points of view and disciplinary lenses on the question of stereotyping and violence. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

JUST 2011 Religion, Environmentalism, and Politics (4 Credits)

How does religion mediate the relationship between people and the natural world? How do different religious traditions understand and interpret the natural world and humans’ responsibility to and for it? Is it possible to reconcile an understanding of the world as divinely created with human destruction of the environment—and, if not, then what are the political consequences? In this course, we will consider a variety of disciplinary approaches to topics related to religion, environmentalism, and politics, taking Abrahamic and indigenous religions as our key examples. From urban gardening to green Islam to Standing Rock to eco-feminism, we’ll use theories about religion and culture to understand the complex intersections of faith, policy, and planetary crisis. The course includes a community engagement component that will bring us to a local faith-based urban farm where we will discuss course texts as we help prepare for the 2020 growing season. Cross-listed with ANTH 2011 and RLGS 2011.

JUST 2012 Jewish Politics and Political Jews in the United States (4 Credits)

Milton Himmelfarb famously quipped that “Jews earn like Episcopalians, and vote like Puerto Ricans.” This statement captures the surprising loyalty of American Jews to liberalism and the Democratic party despite the group’s significant socioeconomic achievement in the post-World War II era. This course considers Jewish political behavior in the United States through a variety of disciplinary lenses. Our study will be enriched through archival research in the Beck archives (held at DU) and through conversations with local political figures. The course will also track and analyze relevant developments for Jews and politics related to the 2020 Presidential election. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society requirement for the Undergraduate Core Curriculum. Cross-listed with RLGS 2012.

JUST 2014 Religious Existentialism: Christian and Jewish (4 Credits)

Existentialism focuses on the human experience of living, often with a focus on the sheer freedom of the human condition. Religious existentialism subtly modifies this picture through its own vision of human freedom as the ultimate encounter between the human subject and God (with 'God' understood in various ways). The religious existentialist in this sense philosophically explores that which is most-fully-human as a moment of relation and encounter between self and that which is beyond self. Starting with Sartre's non-religious statement of existentialism in Existentialism is a Humanism (1946), we go on to examine the Christian and Jewish existentialisms of Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Tillich (1886-1965), Buber (1878-1965), and Heschel (1907-1972). In the course of our reflections, we compare non-religious with religious approaches to basic questions about self, God and world, and we consider the relationship between Christian and Jewish existentialist approaches to these questions. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.Cross-listed with PHIL 2014 and RLGS 2014.

JUST 2025 Coexistence (4 Credits)

Building skills for ethical, emotionally-intelligent, and equity-minded encounter, this course is about facing neighbors responsively, responsibly, and non-violently—even when our values clash, and even as we work to defeat each other in the voting booth. Exploring new civic modes of “dialogue across difference” and serving as an antidote to polarization and rising tides of hate, the course invites students to consider new ways of holding onto their own views, values, and identities without erasing others—but also without necessarily embracing or being embraced by them. And it does so while helping them understand and utilize “phenomenology,” a philosophical method for assessing “lived feels” in complex relation to human meaning-making in a range of personal, professional, and political contexts. Focused in particular on interhuman coexistence, the course attends to the three-fold human cord of “our structures, our neighbors, and our selves.” It invites students to navigate between structural equity, interpersonal ethics, and personal authenticity. And it equips students to consider the “feels,” “flavors,” and “temperatures” of different coexistence strategies: from the lukewarm framework of tolerance to the warm embrace of friendship to the complicated contours of responsibility-without-friendship in such thinkers as BIPOC thought-leader Martin Luther King, Jr, philosopher and Holocaust Survivor Emmanuel Levinas, and political theorist Karl Marx. Helping students consider what sorts of coexistence goals are most and least appropriate for different contexts and why, the course asks questions like: When it comes to opponents, should we be aiming to befriend them or is it sometimes OK to set the bar lower? Should we try to “find common ground” or is it sometimes OK to “agree to disagree”? Is bridge-building always the best goal, or do we sometimes need to learn to live alongside one another without violence but also without bridges? Drawing on an inclusive reading list of BIPOC, Jewish, Islamic, Christian, African, Indigenous, and Japanese traditions, the course delves into Ubuntu principles of coexistence alongside Aztec principles of selfhood, BIPOC principles of justice alongside spiritual and atheist existentialisms, Queer Chicana feminism alongside the practice of Kintsugi, spiritual calls to love alongside political calls to respect, multicultural calls to recognition alongside social justice critiques of such calls, philosophical traditions of friendship alongside critiques of civility, and ancient wisdom traditions hand-in-hand with popular contemporary insights from Brené Brown’s work on vulnerability and Harvard’s near-century-long study of happiness. The course also explores the dangers of Islamophobia and Antisemitism; includes a visit to the campus’ Holocaust Memorial Social Action Site inspired by “radical ethics”; considers new modes of activism; and invites participants into a “Belonging and Expression” framework for navigating possibilities and tensions in important joint calls to social justice and freedom of expression. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. This course is crosslisted with PHIL and JUST.

