Jewish Humor and History HST 495 Mon 6:30-9:15pm Morton 214 Instructor: Dr. Jarrod Tanny, Fall 2017

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1 Instructor: Dr. Jarrod Tanny Phone: Web: Office: Morton 254 Office hours: Monday, 1-2pm Wednesday, 11-12pm Friday, 1-2pm Or by appointment I encourage you either to drop by my office or to get in touch with me as often as you like. I am ready to help you with any problems or questions that you may have pertaining to the course. If there are other personal or academic related problems that may be affecting your performance or your attendance, do not hesitate to contact me. I am here to help you learn. About this Course Why are the Jews so funny? What is unique about Jewish humor? Why are so many comedians, satirical novelists, and film directors Jewish? And why do Jews ask so many questions? This seminar will explore the rich universe of Jewish humor. We will trace its evolution from the Yiddish culture of the 19 th -century shtetl all the way to 21 st -century cinema and television, where Woody Allen, Jerry Seinfeld, Mel Brooks, and others have made American humor Jewish, and Jewish humor American. We will probe the significance of the schlemiel, the schlimazel, and the schnorrer, and why these cultural archetypes which emerged centuries ago in Eastern Europe still have such resonance today. 1

2 Disclaimer some of the material covered in this course may be deemed racist, sexist, homophobic, excessively violent, sexually explicit, or politically incorrect. This material does not reflect the beliefs of the instructor. If you are uncomfortable reading about, watching, or discussing these things then this course may not be for you. Such is the nature of ethnically based humor. Neither Jewish humor nor its cultural historical context can be understood without a close look at all its facets. Grading and Course Requirements Your final grade will be based on the following: Class Participation & Presentations 50 % Response Papers & Research Paper 50 % Attendance: Attending all classes is mandatory. Missing multiple classes will result in a reduction of your final grade. If you are having a serious issue that is affecting your ability to come to class, please come and speak with me. In order to pass the course, you need to complete every assignment. Please retain an extra copy or an electronic version of each written assignment until the instructor returns the one you submitted. All written assignments must be submitted in Hard Copy AND electronically. A late assignment will incur a penalty of 1/3 of a letter grade for each day that it is late. You need to 2

3 submit the electronic copies for your assignments by (specific instructions will be issued for each assignment). Assignments The writing component of this course will include short analytical papers and your major research paper Short analytical papers, topics TBA, due in class 1. Due Monday, August 28 in class (2-3 pages) 2. Due Monday, September 18 in class (2-3 pages) 3. Due Monday, October 9 in class (1-2 pages) 4. Due Monday, October 23 in class (1-2 pages) *Note* - A 1-2 page paper does NOT mean it is OK to turn in a paper barely one page long with your name and paper title taking up 25% of the space at the top of the page (yes we did that back in the 1990s too) Major Research Paper 20 pages Although your research paper is due on Tuesday, December 5, it will be a work in progress. You will complete a series of steps along the way to help you produce the final product: You need to meet with me to discuss your prospective topic: by Friday, September 29 Research Paper Deadlines Written Work Preliminary research topic proposal: due Wednesday, Oct. 4, 5pm 3

4 Second proposal draft (1-2 pages): due Monday, October 16, in class Annotated bibliography and thesis paragraph: due Friday, November 3, 5pm Draft Paper: due Tuesday November 21, 5pm At various points in the semester you will need to present your research in progress to the class: Research Deadlines Discussions and Presentations Brief paper proposal presentation, Monday, October 30 Research presentation, Monday November 20 and Monday November 27* *During the final two weeks of our seminar (Monday November 20 and Monday November 27), each student will present his or her research to the class. Your presentation should be approximately 10 minutes long, followed by 5 minutes to respond to questions. Your presentation should be accompanied by a powerpoint or a poster display highlighting your topic. If you choose to make a poster, you are encouraged to enter your poster in the history department s annual poster competition. ***Your Final Paper is due on Tuesday December 5 at 5pm*** Further details concerning the assignments will be provided over the course of the semester Class Participation and Presentations Presentations Each student will give one presentation (approximately 10 minutes) over the course of the semester. These presentations will be based on a particular reading or a particular Jewish 4

