NYU Tel Aviv CAT -UF 9301 City as Text: Tel Aviv
Instructor Information ● Dr. Rona Yona ● [email protected] ● Mobile: +972- 52- 650 5152 ● O ffice H ours: by appointm ent
Course Information ● CAT - UF 9301 ● City as Text: Tel Aviv ● “City as T ext” is a rigorous, 4- credit sem inar designed to introduce students to the study away environm ent through an intensive academ ic program of cultural preparation and local im m ersion. “City as Text” im parts students with an introduction to the local character of the city from interdisciplinary perspectives that include Arts and Media, Politics, Econom ics, and the social practices of everyday life. Faculty- led discussions give students a theoretical fram ework for understanding place and prim ary research opportunities allow students to develop research questions that are uniquely drawn from the locations where they are studying. ● Prerequisites: This class is only open to Global Liberal Studies majors. ● Wednesdays, 10:00am- 1:00pm ● NYUTA Academ ic Center, 17 Brandeis Street, Room 101
Course Overview and Goals “City as T ext: T el Aviv” exp lores th e H oly Lan d as a tin y global m icrocosm , h igh ly diverse and com plex: a rare com bination of natural features, with m ultiple layers of human settlements since prehistory. Jaffa, an ancient Mediterranean “port city,” rose rapidly after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, and eventually becam e the “H ebrew capital”, a Zion ist m elting pot, with Jewish com m unities from aroun d the world, Palestinian Arabs, East Asian m igrant workers and now African refugees, adding to a m ultilingual, m ultiethnic m osaic. Exploring the city offers a successive record of its growth, erasure, and developm ent. The historic areas are presented in
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walking lectures and readings, as well as student presentations. The course includes examples of culture, politics and economy, as we seek to grasp what makes a city and how we gaze at it, and more specifically what makes Tel Aviv the center of Hebrew culture. “City as Text: Tel Aviv” learning goals incl ude: ● Understand theoretical conceptions of place. ● Develop an interdisciplinary understanding of the local, regional, national, and global forces that have shaped the character of the city. ● Engage the cultural and social practices of the city through firsthand experiences. ● Advance research skills and sharpen ability to analyze and interpret the surrounding environment.
Course Requirements Classwork and Participation Students are expected to attend class regularly and arrive on time. Students must complete all assigned readings before the class meeting and be prepared to participate actively in discussions of the readings and current events.
Weekly Study Questions Each week, a set of study questions pertaining to that week’s readings are posed. These questions are designed to assist students with the weekly reading assignments. Students are required to submit short answers to these questions about 8 times throughout th e semester.
Midterm Assignment My Place of Interest: We will visit sites chosen by the students. In every site, the student will deliver a short presentation with discussion (10 - 15 min. session)
Final Project and Proposal After spring break, we begin our “Through the Lens” Concentration Assignment , which allows you to approach the experiential study of Tel Aviv through the lens of your Concentration, using the critical methodologies of the concentration field. We will also be using multimedia tools and a digital platform like Story Map, 360º photography, VR or Wonda software to explore places. Students will work in small groups (2 - 3 people) and use primary research materials to develop any form of scholarship (digital or pri nt).
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The final project must include approximately 2500 words of graded writing related to their place of study and a specific place in Tel Aviv - Jaffa that reflects a meaningful first hand experience of the cultural and social practices of the city. The fi nal research project will include an interdisciplinary understanding of the local, regional, national, and global forces that have shaped the character of the city.
Grading of Assignments The grade for this course will be determined according to the follo wing formula:
Assignments/Activities % of Final Grade
Weekly Study Questions 20%
Midterm Assignment 20%
Story Map Presentation 10%
Final Project Proposal 10%
Final Project 40%
Failure to submit or fulfill any one of the required course component results in failure of the class.
Letter Grades Letter grades for the entire course will be assigned as follows:
Letter Grade Percent
A 94- 100%
A - 90 - 93%
B+ 87- 89%
B 84- 86%
B - 80 - 83%
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Letter Grade Percent
C+ 77- 79%
C 74- 76%
C- 70- 73%
D+ 67- 69%
D 65- 66%
F below 65%
Course Schedule Topics and Assignments
Week/Date Topic Reading Assignment Due
Writing I Due: What Introduction: did you expect Tel Aviv Aug. to be like? Have you 28 City as Text: Tel Aviv encountered what you expected so far?
