JCST 6020 AA Jewish History I: Bible to Talmud
Professor David M. Bossman, Ph.D.
Bossmada@shu.edu
Thursday, 4 to 6:10 p.m.

Syllabus

Survey of the dispersion of the Jewish people in the Mediterranean world with accompanying socio-cultural developments: the biblical Exile and return to the Land; Jews in the Hellenistic world; group dominance practices in the ancient world; the political effects of the rise of Christianity; the growth of rabbinic Judaism and the emergence of the Talmud. 3 credits.

Objectives

Examine available resources for studying the land and people of Israel from the time of return from Babylonia to the formation of the Talmud.

Develop a cultural awareness of Israelite society within the larger circum-Mediterranean matrix of cultures: commonalities and differences.

Explore the range of dispersion of Israelites through the circum-Mediterranean world during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

Establish a critical awareness of the sharp differences between ancient and modern peoples and cultures, by which people today can gain insight into dynamic diversity within and between religious traditions.

The course will be conducted in colloquium style to promote active discussion of assigned readings with the integration of current resources for on-going learning. Each class participant will prepare a one page type-written response to assigned readings and submit in that class. One class participant will lead a discussion of the assigned materials and elicit responses from the class on the topics of the assigned reading. All students will explore additional media resources for assigned topics and share these in class as much as possible, collecting them in a portfolio, which will be submitted at the end of the course. As a final requirement, class participants have a choice of writing a final critical essay or preparing three lesson plans on material derived from the course.

Grading

Weekly submissions of typed responses to the readings and participation in class discussions will constitute one half of the final grade. The portfolio and final project will each constitute one quarter of the final grade.

Required Readings

Douglas, Mary
Leviticus as Literature. Oxford University Press (1999). ISBN 0-19-815092-X. (Check out Google Books online.)

Josephus, Flavius
The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (translated by William Whiston).  Hendrickson Publishers (January 2005). ISBN 978-1565637801

Grabbe, Lester
Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It? T&T Clark International (2007, revised edition). ISBN 978-0567032546.

Reading Assignments

  TBA