HISTORY OF THE JEWS

The course is part of the basic courses of the second year of the BA degree course "Languages and Civilizations of Asia and Mediterranean Africa", Eurasia curriculum. The teaching contributes to achieving the educational objectives of the Course of Studies in the area of historical, geographical and socio-anthropological skills. It aims to provide introductory level methodological tools for a general knowledge of the history of the Jews in a long-term perspective (from biblical times to today). The aim of the course is to develop a solid base of knowledge of the main geographical, cultural and political factors that have determined, between peculiar characteristics and general historical dynamics, the place of the Jews in history. Furthermore, drawing on the tradition of diaspora studies and spatial anthropology, the course will delve into some places, symbolic and real, that Jews have inhabited over time and which have influenced their understanding of Jewish identity (Jewishness), of the Jewish people, of the religious community, of what and who is Jewish.

Knowledge and understanding:
Students will learn to know and understand, at an introductory level, the main geographical, cultural and political factors that have shaped the history of the Jews in a long-term perspective. They will acquire, at an introductory level, useful knowledge to understand how different cultural identities and belongings have developed over the course of Jewish history and how they manifest themselves in the different interpretations of spaces and places.

Applying knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, students will be able to use the interpretative analysis tools relevant to the study of the history of the Jews and grasp its long-term aspects and transformations; they will be able to critically apply the concepts and tools of diaspora studies (diaspora, community, identity, collective memory) as well as those of anthropology of place (place, space, sense of place, places and identity) to connect the Jewish experience to today's experiences of diasporas, minorities, and multiple identities.

Making judgements:
The course encourages students to develop critical judgments on the historical-political and social phenomena relating to the history of the Jews using critically and historiographically solid arguments; it encourages students to put the various types of sources (primary, secondary, printed, photographic, video, documentary, podcast and film sources) into critical examination; to acquire awareness that history is a method developed to build knowledge of the past starting from the present and that its starting point is not neutral.

Communication
Know how to express and re-elaborate the contents of the program in oral or written form in a concise and effective manner; knowing how to interact with the instructor and with colleagues in a constructive and respectful way.

Lifelong learning skills :
At the end of the course, students will be able to critically integrate the study of different materials (notes, manuals, creative texts, academic articles, graphic narratives, literature, films, podcast); they will be able to independently study materials and topics not covered during lectures; they will have improved their ability to study materials in English; they will demonstrate to be able to participate in an informed manner in a scientific discussion on the topic of the course among peers.

Knowledge of English. No other pre-requisites are expected.

The course introduces the history of the Jews from a long-term perspective. The course is divided into two macro areas of study. In the first we will address questions such as: What is Jewish history? Where do the Jews come from? How was their diasporic existence constituted? What place have the Jews occupied in history? In this part of the course the fundamental stages of the history of the Jews will be retraced: from the birth of Judaism to the exile in Babylon, from the existence of communities in the Islamic world to medieval Christian Europe, up to the modern era and the Emancipation, and the contemporary world characterized by the tragedies of the twentieth century and the birth of the State of Israel. This historical-diachronic overview will serve as a solid basis for studying, from an anthropological perspective and diaspora studies, various issues related to the history of the Jews and Jewishness, to the definition of who is Jewish and what is Jewish. Do the Jews form a people or a religious community? If the relationship to places establishes the identity of most human groups, what are the places on which the experience of Jewishness is based? Here, places such as the domestic space and food preparation, the ghetto and the Eruv, places of worship and cemeteries will be considered, also in a comparative perspective that includes different geographical areas (including Morocco, Algeria, Iran, Italy, etc.), places of memory and museums. The description of the course contents is to be considered indicative. The contents may vary, although not substantially, to better respond to educational purposes.

STUDI CRITICI
Raymond P. Scheindlin, A short History of the Jewish People. From Legendary Times to Modern Statehood (Oxford University Press: New York, 1998).
Emanuela Trevisan Semi, Le diaspore. Esempi storici e modelli interpretativi (Il Ponte: Città di Castello, 2008).
Piero Stefani e Davide Assael, Storia culturale degli ebrei (Il Mulino: Bologna, 2024). Solo i capitoli indicati a lezione.
Ernest Gugenhaim, L’ebraismo nella vita quotidiana (Giuntina: Firenze, 2007). Solo i capitoli indicati a lezione

LETTERATURA & GRAPHIC NARRATIVE
Abraham B. Yehoshua, Il signor Mani (Einaudi: Torino, 1994). (Compulsory reading)

One of the following volumes:
Tova Mirvis, Il mondo fuori (Einaudi: Torino, 2004).
Michel Kichka, La seconda generazione. Quello che non ho detto a mio padre (Rizzoli Lizard: Milano, 2016).
Sarah Glidden, How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less (First Drawn & Quarterly edition 2016).
Rutu Modan, La proprietà (Rizzoli Lizard: Milano 2013).

FILM
Tinghir-Jerusalem - Les echos du Mellah, dir. Kamal Hachkar (2017).

PODCAST
Shamailang. Una mappa di parole, https://www.pierarossetto.eu/eijm-creative-mapping/a-map-of-words/ (compulsory)

Other required and/or optional readings will be indicated throughout the semester. Students are invited to consult the materials uploaded by the teacher in Moodle and the related reading and study assignments on a weekly basis.

Oral exam on the readings and materials assigned during the course. The exam will evaluate to what extent students have acquired historical knowledge, are able to understand and contextualise texts, how they are able to handle the means for critical analysis and their ability to learn autonomously.

Class lessons (including guest lecturers), critical-analytical viewing of films and/or documentaries, seminar lessons, use of the Moodle platform.

Students who have accessibility or special learning issues are warmly invited to contact the relevant office (the disabilita@unive.it office) at the beginning of the course and, if they wish so, also the instructor.

Italian

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