JS 258-000: Anthropology Of The Jews (Spring 2010)

Content:   This course will introduce the major Jewish populations and cultures through the four fields of anthropology: biological anthropology, archeology, cultural anthropology, and linguistics. It will define the Jewish populations in space and time and then take up their origins and major movements using the evidence of demography, genetics, archeology, history, and ethnology. Jewish cultures considered include the tribal and Temple periods, the Jewish context of the life of Jesus, the Talmudic and medieval eras, the Central European Diaspora (especially the shtetl), the Jews of Spain and Islam, the modern Yiddishists, the Jews of the United States, the kibbutz, and the millennium-old Jewish communities of Ethiopia, India, and China.  The primary Jewish languages will be briefly examined and placed in context among the languages of the world. Use of these languages for Biblical exegesis and troubadour poetry, prophetic declamation and modern comic fiction, prayer, curse, contract, song, and magic, will be touched upon. In parallel, we will also trace the history of the Jewish body, as it has been seen and defined by the Jews and their enemies. This includes circumcision, sex, sex differences, laws of purity, ideas of beauty, nose jobs, weakness, strength, and genes. Please note: While respectful to all faiths, this course takes an anthropological, not a religious, perspective. Very religious students, whether Jewish, Christian, or Muslim, may find some material objectionable.

Prerequisites: None.

Texts: 

• Konner, Melvin. Unsettled: An Anthropology of the Jews. (To be distributed free of charge)
• Konner, Melvin. The Jewish Body.