5 comedian we are covering that week. He or she should assess the topic, relate its significance to the larger themes of the course, and pose some pertinent questions for the class to discuss. Class Participation Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the weekly course material even when it is not their week to present. This is a seminar, not a lecture course and participation is a large component of your final grade. Joke Telling This is a course on Jewish humor and this is your opportunity to become a Jewish comic! Students are expected to bring a Jewish-related joke to class each week. You need not make up the joke (though if you do, all the better!), but it must come from a source outside of the assigned material. This will also count toward your participation grade. Every student must present a Jewish joke at least once during the semester. Academic Integrity All members of UNCW s community are expected to follow the academic Honor Code. Please read the UNCW Honor Code carefully (as covered in the UNCW Student Handbook). Academic dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated in this class. Please be especially familiar with UNCW s position on plagiarism as outlined in the UNCW Student Handbook. Plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty in which you take someone else s ideas and represent them as your own. 5

6 Disabilities and Special Needs Students with diagnosed disabilities should contact the Office of Disability Services ( ). Please give me a copy of the letter you receive from the Office of Disability Services detailing the class accommodations you may need., Audio and Video Recordings Students are expected to come to class each week having completed the assigned readings and the audio/visual material. Books for purchase The following required readings are available for purchase at the university s bookstore Sholem Aleichem, Tevye the Dairyman and The Railroad Stories. Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint. Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Humor: What the Best Jewish Jokes Say About the Jews. Laurence J. Epstein, Haunted Smile: The Story of Jewish Comedians in America Sarah Silverman, The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee Simcha Weinstein, Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century Shalom Auslander, Foreskin s Lament Ruth R. Wisse, No Joke: Making Jewish Humor William Novak and Moshe Waldoks, The Big Book of Jewish Humor (optional) For purchase: USB Flash Drive or hard drive (minimum 8 gigabytes capacity): Available at Bestbuy and other locations for $10 6

7 Readings and sound recordings on Blackboard The other required readings will be available for download as pdf files from Blackboard ( There will also be assigned audio material on Blackboard in MP3 format. Material available on Blackboard will be marked with an asterisk (*) Films and Videos Some weeks, the assigned material will include films and television shows. You are also responsible to watch these before class. These videos will be available either from Randall Library or from The Internet. Should the library not have a needed video, the instructor will make his copy available to you well in advance. In class films Some weeks we will be watching films and TV shows in class. The instructor will update this list as the semester progresses. Monday August 21 Introduction Yiddish with Dick and Jane (Blackboard*) Discuss the goals of the course and the assignments: Assign weekly presentations 7

8 Monday August 28 What is Jewish Humor? (and I Should Care, Why?) Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Humor Sarah Cohen, The Varieties of Jewish Humor (Blackboard*) Dan Ben-Amos, The Myth of Jewish Humor (Blackboard*) Richard Raskin, The Origins and Evolution of a Classic Jewish Joke (Blackboard*) Stephen J. Whitfield, Toward an Appreciation of American Jewish Humor (Blackboard*) Assignment Response Paper # 1, due in class Monday September 11 The Origins of Jewish Humor Ruth Wisse, No Joke, Introduction, Chapter 1 Laurence J. Epstein, Haunted Smile, Appendix (pages ) Eliott Oring, The People of the Joke (Blackboard*) Hershey H. Friedman, He Who Sits in Heaven Shall Laugh (Blackboard*) Michael Wex, Born to Kvetch (Excerpts) (Blackboard*) Clarke and Zaritt, Yiddish Counterlives (Blackboard*) Hillel Halkin, Why Jews Laugh at Themselves (Blackboard*) Monday September 18 Imagining The Shtetl (and Complaining about it) Sholem Aleichem, Tevye the Dairyman (up until page 129) 8

9 Sholem Aleichem, Competitors (in Tevye the Dairyman and The Railroad Stories (pages ) Stephen J. Zipperstein, Shtetls There and Here (Blackboard*) Ruth Wisse, No Joke, Chapter 2 Film Fiddler on the Roof Assignment Response Paper # 2, due in class Monday September 25 Go West Jew and Make New Homes Laurence J. Epstein, Haunted Smile (Intro., ch. 1-6, pages ix-xxii, 1-154) Ruth Wisse, No Joke, Chapter 3 Milt Gross, Is Diss A System (Blackboard*) Audio Jewface (Blackboard*) Audio Mickey Katz, Greatest Shticks (Blackboard*) Assignment by Friday, Sept 29 meet instructor to discuss paper topic Monday October 2 Breaking Free; The Jew Unleashed Laurence J. Epstein, Haunted Smile (ch. 7-9, pages ) Lenny Bruce, excerpt from How to Talk Dirty and influence People (Blackboard*) Lenny Bruce, The Jews (Blackboard*) Sanford Pinsker, Lenny Bruce (Blackboard*) Calvin Trillin, Lester Drentluss (Blackboard*) 9