JUST 2026 Race: Black, Jew, Other (4 Credits)

This course is cross-listed with PHIL 2026 and RLGS 2026. In its investigation of philosophical writings on race and racism, this course explores a range of existential and phenomenological lenses for interrogating race and racism, with a focus on the shared theoretical and practical intersections of anti-Black and anti-Jew discourse. The course aims to help participants read and understand difficult primary philosophical (and some theological) texts—many of which are cited and engaged by contemporary writings across a number of disciplines. In this respect, we work through philosophical writings related to race, exile, “negritude,” “the wandering Jew,” and “otherness” by engaging such authors as: Sartre, Wright, De Bois, Levinas, Senghor, Fanon, Freud, Appiah, Jankelevitch, and Cone, alongside Gilman’s work on the “Jew’s Body” and “Jewish Self-Hatred,” Bernasconi’s work on the phenomenology of race, and discourses of “Other-as-disease” in American and Nazi eugenics. In all of its content, the course aims to engage participants with key issues and questions around race and racism, including extending the implications of anti-Black and anti-Jew discourses / practices to a range of other anti-Other discourses / practices at play in the world around us. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

JUST 2050 Jewish Philosophy (4 Credits)

This course sets out to explore the self and the sacred in Jewish tradition by exploring the nature of faith and reason, the call to ethical response, and the meaning of divine revelation in multiple Jewish philosophical voices across the ages, including Philo, Saadya, Halevi, Maimonides, Soloveitchik, Buber, Rosenzweig, and Levinas. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. Cross listed with PHIL 2050.

JUST 2070 American Jewish Experience (4 Credits)

In the aftermath of World War II, the United States emerged as the largest, wealthiest, and most organized Jewish community in the world. Taking the premise that America is a Jewish center as its key organizing principle, this course introduces and challenges theories of diaspora and looks at American Jewry’s religious and institutional innovations. The course will proceed inductively, taking Denver-based resources and experiences as starting points for an expansive exploration of American Jewish life, culture, and religion. We will focus on mainstream narratives alongside religious and cultural expressions at the margins of American Jewish life. Cross-listed with ANTH 2070 and RLGS 2070.

JUST 2104 The Bible as Literature (4 Credits)

The Bible has been one of the most important works in all of Western society. In this course we read the Bible as a masterpiece of literature. Rather than focusing on theological questions about this work as inspired scripture, we instead focus on its rich literary qualities and explore some ways in which these stories have influenced modern society. Reading select passages, we discuss its literary genres, forms, symbols and motifs, many of which are important in literature today. Of the latter, we encounter stories of creation and hero tales, parables, apocalyptic literature, and themes of paradise and the loss of Eden, wilderness, covenant, and the promised land. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. Cross listed with ENGL 2104 and RLGS 2104.

