Socio-economic and intellectual roots of modern anti-Semitism, evolution of Nazi policy, the world of death camps, responses of Axis and Allied governments, and responses of the Jews.

This course surveys scriptures and stories, wisdom texts, histories and apocalyptic visions that Jews living in the Persian and later Greco-Roman worlds produced and circulated in Second Temple period (539 BCE -135 CE). Examining Jewish history and writings of the Second Temple period is key to understanding an important time not only in Jewish religious formation but also the emergence of early Christianity, first as a Jewish sect and later, as a separate religion.

The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) is one of the most influential and widely studied texts in the world. For more than two millennia, it has played a central role in shaping Western culture, religion, and ethics. However, the stories, laws, and prophetic writings contained in the Bible are products of a specific time and place--embedded in the ancient Near East, where the Israelite people lived and interacted with other cultures over the course of many centuries. This course explores the contexts in which the Bible was written and compiled, drawing on literary analysis, historical criticism, and the witness of archaeology evidence. Students analyze key topics in Israelite religion and society, including the daily life of men and women, the emergence of monotheism, the role of the priesthood, development of the prophetic tradition, the political formation of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah among others.

Evolution and global spread of Muslim societies, modernization and its problems.

Rise of Islam, creation of Islamic society, relationship of religion and politics.

In this course, we will explore key events and themes in Jewish history from Late Antiquity to the 18th century, with a focus on Jewish life in Europe and the Mediterranean. Students will examine how Jewish communities adapted and persisted in the face of challenges like exile, persecution, and political instability, through the close reading of primary sources such as legal texts, autobiographies, chronicles, and letters. They will engage with important questions about how Jewish culture evolved across different regions and historical periods, and what has contributed to its remarkable resilience. This transnational, global course connects Jewish history to broader world events and cultural shifts. For students interested in understanding how cultures endure and adapt, this course provides valuable insights into the historical forces that shape identity and community across time and space, while engaging deeply with primary sources that bring these experiences to life.

Survey of major political, socioeconomic, and cultural developments in the history of Diaspora Jewry: Modern Jewish history.

In this course we examine the philosophy, practice, historical roots, and development of yoga. Students are asked to use and reflect on the disciplinary perspectives of the historian to examine premodern primary texts (in English translation) that provide a window into the origins of yoga, as well as the perspectives of the anthropologist and cultural critic to examine contemporary yoga practices. Students will compare and contrast perspectives of Indian yogis and contemporary international yoga influencers in order to understand how the experience of yoga differs across time and culture and how social systems of power and inequality are both subverted and reinforced by yoga and its practitioners.

This course investigates how consciousness of "the West" as a rival cultural entity emerged in Muslim societies, and how the West has been represented and evaluated by Muslim intellectuals from the colonial period to current debates over US hegemony and globalization.

In this course, students will analyze attitudes towards sexuality in major world religions, both globally and in the context of the United States.