Jewish Culture in America:
History, Literature, Film
Fall 2012
Jewish Studies 101-001
Tues/Thurs11 – 12:15
HLT 180
Dr. Rachel N. Baum
Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 2:00 – 3:15
Greene Museum 120(Center for Jewish Studies, on Downer next to Sabin)
229-5156
“I drive him around or I sit with him or I eat with him and I am thinking that the real work, the invisible, huge job that he did all his life, that his whole generation of Jews did, was making themselves American. Europe stopped with him.”
Philip Roth, from Patrimony
Overview: This course provides an introduction to Jewish culture in America. It looks at the symbiotic relationship between Jewish minority culture and American culture – investigating how Jews have contributed to American culture, and how America has shaped the contemporary understanding of what it means to be Jewish. The course looks particularly at popular culture – the stories that are told through the literature, films, music, and television shows of a culture.
While Judaism as a religion has certainly affected American culture, in this course we will be particularly concerned with Judaism as a culture, distinct from its religious underpinnings. While religious Judaism is alive and well, the fact remains that approximately half of American Jews do not express any kind of religious or institutional affiliation. Yet such Jews often feel a great passion about their Jewishness, seeing themselves as part of Jewish history and culture. By the end of this course, you will have a deeper understanding of such feelings, and knowledge of the rich and varied legacy of Jewish culture in America.
Of course, any course such as this one is by its very nature, selective. There are many, many aspects to Jewish culture that could simply not be included in this 15 week course. My goal in this class is to raise the questions of Jewish American culture, with the hope that your journey to finding the answers will extend beyond this class.
Required Reading:
1. Jewish American Literature: A Norton Anthology(New York: Norton, 2000)
2. Other reading and course material on D2L (d2l.uwm.edu)
You should have the readings of the day with you each day for discussion. This means that if it is an essay posted on D2L, you must print it out and/or have it accessible on a laptop.
Learning Outcomes for the course:
One of the essential learning outcomes of this class is Critical Thinking, which for this class means the ability to question, challenge, investigate, and explore the issue of culture (specifically Jewish culture) in ways that highlight the complexity and multifaceted nature of the issue
Specifically, a student successfully completing this course will be able to:
- Identify the major themes, concerns, and historical moments of Jewish American life in the 20th and 21st centuries
- Analyze the way in which ethnic groups (here, Jews) shape their identities through the telling of stories
- Analyze a piece of (here, Jewish) popular culture (story, film, comic book, poem, etc) by looking closely at the cultural context of its production, as well as by closely analyzing its specific use of language and narrative
- Analyze the historical, political, and cultural conditions that influence and complicate the production and reception of Jewish popular culture
D2L/Facebook
This course has a D2L site, where you will find some of the course readings as well as the quizzes (which are taken and submitted online). I have also set up a Facebook page for the course. You can find the page by clicking on the Facebook link in the upper right hand corner of the D2L page. Through FB, I will send reminders of due dates, articles that might be of interest, etc……..Using D2L is mandatory for the class, but Facebook is not. That said, you’ll find the FB page useful, and I recommend it. You only need to “like” the page, you don’t need to friend anyone in the class.
ASSIGNMENTS:
1. FOUR ESSAYS : 500 points
You will complete four essays for this course, with the latter essays counting towards more of your grade than the former essays.
Each essay will be explained in detail in the assignments found on D2L. Everything that you hand in to me must be typed and double-spaced. Please include a heading on your paper that includes your name, the date, the course (Jewish 101), my name, and the assignment number. Your essays should each have a title, but they should not have a title page.
Be sure to run spell check and also to proofread your work for mistakes that spell-check will not find (their/they’re/there, etc). Spelling, grammar, and everything else “counts” towards your grade on the essays.
You should hand in a hard copy of your work to me, and also upload a copy to the D2L dropbox by the end of the day in which the paper is due. This provides a safety net for you, in case I misplace an essay that you have handed in.
