250b - Jewish Images, Imagining Jews
Spring, 2008
Tuesday/Thursday 1-2:30
Hall 106


Ken Koltun-Fromm
Haverford College
Gest 201
Office hours: Tuesday/Thursday, 12:00-1:00pm
610-896-1026 (office), 610-645-8324 (home)
kkoltunf@haverford.edu


Tefillin Barbie


Summary

This class will explore the ways in which American Jews imagined themselves, and how others imagined Jews. The course will focus primarily on 20th century depictions in various mediums - literature, photography, film, and the plastic arts. We will also look at how Jewish images are displayed in museums and other cultural sites.

Requirements

Preparation for class discussions is required and necessary. You should be fully prepared to engage the reading and visual material in class, and offer reflective comments upon the assignments and the ideas of others. To help in this preparation, I will ask one or two of you to begin class discussion by focusing us on a particular issue, image, problem, concern, or question you have regarding that day's assignment. This should be a 5-10 minute presentation that should be designed to spurn discussion. I will ask each of you to sign up for individual class days.

You will write four papers, all doubled-spaced, during the semester: three four-page, and one three-page essay. Your final work will be a visual, multi-media display of Jewish images that reflects your research throughout the semester. We will talk at great length about the nature of this project and its scope. We will also host an exhibit of your final work for the entire community. The due dates for the papers and final project are as follows:

First paper: February 11th, Monday, 4pm
Second paper: February 25th, Monday, 4pm
Third paper: March 7th, Friday, 4pm
Fourth paper: April 11th, Friday, 4pm
Final Project: May 16th, Friday, 5pm

All papers must be turned in on the second floor of Gest building in the appropriate box labeled for this class. If coming to the Haverford College campus proves difficult on Mondays or Fridays, you may email a copy of your paper to me by the 4pm deadline, but only if you inform me before the deadline that you wish to do so, and I confirm before the deadline. I suggest that you cc a copy to yourself, and seek a reply from me that I have received and can open the document. If I cannot open the document and print it from my computer, I will not consider the paper to be turned in until I can do so. Your paper will be marked down for each day late.

Grading

Your final grade will be based on the above assignments, with significant weight placed on your engagement in class discussions, and the preparation and time you devote to your final project. I do not evaluate each task with percentage accuracy (your final work is not worth, say, 30% of your grade, for example), but instead examine all your work as a piece, and provide a grade that I hope fairly expresses the work and attention rendered to the class assignments, your peers in class, and your class participation. This process also allows me to take into account improvement over the course of the semester.

Students who think they may need accommodations in this course because of the impact of a disability are encouraged to meet with me privately early in the semester. Students should also contact Rick Webb, Coordinator, Office of Disabilities Services (rwebb@haverford.edu, 610-896-1290) to verify their eligibility for reasonable accommodations as soon as possible. Early contact will help to avoid unnecessary inconvenience and delays.

Texts for Purchase

  • Riv-Ellen Prell, Fighting to Become Americans (buy in bookstore)
  • Arnold Eagle, At Home Only with God: Believing Jews and their Children (buy used at Amazon)
  • The Tribe (download from iTunes)
Material on Blackboard (Link to Blackboard)
  • Philip Roth, "Imagining Jews," in Reading Myself and Others, 215-246
  • Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," 217-251
  • Sander Gilman, The Jew's Body, 10-59 ("Jewish Voice" and "Jewish Foot")
  • Sander Gilman, The Jew's Body, 128-149, 169-193, 234-243 ("Jewish Genius" and "Jewish Nose")
  • Lenny Bruce
  • Irving Howe, World of our Fathers, 169-177, 208-224
  • Hasia Diner, Lower East Side Memories, 17-51
  • Colleen McDannell, Picturing Faith, 1-21, 166-195
  • Lilith Magazine Covers
  • Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, "Theorizing Heritage," 367-380
  • Harley Erdman, Staging the Jew, 17-60, 118-143
  • Jeffrey Melnick, A Right to Sing the Blues, 60-140
  • Joel Rosenberg, "Jewish Experience on Film," 3-50
  • Michael Rogin, Blackface, White Noise, 3-18, 73-120
  • Joel Rosenberg, "What You Ain't Heard Yet," 11-54
  • Sonya Michel, “Jews, Gender, American Cinema,” 244-269
  • Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Destination Culture, 1-13, 79-128
  • Norman Kleeblatt, "'Passing' into Multiculturalism," in Too Jewish? Challenging Traditional Identities, 3-34, together with artwork
Movies
  • The Tribe
  • The Jazz Singer (1927, 1952, 1980)
  • Trembling Before God

