Jewish civilisation - Faculty of Arts

Offered by the Australian Centre for the Study of Jewish Civilisation (School of Historical Studies)

Campus availability: Caulfield, Clayton

Relevant courses

2435 Diploma in Arts (Hebrew)
2447 Diploma in Arts (Jewish Civilisation)
0002 Bachelor of Arts (and associated double degrees)
3910 Bachelor of Arts (Global)
0202 Bachelor of Letters

Units offered within the Centre for the Study of Jewish Civilisation encompass a number of diverse disciplines and areas of study which reflect the very nature of Jewish civilisation itself. Accordingly, a primary objective of this centre is to equip students with an understanding of Jewish civilisation in its many aspects - language and literature, history, theology, philosophy, law, politics and sociology.

Students do not necessarily have to choose JWC units to make up a minor or major sequence in Jewish civilisation. Units coded with a JWC prefix encompass studies in language and literature (both Hebrew and Yiddish), Jewish law and Jewish ethics and philosophy, as well as studies in Jewish religion and theology. Students can also pursue a wide range of studies that relate to the Jewish historical experience - ancient, medieval and modern. Relevant units of study are coded with an HSY prefix. In addition, at second and third-year levels, students can include an archaeology (AAH) unit dealing with Israel and the ancient Near East, as well as a religion and theology (RLT) unit which focuses on a comparative study of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Upon completion of an arts degree, students can undertake an honours program in Jewish civilisation, subject to their meeting the normal entry requirements for admission into a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) course.

All Hebrew units can contribute towards a major or minor sequence in Jewish Civilisation provided they do not also contribute to a major or minor sequence in Hebrew .

Sequences

First year sequence

A first-year sequence comprises one of the following options:

HSY1190 and HSY1120
JWC1000 and JWC1005
JWC1010 and JWC1020
an appropriate combination of two first-year level units chosen from the units listed below.

Minor sequence

Students complete a standard minor chosen from the units listed below.

Major sequence

Students complete a standard major chosen from the units listed below.

Units

First-year level

HSY1120 Jews and non-Jews in the middle ages
HSY1190 Jews, God and history: The historical foundations of Judaism
JWC1000 Introductory Hebrew, part A
JWC1005 Introductory Hebrew, part B
JWC1010 Hebrew language and literature I, part A
JWC1020 Hebrew language and literature I, part B
JWC1060 Yiddish language, culture and literature 1A
JWC1070 Yiddish language, culture and literature 1B
JWC1130 Discovering Judaism: Belief, practice and social structure

Second/Third-year level

ARY2250/ARY3250 Israel in the ancient near East: An archaeological perspective
ARY2270/ARY3270 Israel and the ancient near East: Neolithic to middle bronze age, 8500-1550 BCE
HSY2035/HSY3035 Heresy, persecution, identity: Confronting religious orthodoxies
HSY2095/HSY3095 The Middle East in the 20th century
HSY2145/HSY3145 The history of the Arab-Israeli conflict
HSY2265/HSY3265 The world of the Bible: Text and context
HSY2555/HSY3555 Australian Jewry: History and society
HSY2560/HSY3560 Challenge and response: The course of modern Jewish history
HSY2570/HSY3570 Modern Israel: History, politics and society (previously Modern Israel: Vision and reality)
HSY2580/HSY3580 The holocaust in an age of genocide
HSY2595/HSY3595 Alexandria-Jerusalem-Rome
HSY2735/HSY3735 Myth and meaning in ancient Worlds (previously RLT2190/RLT3190)
HSY3030 Jewish law: Ancient, medieval, modern
INT3140 After atrocity: The Holocaust, South Africa, Rwanda
JWC2010 Hebrew language and literature II, part A
JWC2020 Hebrew language and literature II, part B
JWC2030/JWC3030 Jewish Law: Ancient, medieval, modern
JWC2040/JWC3040 Judaism and modernity
JWC2060/JWC3060 Exploring Judaism: Law, ethics and philosophy
JWC2070/JWC3070 Maimonides' Principles of the Jewish faith*
JWC2110 Yiddish language, culture and literature 2A
JWC2120 Yiddish language, culture and literature 2B
JWC2130/JWC3130 Thinking Jewish: Reason and revelation (previously Jewish philosophy in context)
JWC2260/JWC3260 Literature of destruction and redemption
JWC2270/JWC3270 Reading gender in Judaism
JWC2280/JWC3280 Jewish philosophy and Kabbalah
JWC2425/JWC3425 On the edge of destruction: Polish Jewry between the two world wars
JWC2450/JWC3450 Israeli culture through cinema and literature
JWC2600/JWC3600 Israel in late antiquity*
JWC2610/JWC3610 Yiddish writers in translation
JWC2620/JWC3620 Radical rabbis: Literature, theology and imagination
JWC3010 Hebrew Language and literature III, Part A
JWC3020 Hebrew Language and literature III, Part B
JWC3050 Hebrew literature research project
JWC3110 Yiddish language, culture and literature 3A
JWC3120 Yiddish language, culture and literature 3B
RLT2210/RLT3210 Starring God: Religion, myth and film
RLT2470/RLT3470 The religious quest: Judaism, Christianity and Islam
SHS2020/SHS3020 Jesus and the Jews

*Not offered from 2008.

Contacts

General enquiries

Telephone: +61 3 9905 2172

Email: hsenq@arts.monash.edu.au

Enrolment advice

Mr Paul Forgasz, associate director, Australian Centre for the Study of Jewish Civilisation
Room S607, South Wing, Menzies building, Clayton campus
Telephone +61 3 9905 2160
Email paul.forgasz@arts.monash.edu.au

Professor Andrew Markus, academic director, Australian Centre for the Study of Jewish Civilisation
Room S613, South Wing, Menzies building, Clayton campus
Telephone +61 3 9905 2200
Email andrew.markus@arts.monash.edu.au