JUST 2201 Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (4 Credits)

The legacy of the Hebrew Bible has been great for both Western and world culture. In this course, we read the books of the Hebrew Bible critically as literature, as religious text and as a source of sociological knowledge. The students gain a general overview of the narrative and historical development of the text while simultaneously being introduced to the various modes of biblical interpretation. Emphasis is placed on situating the literature and religious expression of the Bible within its ancient Near Eastern milieu. Cross listed with RLGS 2201.

JUST 2202 New Testament (4 Credits)

This course takes a multifaceted approach (historical, literary, and critical) to the writings that comprise the Christian New Testament. The New Testament are read as a collection of primary documents that chronicle the primitive Church's slow and often painful process of self-definition. In these writings it is possible to discern the tension that arose because of the strong religious and cultural ties early Christianity maintained with Palestinian Judaism, from which it emerged as a sectarian or reform movement. The careful reader also finds evidence of the new religion's encounter with the Greco-Roman world from whose variegated ethos and culture it borrowed considerably on the way to becoming an important religious force in the first century. In exploring the New Testament, then, we attempt to recover something of the sense of what it meant to be a Christian in New Testament times. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. Cross listed with RLGS 2202.

JUST 2300 A History of Israel-Palestine, 1800-Present (4 Credits)

This course surveys the histories of the peoples in Israel/Palestine from the early 19th century to the present. Key topics that will be covered include, but will not be limited to, the rise of Zionism and Palestinian nationalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the impact of the British Mandate, the impact of the 1948 War, the experiences of Palestinian citizens and residents of Israel, Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank under Egyptian and Jordanian rule, shifts in Israeli and Palestinian politics in the mid to late 20th century, Israel’s military occupation and settlement project, and economic and social developments in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. While this course does not ignore the central role of conflict in Israeli and Palestinian histories, it seeks to move beyond the conflict paradigm and instead focus more on political, social, and economic developments in Israel/Palestine. Cross-listed with HIST 2300.

JUST 2320 US Foreign Policy in the Middle East (4 Credits)

This course aims to introduce students to both Middle Eastern history and American Foreign Policy by exploring the politics and culture of U.S. involvement in the Middle East in the post-WWII period. In doing so this course pays special attention to the impact of the Cold War in the Middle East, American policy towards the Arab-Israeli conflict, the role of oil in American foreign policy, American responses to the rise of Islamist movements, the impact of media and culture on the formulation of America’s Middle Eastern policies, and U.S. relations with dictatorial governments in the Middle East. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. Cross listed with HIST 2320.

JUST 2350 Israeli Culture Through Film: Society, Ethnicity, and Inter-Cultural Discourse (4 Credits)

This course presents Israeli society and culture development as reflected in Israeli films from the 1950s to present day Israel. Topics include history and collective memory, ethnicities and the experiences of immigration, Israelis in their spatial Mediterranean/Middle-Eastern context and Judaism in its old and new representations. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

JUST 2360 Israeli Society Through Film: Narratives of the Holocaust, War and Terror in Israeli Life (4 Credits)

This course analyzes fundamental aspects of Israeli-Jewish collective identity through a consideration of the trauma of the Holocaust, and explores the representation of these issues in Israeli film from the 1960s to today. The course presents and analyzes narratives of human experience in traumatic times and their after-effects via cinematic perceptions of Holocaust survivors and their offspring, the relationship between the Israeli native Sabra and the Holocaust survivor, the impact of war on soldiers and their families, and the Israeli experience of terror. Screenings of Israeli film is a central part of the course. All films are in Hebrew with English subtitles. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. No prerequisites.