Syllabus

Introduction
  • 1/22 (T) - Introduction to Class (Sabbath table in the South); Portrait; The Tribe
  • 1/24 (Th) - Philip Roth, "Imagining Jews," in Reading Myself and Others, 215-246
  • 1/29 (T) - Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," 217-251
  • 1/31 (Th) - Sander Gilman, The Jew's Body, 10-59 ("Jewish Voice" and "Jewish Foot")
  • 2/5 (T) - Sander Gilman, The Jew's Body, 128-149, 169-193, 234-243 ("Jewish Genius" and "Jewish Nose")
  • 2/7 (Th) - Lenny Bruce
  • 2/11 (M) - First four-page paper due Back to Top

Link to Blackboard


Literature and Photography

  • 2/12 (T) - Riv-Ellen Prell, Fighting to Become Americans, 1-57
  • 2/14 (Th) - Prell, Fighting to Become Americans, 58-123
  • 2/19 (T) - Prell, Fighting to Become Americans, 142-208
  • 2/21 (Th) - Irving Howe, World of our Fathers, 169-177, 208-224; Hasia Diner, Lower East Side Memories, 17-51
  • 2/25 (M) - Second four-page paper Back to Top
  • 2/26 (T) - Colleen McDannell, Picturing Faith, 1-21, 166-195; See FSA website here and do a search for the Colchester pictures. Also photos here (or do search for RELGH250)
  • 2/28 (Th) - Arnold Eagle, At Home Only with God: Believing Jews and their Children (buy used at Amazon). Photos here (or do search for RELGH250)
  • 3/4 (T) - Lilith Magazine Covers and website; Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, "Theorizing Heritage," 367-380
  • 3/7 (F) - Third three-page paper Back to Top

Link to Blackboard


Film

  • 3/6 (Th) - The Tribe (download from iTunes); Ebay projects
  • Spring Break
  • 3/18 (T) - Harley Erdman, Staging the Jew, 17-60; James Gulick visit at 2 pm.
  • 3/20 (Th) - Jeffrey Melnick, A Right to Sing the Blues, 60-80, 95-140
  • 3/25 (T) - The Jazz Singer (1927); Joel Rosenberg, "Jewish Experience on Film," 3-50
  • 3/27 (Th) - Michael Rogin, Blackface, White Noise, 3-18, 73-120
  • 4/1 (T) - The Jazz Singer (1952); Joel Rosenberg, "What You Ain't Heard Yet," 11-54
  • 4/3 (Th) - The Jazz Singer (1980)
  • 4/8 (T) - Trembling Before God (2001); Sonya Michel, “Jews, Gender, American Cinema,” 244-269
  • 4/11 (F) - Fourth four-page paper due Back to Top

Link to Blackboard

Exhibiting Jewishness

  • 4/10 (Th) - Visit to National Museum of American Jewish History
  • 4/15 (T) - Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Destination Culture, 1-13, 79-128
  • 4/17 (Th) - Norman Kleeblatt, "'Passing' into Multiculturalism," in Too Jewish? Challenging Traditional Identities, 3-34, together with artwork
  • 4/22 (T) - Ebay Projects
  • 4/24 (Th) - Ebay Projects
  • 4/29 (T) - Ebay Projects and Student Projects
  • 5/1 (Th) - Student Projects (Check out Jewcy, Heeb, and Zeek, and Modiya web page at NYU)
  • 5/16 (F) - Final Projects Due

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