AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY 563:345; 512:345 Tuesday/Thursday 1:10-2:30PM Hardenburg B5 Spring 2013 Instructor: Hilit Surowitz-Israel Office Hours: Wednesday 10-11:30am or by appointment, Miller Hall 107 E-mail: hilit@rci.rutgers.edu Course Description: This course will explore major events and issues in American Jewish history from the colonial period to the present. Following the successive waves of Jewish immigration to America, the course will focus on the social, cultural, political, and religious transformations of these communities, and the way that they constructed their identities. We will discuss some of the key figures in American Jewish history and their role in the development of American Judaisms. This course will contextualize American Jewry within the broader frameworks of Jewish history and American history. Topics to be covered include: immigration, acculturation, religious transformations, secularization, gender, diaspora theory, and community building. Objectives: By the conclusion of the course participants should be able to: demonstrate familiarity with major themes, and figures in American Jewish History demonstrate familiarity with important dates in American Jewish History, and analyze primary sources in American Jewish History. Learning Goals: a. Students will develop their ability to engage in logical thinking and complex critical analysis. b. Students will develop their skills in expressing complex ideas through written and oral communication. h. Understand the bases and development of human and societal endeavors across time and place. k. Explain the development of some aspect of a society or culture over time, including the history of ideas or history of science. Assessment: Via embedded exam questions and embedded written assignments
The Required Text for the course: Textbooks are available at the Rutgers Bookstore, a Barnes & Noble College Bookstore. Hasia Diner, The Jews of the United States, 1654-2000 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006). ISBN-10: 0520248481, ISBN-13: 978-0520248489 Stella Suberman, The Jew Store (Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books, 2001) ISBN-10: 1565123301, ISBN-13: 978-1565123304 Anzia Yezierska, Bread Givers: A Novel (New York: Persea, 2003) ISBN-10: 0892552905, ISBN-13: 978-0892552900 Articles and primary sources will be available on SAKAI. Other readings or media may be assigned during the course of the semester. Attendance & Participation Students are expected to attend each class on time. Attendance will be taken at each class meeting. You are permitted three unexcused absences. Following the third unexcused absence 1/3 of a letter grade will be deducted for each unexcused absence. Students who encounter any extended problem with absences, for example, for medical or family emergencies, or religious reasons, must inform me in writing about the reason and duration of the absence. Decisions on excused absences will be made on a case-by-case basis. Student participation is an integral component for the success of this class. Course participants will be expected to arrive to class on time, and prepared to discuss the assigned readings. Please bring assigned readings to class as we will frequently consult the texts. Participation not only means asking questions and involving oneself in the classroom discussion, it also means actively listening to others. Course Requirements: Attendance, Participation, in-class assignments (5%) Quizzes (10%) In-class midterm exam (25%) Primary Source Analysis (15%) Essay II (15%) Final exam (30%) *** all components of the course must be fulfilled in order to complete the course
Written work will be graded on the basis of content, clarity of argument, quality of writing, and how well it analyzes the material and answers the questions. Written work, except for that which is a classroom assignment, must be typed (double-spaced, 12 pt. font), and spell-checked. One letter grade per day will be deducted for late papers unless you have a written medical excuse. Classroom Policies: Plagiarism and cheating will be penalized according to the full extent of University policy. Please consult Rutgers University s Policy on Academic Integrity for Undergraduate and Graduate Students: http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/integrity.shtml#plagiarism Students with disabilities who require accommodations should provide me with their accommodation letter from the Office of Disability Services as soon as possible so that appropriate arrangements can be made. Please consult the website of the Office of Disability Services for further information: http://sas.rutgers.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=135&itemid=1 17 Note that I do not accept assignments submitted by email, unless otherwise instructed. All assignments must be submitted in hard copy on the day that they are due. Evaluations will cover all course material, even if it is not specifically covered in class.
Schedule Tues. 1/22 Introduction to course Review Syllabus Thurs. 1/24 Diner, The Jews of the United States [JUS], 13-26 Primary sources: Petition to Expel the Jews from New Amsterdam, Peter Stuyvesant (1654) (SAKAI) Reply to Stuyvesant s Petition, Dutch West India Company (1655) (SAKAI) Rights of the Jews of New Amsterdam, Dutch West India Company (1656) (SAKAI) Tues. 1/29 Diner, [JUS], 26-40 Primary Sources: Message of Welcome to George Washington, The Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island (1790) (SAKAI) A Reply to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, George Washington (1790) (SAKAI) Thurs. 1/31 Diner, [JUS], 41-70 Primary Source: TBA Tues. 2/5 (Quiz #1) Diner, [JUS], 71-86 Primary Sources, Jews of the Confederacy (in class) - Solomon Cohen s Confederate Passport (1863) - Letter from a Confederate soldier (1864) - Prayer for the Confederacy (186?) Thurs. 2/7 Diner, [JUS], 86-111 Primary Source: The Russian Jew in America, Abraham Cahan (1898) (SAKAI) Tues. 2/12 Diner, [JUS], 112-135 Primary Sources: The Pittsburg Platform, Conference of Reform Rabbis (1885) (SAKAI) The Bethlehem Judea Colony, South Dakota, The Am Olam Movement (1883) (SAKAI) The Orthodox Congregational Union of America (1898) (SAKAI)
Thurs. 2/14 Diner, [JUS], 135-154 Tues. 2/19 (Quiz #2) Diner, [JUS], 155-182 Primary Sources: Women Wage Workers, Julia Richman (1893) (SAKAI) Temporary Suspension of Immigration, Congressional Committee on Immigration (1920) (SAKAI) The International Jew: The World s Problem, Henry Ford (1920) (SAKAI) Thurs. 2/21 (Primary Source Analysis due in class) Diner, [JUS], 182-202 Tues. 2/26 ***Midterm (in-class) Thurs. 2/28 Bread Givers pgs. 1-67 Tues. 3/5 Bread Givers pgs. 67-128 Thurs. 3/7 Bread Givers pgs. 128-179 Tues. 3/12 (Quiz #3) Bread Givers pgs. 179-236 Thurs. 3/14 Bread Givers pgs. 237-end Tues. 3/19 SPRING RECESS Thurs. 3/21 SPRING RECESS Tues. 3/26 CLASS CANCELLED Thurs. 3/28 The Jew Store pgs. 1-61 Tues. 4/2 The Jew Store pgs. 61-127
Thurs. 4/4 The Jew Store pgs. 127-174 Tues. 4/9 (QUIZ #4) The Jew Store pgs. 174-231 Thurs. 4/11 The Jew Store 231-end Tues. 4/16 Diner, [JUS], 205-239 Primary Sources: The American Jewish Conference (January 1943); A Statement of Policy (1944), American Council of Judaism Thurs. 4/18 Diner, [JUS], 239-258 Tues. 4/23 *** (all day) VISIT TO NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY (Philadelphia, PA) Diner, [JUS], 259-283 Primary Source: An Exchange of Views (1950), David Ben-Gurion and Jacob Blaustein Thurs. 4/25 (QUIZ #5) Diner, [JUS], 283-304 Tues. 4/30 (Essay II Due in class) Diner, [JUS], 305-330 Thurs. 5/2 Diner, [JUS], 305-358