Spring 2023 Courses
Introduction to Modern Middle East
01:563:100
(cross-listed with 01:685:100)
This is the foundational course for Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University. The course introduces students to Middle East Studies as an interdisciplinary academic field. Throughout the semester, we study key debates, events, and literature in several of the disciplines that constitute the field. Three major “modules” comprise the course but history is a defining discipline. The first module introduces Middle East Studies as a professional academic field in Euro-American universities by focusing on the relationship between power and knowledge. The second module explores major debates in the field from the vantage point of three major disciplines - History, Political Science, and Anthropology – as well as the key interdisciplinary framework of Political Economy. The third module provides a curated overview of major events, ideologies, and encounters that continue to shape the Modern Middle East: colonialism, nationalism, war, the nation-state system, and political Islam.
Introduction to the Modern Middle East is an intensive undergraduate level course meeting Core Curriculum learning goals and requiring 25-35 pages per session. The classes are a mixture of lectures and discussions. Students are expected to come to classes having prepared the reading(s) for the day and ready to discuss them in detail.
This course fulfills Core requirements CCO, HST or SCL, AHo.
Spring 2023 taught by Professor Bolourchi.
Mondays and Wednesdays, Period 4 (2:00 PM to 3:20 PM)
Have questions? You can email Professor Bolourchi at
Elementary Modern Hebrew
01:563:101 and 01:563:102
(cross-listed with 01:013:152 and 01:013:153)
Acquire basic competence in reading, writing and speaking Hebrew.
Introductory Hebrew: This course develops primary language skills through extensive practice in reading and writing. Since emphasis is put on the sentence as a unit of language, students are engaged from the very beginning in creative writing and speech as well as in achieving basic competence in grammar. Communication skills are enhanced by engaging in conversations based on everyday situations. No previous knowledge of Hebrew required.
No prerequisites.
Click to learn more about the Hebrew Placement Exam
Spring 2023 taught by Professor Goldman.
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, Period 1 (8:30 AM to 9:50 AM)
Have questions? You can email Professor Goldman at
Intermediate Modern Hebrew
01:563:132
(cross-listed with 01:013:253)
Achieve proficiency in reading and speaking modern Hebrew.
The objectives of this course are twofold: development of language skills and preparing students to read and analyze Hebrew literature. Students develop conversational skills by regular participation in class presentations and discussions of current and cultural events. Advance grammatical forms are integrated into the discussion of reading material, which is selected from various Hebrew sources.
Prerequisites: 01:563:121 / 01:013:156 or Hebrew placement test.
Click to learn more about the Hebrew Placement Exam
Spring 2023 taught by Professor Goldman.
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, Period 2 (10:20 AM to 11:40 AM)
Have questions? You can email Professor Goldman at
01:563:211
(cross-listed with 01:013:353)
Improve your proficiency in reading and writing skills by reading short essays, newspaper, and magazine articles.
This course is designed to develop fluency and increase proficiency in reading and writing skills. The course provides an intensive training in Hebrew Grammar and syntax through the reading and analysis of short essays, and newspaper and magazine articles. Reading and writing assignments as well as creative writing and oral presentations are part of the course work.
01:563:210 Prerequisites: 01:563:132 / 01:013:253 or Hebrew placement test.
Click to learn more about the Hebrew Placement Exam
Spring 2023 taught by Professor Goldman.
Mondays and Thursdays, Period 3 (12:10 AM to 1:30 PM)
Have questions? You can email Professor Goldman at
Religion and Reproduction: Jewish and Christian Experiences
01:563:264
(cross-listed with 01:840:263, 01:988:220, and 01:790:264)
Religion plays a large role in shaping reproductive practices, norms, and policies. This course explores the intersection of religion and reproduction in the United States and Israel. During the semester we will focus primarily on pronatalism and abortion as two key aspects of reproduction. For each of these issues we will focus on how Jews and Christians, as well as Judaism and Christianity, in the US understand these issues, and wrestle with them internally. A few themes will continually arise: how religious ideas about kinship, women’s sexuality, and concern for demographic continuance are applied through forms of reproduction and reproductive interruption. For comparison, this class will also explore how religion shapes reproductive norms and practices in another national context. Looking at these issues within Israel, students will come to appreciate that religious positions are not monolithic but rather arise from particular cultural contexts. Furthermore, they will see how religion and reproduction intersect differently elsewhere. The course will be centered around ethnographic case studies of reproduction while drawing occasionally on historical analyses and philosophical commentaries. Gender and religion will form the two primary modes of analysis for the study of reproduction. At the end of the semester we will also consider how class and race shape reproductive ideas and practices in the US.
This course fulfills Core requirement CCD.
Spring 2023 taught by Professor Michal Raucher.
Tuesdays and Thursdays, Period 5 @ 3:50 PM - 5:10 PM
Have questions? You can email Prof. Michal Raucher at