Jewish civilisation units offered within the Centre for 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.
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, however students do not necessarily have to choose JWC units to make up a minor or major sequence in Jewish civilisation. 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.
First-year level
Students studying a sequence in Jewish civilisation must complete two units (12 points) from the following:
- HSY1120 Conflict and coexistence: Jews, Christians, Muslims (previously Jews and non-Jews in the middle ages)
- HSY1190 The Bible as history (previously Jews, God and history: The historical foundations of Judaism)
- HSY1200 Histories of God
- JWC1060 Yiddish language, culture and literature 1A
- JWC1070 Yiddish language, culture and literature 1B
Second/Third-year level
Students studying a minor or major in Jewish civilisation must have completed the first-year sequence. In addition:
- a minor requires completion of a further two units (12 points) from the units listed below
- a major requires completion of a further six units (36 points) from the units listed below. A minimum of three units must be taken at third year level.
Available units include:
- HSY2145/HSY3145 The history of the Arab-Israeli conflict
- HSY2570/HSY3570 Modern Israel: History, politics and society (previously Modern Israel: Vision and reality)
- HSY2580/HSY3580 The Holocaust in an age of genocide
- HSY2735/HSY3735 Myth and meaning in ancient worlds (previously RLT2190/RLT3190 and SHS2010/SHS3010)
- HSY2560/HSY3560 Jews in the modern world (previously Challenge and response: The course of modern Jewish history)
- HSY2745/HSY3745 Jesus and the Jews (previously SHS2020/SHS3020)
- HSY2755/HSY3755 Ancient religions (previously SHS2010/SHS3010)
- HSY2765/ HSY3765 Mystics, authority and society (previously SHS2470/SHS3470 Spiritual journeys: mysticism, Sufism and Kabbalah)
- HSY3165 Final journey: The life and death of European Jews, 1900-1945 (overseas)
- HSY3195 Israelis and Palestinians between war and peace (overseas)
- INT2120/INT3120 Post-conflict: Justice, memory, reconciliation (previously After war: justice, memory, reconciliation)
- JWC2110 Yiddish language, culture and literature 2A
- JWC2120 Yiddish language, culture and literature 2B
- JWC2280/JWC3280 Jewish philosophy and Kabbalah
- JWC3050 Jewish civilisation research project (previously Hebrew literature research project )
- JWC3110 Yiddish language, culture and literature 3A
- JWC3120 Yiddish language, culture and literature 3B
Units not offered in 2010
- HSY2095/HSY3095 The modern Middle East (previously The Middle East in the twentieth century)
- HSY2225/HSY3225 History and film: Nazi Germany and the Jewish holocaust
- HSY2265/HSY3265 The world of the Bible: Text and context (previously SHS2265/SHS3265)
- HSY2345/HSY3345 Facing history: Representing the Arab-Israeli conflict (previously HSY3135)
- HSY2555/HSY3555 Australian Jewry: History and society
- HSY2560/HSY3560 Jews in the modern world (previously Challenge and response: The course of modern Jewish history)
- INT3140 After atrocity: The Holocaust, South Africa, Rwanda
- 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
- JWC1130 Discovering Judaism: Belief, practice and social structure
- 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 Modern Jewish literature (previously Judaism and modernity)
- JWC2260/JWC3260 Literature of destruction and redemption
- JWC2270/JWC3270 Reading gender in Judaism
- JWC2425/JWC3425 The life and death of European Jews, 1900-1945 (previously On the edge of destruction: Polish Jewry between the two world wars)
- JWC2540/JWC3540 Israeli culture through cinema and literature
- JWC2610/JWC3610 Yiddish writers in translation
- JWC2620/JWC3620 God from Sinai to Auschwitz (previously Radical rabbis: Literature, theology and imagination )
- JWC3010 Hebrew Language and literature III, Part A
- JWC3020 Hebrew Language and literature III, Part B
- RLT2210/RLT3210 Starring God: Religion, myth and film
- RLT2470/RLT3470 The religious quest: Judaism, Christianity and Islam