Essay 1: 80 points (due 9/18)
Essay 2: 120 points (due 10/9)
Essay 3: 140 points (due 11/6)
Essay 4: 160 points (due 12/4)
2. FIVE QUIZZES: 250 points (50 points each quiz)
Every other week you will have a quiz. This quiz must be completed online, on the course D2L site. All quizzes are listed on the syllabus, with the date by which they must be completed. After this date/time, the quiz will be “locked” and inaccessible to you. In general, quizzes will be “live” on D2L for two days.
The purpose of these brief quizzes is to insure that you are keeping up with the reading of the class. They will ask you questions about the reading in mostly multiple choice fashion. The quizzes will be brief, and will ask you about the readings/films of the previous two weeks. You are expected to complete the quiz even if you are not in class that Thursday. Please contact me if you have any problems with this.
- Quiz #1: due Fri 9/28, midnight
- Quiz #2: due Fri 10/5, midnight
- Quiz #3: due Fri 10/19, midnight
- Quiz #4: due Fri 11/2, midnight
- Quiz #5: due Fri 11/16, midnight
3. ATTENDANCE: 100 points
While there is some lecture in this course, I run all of my classes with a high level of student participation. I think this makes the course more interesting and lively. Therefore, I require attendance from all students (see attendance policy below). This means that you get class points just for sitting in your seat!
Attendance is required in this class. You may miss 2 classes before your grade will go down. Students who miss 10 or more classes will fail the class, regardless of their grades on any assignments.
4. FINAL EXAM: 150 points
The final exam for this class will be held in this room on December 19th, 10 am – Noon. The exam will consist of a combination of short answer/multiple choice questions, and a written essay, with each part counting for half of your grade. You can bring any notes that you have taken for this semester, but you cannot bring your textbooks.
5. Extra Credit: up to 100 points
There are a few ways to earn extra credit in the class. Students can receive extra credit for going to a Jewish-themed lecture or activity and writing a brief paper about the experience. If you have ideas for extra credit, please let me know so I can share them with the class. Extra credit is generally worth 25 points, although it may vary depending on the activity.
I will try to let you know about Jewish activities around campus. The Center for Jewish Studies also has a Facebook page, which will help you to stay connected.
GRADING:
The grading for this course is based on 1000 points. Your final grade will be computed thusly:
950 – 1000 points = A
900 – 949 = A-
860 – 899 = B+
821 – 859 = B
800 – 820 = B-
760 – 799 = C+
721 – 759 = C
700 – 720 = C-
650 – 699 = D+
600 – 649 = D
Below 600 points = F
Time Commitment:
Every student is different: Some are faster readers than others, some are stronger writers. That said, here is an average breakdown of how your time in this course will be spent:
In-class time: 37.5 hours (2.5 hours a week)
Reading & Contemplation: 60 hours (4 hours a week)
Quizzes (studying for & completing): 10 hours
Essays: 20 hours (5 hours per essay)
Studying: 10 hours
Final Exam: 2 hours
POLICIES:
Attendance: Discussion is a vital part of this class, so it is very important that students attend and participate. Therefore, you are allowed two free absences. After that, you will lose class points for not attending. Here is how it lays out:
1 absence: 100 points
2 absences: 100 points
3 absences: 90 points
4 absences: 75 points
5 absences: 60 points
6 absences: 45 points
7 absences: 30 points
8 or more absences: 0 points
Arriving Late/Leaving Early: If you must leave class early or come in late, please note this on the back of the attendance sheet. The time you miss will be added together and applied to the attendance policy – e.g., a student who leaves 15 minutes early four times will be credited with missing one 75 minute class.
Late Assignments: If you are absent the day an assignment is due, please bring it to the following class. You can find out what we discussed that day by looking at the syllabus; please ask another student in the class for any notes. I will post any handouts on the D2L site.
Participation by All Students:If you need special accommodations in order to meet any of the requirements of this course, please contact me as soon as possible. Students with a Visa from the Student Accessibility Center should give me the Visa within the first two weeks of the class.