10 Audio Mel Brooks & Carl Reiner, The 2,000 Year Old Man Audio Lenny Bruce, selections (Blackboard*) Audio Jackie Mason, selections (Blackboard*) Audio Allan Sherman, selections (Blackboard*) Audio Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys, selections (Blackboard*) Assignment Preliminary written research topic proposal, due Wednesday October 4, 5pm Monday October 9 Antisemitism, Self-Hatred, Inadequacy Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint. Optional Readings Sander Gilman, The Indelibility of Circumcision (Blackboard*) Susan A. Glenn, The Vogue of Jewish Self-Hatred in Post: World War II America (Blackboard*) In Class Film Annie Hall Assignment Response Paper # 3, due in class Monday October 16 The Jew in a Goyishe World No! 10

11 In Class Videos (and discussion) TBA Assignment Developed written research topic proposal, due in class Monday October 23 Oh God! Shalom Auslander, Foreskin s Lament Shalom Auslander, Selected Short Stories (Blackboard*) Woody Allen, The Scrolls (Blackboard*) Jarrod Tanny, Selected Stories (Blackboard*) Lewis Black, Nothing s Sacred (excerpts) (Blackboard*) Lewis Black, Me Of Little Faith (excerpts) (Blackboard*) Assignment Response Paper # 4, due in class Monday October 30 It s (Hebrew) Hammer Time! No! In Class Film The Hebrew Hammer Assignment brief research topic presentations (in class) Assignment Annotated bibliography and thesis paragraph due by Friday November 3, 5pm 11

12 Monday November 6 Jewish Women; Female Comics Dan Greenberg, How to be a Jewish Mother (Blackboard*) Sarah Cohen, The Unkosher Comediennes (Blackboard*) Sarah Silverman, The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee Laurence J. Epstein, Haunted Smile (ch. 10, pages ) Video Joan Rivers, Joan Rivers: Live at the London Palladium Video Sarah Silverman, Jesus in Magic Monday November 13 Holocaust and More Persecution Ruth Wisse, No Joke, Chapter 4 S. Hanala Stadner, excerpt from My Parents Went Through the Holocaust and All I Got Was This Lousy T-shirt (Blackboard*) Henry D. Spalding, Encyclopedia of Jewish Humor, pages (Blackboard*) Film The Producers [Note the 1968 version] Film Life is Beautiful Monday November 20 The Future; The End of Exile? Research Presentations (1) Ruth Wisse, No Joke, Conclusion Laurence J. Epstein, Haunted Smile (ch , pages ) Simcha Weinstein, Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century 12

13 Irving Kristol, Is Jewish Humor Dead? (Blackboard*) Gary Rosenblatt, The Ever-Dying Art of Jewish Humor (Blackboard*) Mark Harris, Twilight of the Tummlers (Blackboard*) Film Borat Assignment Draft Essay due Tuesday November 21, 5pm Monday November 27 Research Presentations (2) ***Your Final Paper is due on Tuesday December 5 at 5pm*** Please Note 400 level seminars are required to meet during the scheduled exam slot, even though we do not have a final exam in this course. We will be meeting on Thursday December 7, at 7pm, agenda TBA. Grading Standards A A B B B C C C D D D F

14 Work in the A range displays clear excellence and will make clear, cogent historical arguments that demonstrably engage all reading materials. Work in the B range displays solid effort and thoughtfulness if not clear excellence. It makes clear arguments that engage most if not all of the reading materials. Work in the C range is fair. It may make solid arguments, but suffers from a lack of engagement with reading materials and perhaps lack of context as well. Work in the D range is poor It has some redeeming features but suffers from lack of sustained effort, lack of context, and lack of most engagement with reading materials. Work in the F range is failing. It does not meet credit standards for a university level course. Student Learning Outcomes This course fulfills University Studies Student Learning outcomes as indicated in the document linked to: The University Learning Center Westside Hall, first floor, office #

15 The University Learning Center s (ULC) mission is to help students become successful, independent learners. Tutoring at the ULC is NOT remediation: the ULC offers a different type of learning opportunity for those students who want to increase the quality of their education. ULC services are free to all UNCW students. Note The lectures, classroom activities, and all materials associated with this class and developed by the instructor are copyrighted in the name of Jarrod Tanny (2017). 15