JUST 2370 Multicultural Israel: Food, Film and Beyond (4 Credits)

In this course participants will examine Israeli culture and identity using a broad array of materials and topics, including popular music, film, sports, and food. Topics include Israel’s society, ethnic relations, and the Arab minorities in the Jewish state. Students also discuss whether there is a unique Israeli culture and the struggle for Israel’s identity. Emphasis is on interdisciplinary approaches to exploring how cultural processes and artifacts are produced, shaped, distributed, consumed, and responded to in diverse ways. Through discussion, research, writing and various media resources, class members investigate these varied dimensions of culture; learn to understand them in their broader social, aesthetic, ethical, and political contexts. This course counts toward the common curriculum requirement of Analytical Inquiry: Society & Culture.

JUST 2380 Multicultural Israel through Popular Music (4 Credits)

The music of Israel is a combination of Jewish and non-Jewish music traditions that have come together over the course of a century to create a distinctive musical culture. This course presents a brief cultural history of Israel through popular music. To examine the central and lively role that songs have played in the shaping of Israeli identity, this class examines a range of diverse lyrics, including selections from folk music, pop and rock music, Levant influenced music, and more. Topics covered include Shirei Eretz Israel (the songs of the land of Israel), military ensembles, song festivals and competitions, the rise of minorities, outstanding performers and songwriters, international influences, and media’s impact on audience preferences. This course counts toward the common curriculum requirement of Analytical Inquiry: Society & Culture.

JUST 2700 Topics in Judaic Studies (1-5 Credits)

Topics vary reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the department and studies of the faculty.

JUST 2701 Topics in Judaic Studies (1-5 Credits)

Topics vary reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the department and studies of the faculty.

JUST 2702 Topics in Judaic Studies (1-5 Credits)

Topics vary reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the department and studies of the faculty.

JUST 2704 Topics in Judaic Studies (4 Credits)

Topics vary, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the department and studies of the faculty.

JUST 2741 American Jewish Literature (4 Credits)

This course surveys over 100 years of American Jewish immigrant narratives beginning with the great exodus of Eastern European and Russian Jewry at the end of the 19th century and ending with recent arrivals from Israel and the former U.S.S.R. Canonical works by central authors reveal the great successes of Jewish immigrants alongside their spiritual failures. A selection of memoir, novels, short stories, and poetry in English and in translation from Hebrew and Yiddish demonstrate the multilingual character of the Jewish experience in America. While helpful, no knowledge of Jewish languages, religious tradition, or cultural practice is necessary to succeed in this course. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. Cross listed with ENGL 2741.

JUST 2742 Modern Hebrew Literature (4 Credits)

This course offers a survey of some of the most significant works of modern Hebrew literature available in translation. Students consider how the development of Hebrew literature has contributed to the formation of contemporary Israeli identity, and how the conflicts that define the turbulent history of Israel are treated in works by canonical authors. The selection of diverse voices and literary materials exposes students to the soil political, and historically changes wrought by the rise of modern day Israel. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. Cross listed with ENGL 2742.

JUST 2743 Jewish Humor: Origins and Meaning (4 Credits)

Writers, scholars, and comedians all claim to locate an identifiable strain of “Jewish humor” running from the Bible through to today’s literary humorists and provocative stand-up comics. This course takes humor seriously in an effort to reveal the development of “Jewish humor” in America from a comparative context. But is there such a thing as Jewish humor? And if so, what are its sources and characteristics? Does it exist across cultures and in different linguistic communities? Through lectures, discussion, exercises and papers, students gain a broad understanding of the history, psychology, and philosophy of humor as it relates to Jewish arts and letters in America. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. This course is cross-listed with ENGL 2743.

JUST 2745 Israeli Television and Cinema: Representing Cultural Diversity in Israeli Life (4 Credits)

The course goals are three-fold: a) to facilitate students' communicative competence in Hebrew across the interpretive, interpersonal and presentational modes through constant immersion in Hebrew, b) to expand students' knowledge and understanding of Israeli society and culture while interacting solely in Hebrew, and c) to help students develop a lifelong interest in learning the Hebrew language and its culture. Screening of Israeli films is a central part of the course. All the films are in Hebrew. The course is not open to native speakers of Hebrew. Cross listed with HEBR 2745. Prerequisite: HEBR 2003 or equivalent.