Accommodation for Religious Observances:
Students will be allowed to complete examinations or other requirements that are missed because of a religious observance.
Academic Misconduct/Plagiarism:
Students are responsible for the honest completion and representation of their work, for the appropriate citation of sources, and for respect of others' academic endeavors. Claiming other people’s writing or ideas as your own is a serious offense. Be sure to credit your sources – including information you’ve gotten off of the Internet – in your work. If you are unsure how to do this, be sure to see me.
If that’s not persuasive enough, university policy specifies that “[p]rohibited conduct includes cheating on an examination; collaborating with others in work to be presented, contrary to the stated rules of the course; submitting a paper or assignment as one's own work when a part or all of the paper or assignment is the work of another; submitting a paper or assignment that contains ideas or research of others without appropriately identifying the sources of those ideas; stealing examinations or course materials; submitting, if contrary to the rules of a course, work previously presented in another course; tampering with the laboratory experiment or computer program of another student; knowingly and intentionally assisting another student in any of the above, including assistance in an arrangement whereby any work, classroom performance, examination or other activity is submitted or performed by a person other than the student under whose name the work is submitted or performed.”
Potential penalties for academic misconduct include reprimand, repeating an assignment, failing the assignment or course, removal from the course, academic probation, suspension, or expulsion.
My Zero-Tolerance Policy Towards Plagiarism
The internet has made it easier to cheat in a variety of ways. I have had more cases of plagiarism over the last five years than I have in the past. Filing academic misconduct charges against a student is time-consuming and depressing. Because of my past experience, I have now instituted a zero-tolerance policy towards plagiarism. Of course, most students don’t cheat, so this is directed only towards those of you who might at some point consider taking the easy way out of a paper or exam.
If I catch you cheating on anything in my class – a one-page paper or a quiz – you will fail the class. No questions asked. I will not care that it was your first time cheating, or that you are under a lot of stress. Cheating is wrong and it will not be tolerated in this class. I will report the case to the dean of students and you will fail the class. It will not matter if you have been in the class for one month or for the entire semester.
The University Policy about these issues and others (e.g., students called to active military duty, discriminatory conduct, incompletes, etc.) can be found at:
Email Etiquette: I check my email regularly and will usually respond to email within 24 hours. Please make the subject line something identifiable, such as Jewish Studies 101, so that I don’t accidentally delete your message. Should you not hear from me within a day, please resend it.
A SPECIAL WORD TO NEW UWM STUDENTS:
UWM is a big place and it can be overwhelming for new students. Many new students take large lecture classes where they don’t know the instructor personally and may not even be able to meet their fellow students. I hope this class will offer you a different experience. If I can answer any questions for you about UWM, please don’t hesitate to ask. I may not have the answer, but I can certainly help you find it, and am happy to do so.
Major/Minor in Jewish Studies
This course fulfills a requirement for the Jewish Studies major and minor. The major offers two tracks: Hebrew Studies and Jewish Cultural Studies (which does not require Hebrew language). With its combination of core courses and electives, the Jewish Studies program allows students to create a course of study that can focus on religion, culture, Israel, Holocaust, media, or immigration. A dynamic and innovative major, Jewish Studies prepares students to work in our multicultural world.For more information on the Jewish Studies major and minor, please contact me, as I am coordinator.
CALENDAR
Subject to change
Course materials should be read by the date they are listed
NA = Norton Anthology
D2L = d2l.uwm.edu; our online course site
PART ONE: 1654-1920
Week One:Introduction to the Course & Its Central Concepts
Tues 9/4: Introduction to the class. Go over syllabus, book list.
Thurs 9/6: Diversity wheel exercise. Cultural identity assignment (Essay #1), due 9/20.
Week Two: Eastern European Immigrants and New York’s Lower East Side
Tues 9/11:Be sure to read the introductory paragraphs on each author.