Writing II Due: How Theodor Herzl, Old - New did Herzl imagine the Sept. 4 Tel Aviv as text Land: Roman , Leipzig old- new land to be? Is 1902 (German), selection. Israel like his vision?
Writing III Due : find an interesting Mark Twain, The description of a Tour: The Jaffa Innocents Abroad, or The pilgrim/tourist visiting Sept. 11 Port – Gateway to New Pilgrims' Progress , Jaffa (anything from the Pilgrimage Oxford, 1996 [1869], ancient past to selection yesterday), to present in class.
Modern Sept. 18 Sholem Yenkev Writing IV Due: How Pilgrimage Abramovich (Mendele do the different writers
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Week/Date Topic Reading Assignment Due
Moykher Sforim), The describe pilgrimage? Brief Travels of Benjamin What are their points of the Thir d, Vilnius 1878 view? (Yiddish) and Odessa Midterm assignment: 1896/Cracow 1911 suggest a place for the (Hebrew), selection. assignment Dara Horn, “The Brief Travels of Benjamin the Third”, Yiddish Book Center. Basharat Peer, “Modern Mecca: the transformation of a holy city”, The New Yorker April 9, 2012.
Midterm Assignment Proposal Due (with Yi - Fu Tuan, Space and preliminary Place: The Perspective of Tour: Bialik bibliography) house and Experience, Minneapolis Sept. Trumpeldor 1977, pp. 3 - 18. Writing V Due: Select a Hebrew poet from the 25 cemetery – What Tim Cresswell, Place: A Israeli Banknotes, read is Hebrew Short Introduction , about her/him and Culture? Second Edition 2013, bring to class a Chapter 4. translated poem to be presented briefly
Maoz Azaryahu, “Mount Herzl: The Creation of Israel's National Writing VI Due: What Cemetery” Israel narrative is/narratives Studies 1/2 (1996) 46 - 74. are conveyed by the Nationalizing the Mount Herzl - Yad Oct. 1 Maoz Azaryahu, Holy City Vashem national “(Re)Locating memorial complex in Redemption. Jerusalem: Jerusalem? The Wall, Two Mountains, a Hill and the Narrative Construction of the Third Temple”
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Week/Date Topic Reading Assignment Due
Journal of Modern Jewish Studies 1/1 (2002) 22 -35. Jackie Feldman, “Between Yad Vashem and Mt. Herzl: Changing Inscriptions of Sacrifice on Jerusalem's Mountain of Memory” Anthropological Quarterly 80/4 (2007) 1147- 1174.
Midterm Midterm Assignment Oct. 6 Assignment: My Due (Written version Sunday! Place of Interest with bibliography)
Writing VII Due: Janet Cardiff Walks, Describe how you artpiece . experienced a certain Experiencing Garnette Cadogan place in the city after Place Oct. 23 “Walking While Black: watching and reading on the Realities of Being the assigned works. Who Black in America”, is it designed to include Literary Hub , July 8, 2016. and exclude in light of the reading.
Take a walk in a place The Digital that you still haven’t Flaneur: visited in Tel Aviv or Jaffa. Bring to class Oct. 30 Story Map about 20 images that introduction and express your encounter works hop with / experience of a place in the city
Story Maps Presentations and Story Map Presentation Nov. 6 360° Photography due (according to equipment Concentration) training
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Week/Date Topic Reading Assignment Due
Alon Harel, “The rise and fall of the Israeli gay legal revolution”, Final project: Prepare Columbia Human Rights an idea for the final Law Review 31/2 (2000) project to discuss in Tour: Immersive 443- 471. groups with selected Nov. 13 Explorations – topic, ideas, and The Beach Shayne Wisse, “A beach of t heir own: The potential sources creation of the gender according to your segregated beach in Tel Concentration. Aviv” JIH 35/1 (2016) 39 - 56.