JUST 2750 Italian Jewish Literature and Cinema (4 Credits)

This course is cross-listed with ITAL 2750. It offers an overview of Italian Jewish literature and cinema from the Middle Ages to the present. Students will read and discuss prose and poetry, essays and articles, as well as watch and discuss films that address issues such as religious and cultural identity, the right to difference, anti-Semitism and the Shoah. The course will also give students an overview of the formation and transformation of the Jewish community in Italian society. In addition to well-known Jewish Italian writers like Primo Levi and Giorgio Bassani, students will read pertinent works by non-Jewish writers like Rosetta Loy. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

JUST 2991 Independent Study (1-5 Credits)

JUST 3001 Judaism (4 Credits)

A literary and historical journey through Judaism. This course examines the "Jewish story" from its roots to its modern-day manifestations, focusing on select, classic Jewish texts in their historical contexts. From them, students explore Jewish tradition and practice and actively engage with and in the vivid interpretive imagination of the authors of Judaism throughout the ages. Cross listed with RLGS 3001.

JUST 3002 Creation & Humanity (4 Credits)

Why am I here and what is my place in the world? In this class, students engage a wide-variety of answers to this timeless question. We focus on primary texts regarding the creation of the world and humanity's role within the world from multiple religious traditions, from ancient Near Eastern mythologies to modern spiritualities and film. Themes of the course include humanity's relation to the divine, nature, and one another; we also discuss issues of inequality and sustainability. Students also learn to perform fruitful cross-cultural comparison.

JUST 3003 The Moses Traditions: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Traditions about Moses from Past to Present (4 Credits)

The “Abrahamic Traditions” (Judaism, Christianity & Islam) are described as such because each tradition situates its origin in the figure of Abraham, yet there is another foundational figure who looms even larger in all three traditions — Moses. The Moses Traditions traces Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions about Moses from the Hebrew Bible through modern America, and in so doing brings into the foreground the religious and inter-religious importance of this beloved figure. Drawing from over 2,500 years of texts and traditions, students come away with a deeper understanding of: 1) how the figure of Moses is shaped and reshaped throughout history and across the globe, 2) how religious traditions portray and redescribe foundational figures to suit the ever-changing needs of their communities, and 3) how to engage a multi-faceted, culturally-embedded, and millennia-long collection of traditions in a way that yields fruitful insight into the inner workings of the religious imagination. This course is cross-listed with RLGS 3003.

JUST 3010 Aspects of Modern Hebrew (4 Credits)

This course is designed for students who have successfully completed Intermediate Hebrew. It facilitates communicative competence in Hebrew across interpretive, interpersonal and presentational modes through constant immersion in Hebrew. It also expands knowledge of Israeli culture while interacting solely in Hebrew. This course is not open to native speakers of Hebrew. Cross listed with HEBR 3010. Prerequisite: HEBR 2003 or equivalent.

JUST 3023 Great Thinkers: Maimonides-Politics, Prophecy and Providence (4 Credits)

Using "The Guide for the Perplexed" as our central text, we explore the complex philosophical ideas of Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), one of the central figures in medieval philosophy and Jewish thought. Our study includes analyses of his ideas on: principles of faith, human perfection, intellectual vs. "imaginational" approaches to truth, pedagogy and politics, reasons for the commandments, the nature of God and divine will, the limits of human knowledge, the mechanics of prophecy, and the parameters and implications of providence. Cross listed with PHIL 3023 and RLGS 3023. Prerequisite: junior standing or instructor's permission.