Rebecca Samuel, “Letters to her Parents” (p 38-41, NA)
Isaac Mayer Wise, “Fourth of July 1858” (p 83-86, NA)
Emma Lazarus (p 101-107, NA)
George Washington’s Letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport (D2L)
In class: History of Jewish immigration to the U.S.
Thurs 9/13: Anzia Yezierska, “Children of Loneliness” (233-244, NA);
“A Bintl Briv”, (p 298-308, NA)
Kaufmann Kohler, “The Concordance of Judaism and Americanism” (1911). (D2L)
Week Three:
Tues 9/18: video: Hester Street (in class).
ESSAY #1 due at beginning of class.
Thurs 9/20: Reading: Anzia Yezierska, “America and I” (D2L)
Israel Friedlaender, “The Division Between German & Russian Jews” (D2L, from The Jew in the Modern World) (in class: watch end of Hester Street)
Week Four: Jews & American Politics, Part One: Labor Unions & the Development of Left-Wing Politics
Tues 9/25: “The International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union and the American Labor Movement” (D2L, from The Jew in the Modern World)
“The Jewish Daily Forward Reports the Triangle Tragedy” (D2L)
“From the Ashes of Tragedy” (American Jewish Historical Society) – (D2L)
Robert Pinsky, “Shirt” (D2L)
Morris Rosenfeld poems (p 134- 137, NA)
David Edelshtadt poems (p 137-139, NA)
Thurs 9/27:Film on labor unions
QUIZ #1. Must be completed on D2L by Friday, 9/28, at midnight.
PART TWO: 1920 – 1950
Week Five: Jewish Narratives Find a Voice, Part I: Comic Books & Broadway
Tues 10/2:
Henry Ford, “The International Jew: The World’s Problem” (1920). (D2L) (In class, we will be discussing the context of antisemitism that existed in the United States at this time)
“Temporary Suspension of Immigration” (1920). (D2L)
Arie Kaplan, “A Brief History of Jews in Comic Books” (D2L)
Simcha Weinstein, “Superman: From Cleveland to Krypton: The Man of Steel’s Jewish Roots” (D2L)
Thurs 10/4:“The Golden Age of the Broadway Song” (p 961-977, NA)
QUIZ #2: Must be completed on D2L by Friday 10/5 at midnight.
Week Six: Jewish Immigrants Find a Voice, Part II: The Hollywood Industry
Tues 10/9: Film, in class: Hollywood: An Empire of their Own
Reading: Michael Rogin, from Blackface, White Noise: Jewish Immigrants in the Hollywood Melting Pot (D2L)
ESSAY #2 DUE at beginning of class
Thurs 10/11: More on Jews & the Hollywood Industry
Reading: Irving Saposnik, “Jolson, Judy, and Jewish Memory” (D2L)
Week Seven:
Tues 10/16:The Jazz Singer (Al Jolson)
Reading: Eric Lott, from Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class (D2L)
Thurs 10/18: The Jazz Singer (Al Jolson)
Marshall Berman, “Love and Theft: From Jack Robin to Bob Dylan”
Quiz #3 due on D2L by midnight, Friday, 10/19.
PART THREE: 1950 - 1964
Week Eight: Jews & American Politics, Part Two: McCarthy & the Hollywood 10
Tues 10/23: The Way We Were(film, in class)
Thurs 10/25: The Way We Were
Week Nine: The Holocaust
Tues 10/30
Elie Wiesel, excerpts from Night (899-906, NA)
Elie Wiesel, “Why I Write” (907-911, NA)
Muriel Rukeyser, “To be a Jew in the Twentieth Century” (p 538, NA)
Irena Klepfisz, “Bashert” (p 1081-1083, NA)
Primo Levi, “Shema” (p 1165, NA)
Thurs 11/1
Reading: Art Spiegelman, “from Maus II” (1093-1104, NA)
Melvin Jules Bukiet, “The Library of Moloch” (p 1120-1129, NA)
Quiz #4: Must be completed on D2L by Friday 11/2, by midnight.