Modern Jewish History

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2008:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

The modern Jewish experience has often been characterized as an era of increasing participation in civil society, and is juxtaposed with the "premodern" era of Jewish separateness. By re-integrating the history of the Jews into the social and cultural fabric of their host societies, this course seeks to challenge these dichotomies and introduce students to the complexity of the Jews' experience. It begins by exploring the meaning for Jews of the transformation from traditional society, as defined by religious identity and socio-economic structure, into a modern society of complex religious, ethnic, social and political identities. Then it turns to examine the different ways in which Jewish men and women in various parts of the world responded to the challenges of modernity. The subject will look at various aspects of the Jewish encounters with modernity ranging from economic and social transformations, religious reform, relations with the non-Jewish environment, emancipation and gender, the rise nationalism and the dilemmas of Jewish identities in the post-Holocaust period. This examination will show that modernity did not only refashioned Jewish cultures, but also provided Jews with new venues for imagining cultural belonging. Special emphasis will be placed on the use of primary texts and documents, including memoirs, diaries, visual images, and literary works.

• demonstrate research skills through competent use of the library and other information sources;

• show critical thinking and analysis through recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion, and determining strength of an argument;

• demonstrate understanding of changing knowledge base in specialist area