JUST 3024 Maimonides: Greek, Islamic, and Christian Encounters (4 Credits)

Using the "Guide of the Perplexed" as our central text, we explore the complex philosophical ideas of Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), a central figure in the history of philosophy and in the history of Jewish thought. In this course, we examine in depth the relationship between Maimonides’ core ideas and various Greek, Muslim and Christian thinkers, including: Aristotle, Plotinus, al-Farabi, Avicenna (Ibn Sina), al-Ghazali, Averroes (Ibn Rushd), and Aquinas. Topics to be explored include: what is "metaphysics?"; God’s unity and essence as existence itself; the mystery of knowing and not knowing God (including a consideration of God’s ways as well as "negative theology"--viz. the extent to which we do not know God); God as pure intellect; the nature of the cosmos and the "separate intellects"; creation vs. eternity vs. emanation: philosophical and religious perspectives on the origins of the universe and implications for "living in the world with/out God." In our study, we will also address the methodological implications of cross-religious and cross-language analyses, and how to spot and address (in your own work and in the work of others) tacit cultural biases at play in the interpretive process. Cross listed with PHIL 3024 and RLGS 3024. Prerequisite: Junior standing or instructor's permission.

JUST 3026 Levinas and the Political (4 Credits)

Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995), famous for his arresting insight of “ethics as first philosophy,” is a key figure in the histories of phenomenology, metaphysics, and theology. In this class, we examine the implications of Levinas’ thought for politics and the political through close readings of his insights on peace, proximity, and justice in such works as “Reflections on the Philosophy of Hitlerism” (1934), Totality and Infinity (1961), Otherwise Than Being or Beyond Essence (1974), and “Peace and Proximity” (1995) in dialogue with key companion works in political thought and political theology, including Benjamin on Divine Violence, Butler on postmodern politics, Connolly on agonism, Critchley on anarchism, Marxist intersections, and Derrida and other “Jewish theologies” of messianistic impossibility. Themes addressed include: Justice; Covenant; Law; the grounding and paradox (or betrayal) of politics-with-ethics; phenomenologies of hospitalities and strangers, friends and enemies; liberalisms, socialisms, fascisms; revolutions and anarchies; agonisms v. antagonisms; impossibility; messianisms without Messiahs; logics of works v. logics of grace; on the role of love v. justice; anarchic grounds; temporalities of covenant and justice; fraternity; forgiveness and its limits; “the 3rd”; rational peace, peace between the wars, and impossible peace. This course is cross-listed: PHIL and JUST. Pre-reqs: This course is open to juniors and seniors except by special permission of the instructor.

JUST 3086 The Emergence of Monotheism (4 Credits)

This course is cross-listed with RLGS 3086. Monotheism, the belief in a singular deity, did not arise out of nothing. Rather, the emergence of monotheism was a multi-stage process spanning several millennia and involving numerous religious traditions, primarily Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This process was marked by internal and external conflict, as individuals and communities struggled to distinguish themselves from their non-monotheistic predecessors and neighbors, while often attempting to convince others to do the same. In this class, we begin with the ancient Near Eastern religious environment in which the idea of monotheism first appeared, then turn our attention to how the movement toward monotheism shapes the texts of the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and Quran. We also look to archaeological sites and case studies in material culture to fill out our understanding of the lived experiences at play in the emergence of monotheism.

JUST 3090 God and Giving? Religion and Philanthropy in America (4 Credits)

This course is cross-listed with ANTH 3090 and RLGS 3090. The United States is notable for its high levels of religious participation and for its well-established and rapidly expanding nonprofit sector. In this course, we will explore these phenomena from a variety of disciplinary perspectives including anthropology, history, and religious studies in order to understand the intersections of religion and philanthropy. By looking at religious ideologies, social theory, and legal and economic contexts, we will consider how religion, government, and philanthropy shape and are shaped by one another. We will examine a number of case studies including faith responses to Hurricane Katrina, the history of philanthropy in Denver, and U.S.-based religious global giving. We will explore key questions regarding community and social responsibility and ask which actors get to define key societal problems and who is ultimately responsible for responding to these problems.

