Oregon School of Judaic Studies at Portland State University
June 14-July 15, 2004


Below is a complete list of the OSJS 2004 Summer Courses




Israel and the Islamic World: A Simulation in International Dispute Resolution

Isaac Ersoff, Oregon State University
June 14–June 18
Monday-Friday, 1–4:35pm
228 Cramer Hall
Sociology 099/410/510
  CRN 82454/82455/82456
Conflict Resolution 410/510
  CRN 82452/82453
2 credits
Syllabus


Readings and discussion of the Middle East’s religions, geography, and history lay the groundwork for taking roles in a multilateral diplomatic negotiation. Participants learn by doing, gaining an understanding of dispute-resolution frameworks and an appreciation for the complexity of international political processes. Course will be led by an attorney/mediator and professor of comparative education.


Isaac Ersoff teaches education law at Oregon State University’s Cascade Campus. Trained in dispute resolution, he studies interfaith dialogue among Christian, Jewish, and Muslim organizations in Israel and Palestine.



Diasporas: Latin Jewish Experience through Literature

Matthew Warshawsky, University of Portland
June 21–July 15, Monday–Thursday, 10:30am–12:50pm
227 Neuberger Hall
English 099/410/510
  CRN 82460/82461/82462
4 credits
Syllabus

Jewish literature gives voice to waves of immigrants who have called Latin America home while remaining connected by religion, language, and heritage to Western and Eastern Europe. From the Spanish and Portuguese conquests to the present, we study the multiple diasporas that have made up the Old World–New World Latin American mix. Course uses fiction and memoirs in translation as well as films and music.


Matthew Warshawsky teaches Spanish at the University of Portland and has taught Spanish courses, including Jews and Conversos in Spanish History, at Portland State. His research focuses on the early literature and history of the Sephardic diaspora.



Jewish Identities in Europe, America, and Israel

Erica Lehrer, University of Michigan
June 21–July 1, Monday–Thursday 1–3:30pm
387 Neuberger Hall
Anthropology 099/410/510
  CRN 82457/82458/82459
2 credits
Syllabus

Jewish identity vexes the modern vocabulary of groups, boundaries, and identities. What does it mean to be Jewish at particular times and in different places? Is it a religion? A race? An ethnic group? A nationality? Using the instructor’s field studies in Poland, films, histories, and personal narratives, this course compares the meaning of Jewish identity in the United States, Eastern and Western Europe, and Israel as a way to understand the mutations of identity in the modern world.


Erica Lehrer designed and taught Anthropology of Contemporary Jewish Life at the University of Michigan, where her dissertation examines Jewish identity in post- Holocaust Poland. A Fulbright and Mellon fellow, she won an outstanding graduate student instructor award.



Museums and Memorials of the Holocaust and Jewish Heritage


Marcus Patka, Jewish Museum of Vienna
June 21–July 14, Monday/Wednesday, 7–9:20pm
158 Cramer Hall
History 099/410/510
  CRN 82483/82484/82485
2 credits
Syllabus

Memorials and museums in the United States and across Europe differ in how they represent Jewish history, reflecting the culture and politics of memory in countries where Jews had sharply different fates. Using slides, films, Web sites, and visits, this course examines the decisions and daily work of curators who re-create the Jewish past. Course addresses a key question in contemporary democratic societies: How should the history of ethnic, racial, and religious groups be portrayed?


Marcus Patka, curator of the Jewish Museum of Vienna, interned at New York’s Jewish Museum and has organized traveling exhibitions to Israel, Greece, and Australia. With a doctorate in contemporary history and German literature, Dr. Patka has published extensively on German writers in exile.



Jews and Christians in the Greco-Roman World


Robert Kugler, Lewis & Clark College
June 22–July 15, Tuesday/Thursday, 7–9:20pm
401 Cramer Hall
History 099/410/510
CRN 82048/82049/82050
2 credits
Syllabus


What was it to be a Jew or Christian in the ancient Middle East, facing the enormous cultural and religious pluralism presented by the Greco-Roman world? We explore the historical contexts and texts important to understanding the question of religious identity in a pluralistic society. One aim is to show how answers offered by ancient religious communities can inform modern religious communities facing their own pluralistic environments.


Rob Kugler is the Paul S. Wright Professor of Christian Studies at Lewis & Clark College. He has published several books and numerous articles on the Dead Sea Scrolls and is co-editor of the series Themes in Biblical Narrative: Jewish and Christian Traditions.