Writing VIII: How do the beaches of Tel Aviv construct gender 360° Photography differently? What other Nov. 20 and VR workshop aspects shape these places, like religion, nationality, class or ideology?
Yaron Tsur, “Carnival Writing IX: Have you fears: Moroccan encountered an example Forming Ethnic immigrants and the Nov. 27 of inner - Jewish ethnic borders ethnic problem in the tensions in young state of Israel” JIH contemporary Israel? 18/1 (1997) 73- 103.
Presentation of Final Projects and Dec. 11 Final Project Due Course Conclus ion
Course Materials Resources ● Access your course materials : N YU Classes(nyu.edu/its/classes) ● Databases, journal articles, and more : Bobst Library (lib rary.n yu .ed u )
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● Assistance with strengthening your writing : NYU Writing Center (nyu.mywconline.com) ● Obtain 24/7 technology assistance : IT Hel p Desk (nyu.edu/it/servicedesk)
Course Policies Attendance and Tardiness Study abroad at Global Academic Centers is an academically intensive and immersive experience, in which students from a wide range of backgrounds exchange ideas in discussion - based s eminars. Learning in such an environment depends on the active participation of all students. And since classes typically meet once or twice a week, even a single absence can cause a student to miss a significant portion of a course. To ensure the integrit y of this academic experience, class attendance at the centers is mandatory, and unexcused absences will be penalized with a two percent deduction from the student’s final course grade . Students are responsible for making up any work missed due to absence. Repeated absences in a course may result in failure. All medical - basedabsencerequestsMUSTbepresentedtothe Manager of Student Life and Housing (MSLH).Inthecaseofillness,contacttheMSLH withinseven(7)daysoftheabsenceorassoonaspracticableandprovidemedicaldocu me ntation. Non - medicalrequestsshouldbemade to the Assistant Director for Academics (AD/Academics) and inadvanceoftheintendedabsence.Yourinstructorswillbeinformedofany excusedabsence; they are not authorized to approve your absence, and they are required to reportanyabsencestotheAD/Academics. NYU Policy on Religious Holidays ● Students who anticipate being absent because of any religious observance should, whenever possible, notify faculty and the AD/Academics in advance of such anticipated absence. ● Whenever feasible, examinations and assignment deadlines should not be scheduled on religious holidays. Any student absent from class because of his/her religious beliefs shall not be penalized for any class, examination, or assignment deadline missed on t hat day or days. In the event that examinations or assignment deadlines are scheduled on a religious holiday, any student who is unable to attend class shall be permitted the opportunity to make up any examination or to extend any assignment deadline misse d on that day or days. ● No adverse or prejudicial effects shall result to any student who avails him/ herself of the provisions of the resolution. ● A violation of these policies and principles shall permit any aggrieved student to bring forward a grievance, provided under the University Grievance Procedure.
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Late Assignments All works must be submitted on time unless you have received an explicit extension. Any late submission may result in grade deduction at the sole discretion of the instructor. Academic Ho nesty/Plagiarism Plagiarism is the presentation of another person’s words, ideas, judgment, images or data as though they were your own, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Plagiarism constitutes an academic offence for which you can be disciplined. Punishment may include a failing grade, suspension or expulsion. In all confirmed cases, a report will be sent to the student’s Dean at NYU or, in the case of a non - NYU student, to the home institution. Disability Disclosure Statement Academic accommodatio ns are available for students with disabilities. Please contact the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities (212 - 998 - 4980 or [email protected] ) for further information. Students who are requesting academic acco mmodations are advised to reach out to the Moses Center as early as possible in the semester for assistance.
Instructor Bio Rona Yona studied European Christian history in Jerusalem, and has an MA thesis on the secret literature of Muslims in Christian Sp ain (a Muslim - Spanish language known as Aljamiado). She got a PhD in Jewish history from Tel Aviv University. She works on Socialist Zionism, pioneers, the kibbutzim (communes). Her current research interests include cross - border contacts and the interacti on between the local and global. She is editor of the prestigious Israel journal at Tel Aviv University devoted to the study of Israel and Zionism. She taught at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University and New York University (NYC), and cur rently lives in Ramat Gan.
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