JUST 3102 Early Judaism (4 Credits)

This course traces the development of Judaism in history and literature from the Babylonian Exile and the end of the biblical period through the origins of Rabbinic Judaism and the completion of the Babylonian Talmud (c. 650 CE). However, special emphasis is placed on Jewish culture in the late Second Temple period (c. 200 BCE to 100 CE) and its impact on the early Christian movement, including Jewish literature from the time of Jesus, lost texts of the Bible, new evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the few surviving historical sources of the Second Temple Period. In addition, students analyze how the Bible came to be and understand how sacred texts and their interpretations eventually became the new center of both Judaism and Christianity. Cross listed with RLGS 3102.

JUST 3146 Great Thinkers: Levinas (4 Credits)

Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995), famous for his arresting and original idea of "ethics as first philosophy," is an important figure in the histories of phenomenology, metaphysics, and theology. In this course, we set out to explore Levinas’ insights on ethics, alterity, and infinity, including the connection of his ideas to Plato, Descartes, Kant, and Husserl, as well as his critical responses to Heidegger and his positive contributions to Derrida. In this course, we work through Levinas’ two major works, Ethics and Infinity and Otherwise Than Being or Beyond Essence, as well as a number of shorter writings—including material from his Talmudic commentaries. Themes to be covered include: Being, Goodness, Risk, Ethics, Alterity, Transcendence, Law, Judaism, Gift, Forgiveness, Politics, Theology, and Justice. This course is cross-listed with PHIL 3146.

JUST 3150 The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls (4 Credits)

This course includes an advanced study of the Dead Sea Scrolls with a particular focus on the Bible as it appears in the Qumran library. We will discuss the variant versions of the Bible, some of which were previously unknown before the discovery of the Scrolls, and how the findings of the Scrolls may question the very idea of "Bible" itself in the context of the late Second Temple Judaism. Further, we will place particular emphasis on studying the way biblical texts were engaged, interpreted and even written by the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In this way, we shall explore the origins of biblical interpretation and how the notion of the Bible came to be. Cross listed with RLGS 3150. Prerequisites: None. The Scrolls will be read in English translation, but those with Hebrew reading skills will have an opportunity to read/translate portions of the Scrolls in community.

JUST 3151 Dead Sea Scrolls (4 Credits)

The Dead Sea Scrolls represent one of the greatest manuscript finds of the twentieth century and have been said to be the most important discovery in biblical archaeology. These scrolls offer a rare window into early Judaism and Christianity and offer us the earliest and most important witnesses to the (Hebrew) Bible. This course covers the Dead Sea Scrolls in their historical, literary and religious context in English translation, together with relevant scholarly research. Cross listed with RLGS 3151.

JUST 3152 Philosophy Meets Mysticism: A Greek, Jewish and Islamic Neoplatonic Journey (4 Credits)

Neoplatonism is a unique genre - somewhere between philosophy and mysticism. In this course, we investigate some of the leading themes of Neoplatonism, tracing the Greek ideas of Plotinus (the third century "father of Neoplatonism") into later Jewish and Islamic textual traditions. As part of our journey, we investigate a host of philosophical writings, including the Theology of Aristotle and the Liber de Causis, as well as works by Plato, Plotinus, Proclus, Ibn Tufayl, Avicenna, Isaac Israeli, Solomon Ibn Gabirol, and Abraham Ibn Ezra. Themes to be covered include emanation and creation, apophatic discourse, divine desire, the theological significance of imagination, inward reflection, and the call to virtue. Cross listed with PHIL 3152. Prerequisite: junior standing or instructor's permission.

JUST 3215 Modern Jewish Philosophy (4 Credits)

Covering a range of modern thinkers from the seventeenth to the late-twentieth century, topics include reason and revelation, human autonomy and responsibility, aesthetics, post-Holocaust theology, responses to Kant, responses to Heidegger, ethics, and the quest for authenticity. Cross listed with PHIL 3215. Prerequisite: junior standing or instructor permission.

JUST 3405 Postmodern Visions of Israel (4 Credits)

This course investigates how representations of Israel as a modernist utopia have been replaced in contemporary literature with images of Israel as a dystopia. The class discusses the historical context that gave rise to visions of an idealized Israel, and the role the Hebrew language played in consolidating and connecting narration to nation. Next the class considers how belles-lettres from recent decades have reimagined Israel as a series of multilingual “multiverses.” A selection of fiction translated from Hebrew forms the core of class reading. Theoretical exploration of postmodernism help us conceptualize the poetics of postmodern literature. No knowledge of Israeli history or Jewish culture is necessary to succeed in this course. This course is cross-listed with ENGL 3405.

JUST 3700 Topics in Judaic Studies (1-4 Credits)

Topics vary reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the department and studies of the faculty.

JUST 3703 Topics in Judaic Studies (1-4 Credits)

Topics vary reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the department and studies of the faculty.

JUST 3704 Topics in Judaic Studies (1-4 Credits)

Topics vary reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the department and studies of the faculty.

JUST 3740 Bodies and Souls (4 Credits)

This course examines the unique place of the body in biblical religion. We ask how the Bible and its interpreters have shaped current views on sex and the gendered body in Western society. How has the Bible been (mis)used in relation to current understandings of the physical body? Is the saying that a "human" does not have a body, but is a body as true for the Hebrew Bible as the Christian New Testament? How has Judaism and Christianity (de)valued sexuality, procreation, and celibacy? How do the biblical traditions shape our modern opinions about the ideal physical body and body modifications? How can we understand "out-of-body" experiences and notions of death and afterlife in Western religion? Students are encouraged to interpret the Bible and their own beliefs from a uniquely embodied perspective. Cross listed with GWST 3740, RLGS 3740.

JUST 3742 Jesus in Jewish Literature (4 Credits)

This course surveys literary depictions of Jesus in Jewish literature. Readers are often surprised to learn that throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century, major Jewish writers have incorporated the figure of Jesus of Nazareth into their work. This class explores the historical, aesthetic, and spiritual reasons for the many Jewish literary representations of Jesus and of his literary foil, Judas. A selection of materials including short stories, poems, novels, scholarly essays and polemics in English and in translation from Hebrew and Yiddish demonstrate the depth of Jewish literary culture’s engagement with Jesus’ life and teachings. Among the many writers we will read are: S.Y. Agnon, Sholem Asch, Uri Zvi Greenberg, Haim Hazaz, Emma Lazarus, Amos Oz, Philip Roth, and L. Shapiro. Ultimately, this class will consider how literary representations of Jesus can destabilize perceived distinctions between Jews and Christians. While helpful, no knowledge of Jewish languages, religious tradition, or cultural practice is necessary to succeed in this course. This course is cross-listed as ENGL 3742.

JUST 3890 Religion and Diaspora (4 Credits)

When forced to leave a homeland, displaced communities frequently turn to religion to maintain identity and adapt to--or resist--new surrounding culture(s). This course examines the role of religion and identity in three Jewish and Christian communities living in diaspora and poses questions such as: What is the relationship between religion and (home)land? How have the biblical themes of exodus, diaspora, promise and restoration been applied to contemporary experiences? And how have our American stories been interpreted through the lens of the Bible? As part of the service learning component, students have the opportunity to work with religious and immigrant aid organizations in the Denver community. Cross listed with RLGS 3890.

JUST 3891 Justice: A Biblical Perspective (4 Credits)

This course explores the ways in which the Bible has been applied to questions of social justice in contemporary society. In addition to studying major theological and philosophical theories of justice, students read a variety of biblical texts related to major issues of social and economic justice such as world hunger, the poor, revolution, just war theory and pacifism, environmentalism, and the role of government. This course includes a service-learning component. Cross listed with RLGS 3891.

JUST 3991 Independent Study (1-5 Credits)

Prerequisites: HEBR 1003 or JUST 1003 or equivalent and instructor's permission.