BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY U COURSE SYLLABUS

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY  COURSE SYLLABUS

Half-Jews, Bu-Jews, and Queer Jews: Mapping Jewish Identities in America

Emily Sigalow [email protected]  http://www.emilysigalow.com Office Hours: Tuesday and Fridays, 2-3pm, and by appointment.

Course Description

This course examines the various contours of contemporary Jewish identities in America from a social scientific perspective. It begins with three fundamental assumptions: (1) that identities– religious, gender, ethnic, etc.– are fluid, dynamic, and constantly in production (2) that they are socially constructed and historically contingent and (3) that the discourse on religion, race, ethnicity, and gender intersect to shape their production. The class is designed to probe the multiple and often contradictory identities of contemporary American Jews, paying particular attention to gender and the margins where Jewish identity is most contested and creatively remade. Central to this course are a series of fieldwork-based assignments that ask you to think critically about the everyday experience of Judaism in America.

In the Setting the Stage section, we will investigate how scholars think about and study religious identities. We will apply the concepts and ideas from the broader sociological toolkit to specific cases relating to American Jewish life. This section interrogates the popular assumption that religious identities, in general, and Jewish identities in particular are built upon a singular guiding core and examines how Jewish identities are nuanced and structured by broad social forces. In the Reconsidering the American Jewish Identity section, we will investigate various constructions of Jewish secular, religious, ethnic, racial, national, and queer identities in America. We will pay special attention to the formation of hybrid identities and to the role that gender plays in the formation of Jewish identities. We examine various discourses around religion, ethnicity, and race and how they also shape how American Jews relate to themselves and others. We will also question what it means to be a “Jewish American” and will investigate how the contemporary American religious landscape influences the ways that Jews imagine their collective and individual identities.

All of the readings for this course (except for the three assigned books listed below) will be photocopied and posted on LATTE where you can download them. A goal of this course is to give you a broad taste of some of the central works written about

1 Jewish identity. You will have a chance to read the books listed on this syllabus in greater depth for the paper assignment for the course.

Assigned Readings

 Davidman, Lynn. 1991. Tradition in a Rootless World: Women Turn to Orthodox Judaism. Berkeley: University of California Press.  Cohen, Steven M. and Arnold Eisen. 2000. The Jew Within. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Course Requirements

I think of the professor-student relationship as a contract. I take my commitment to you as a teacher very seriously and expect you to take your commitment to this course seriously as well.

1. ATTENDANCE: I expect that you will attend all classes, unless you are sick or there is an emergency. Please be on time out of respect for your fellow classmates. I will pass along an attendance sheet at the beginning of every class so please make sure to sign in. If you miss more than one class (outside of extenuating circumstances), you will lose a percentage point per class missed off of your final grade in the course.

2. PREPARATION: I expect that you will keep up with your reading and will come to class armed with questions and comments from what you’ve read. By noon the day before each class, one student is responsible for circulating 3-5 broad discussion questions based on the class readings. Each student should come to class prepared to talk about those questions as well as others that arose from the class readings. I will pass up a sign-up sheet on the first day of class so you know when you are responsible for sending out your questions. At the end of the semester, your sending out these discussion questions (on time) and preparing thoughtful responses to your classmates’ questions will count towards your participation grade in the class (10 percentage points).

3. PARTICIPATION: The class is intimate and discussion based, so its success depends on thoughtful and engaged class discussion. If you are not comfortable speaking in class, please participate by meeting with me during office hours or through email or send materials through the class email list. You are allowed to have computers in class only if you are using them to take notes or look at readings. Please make sure to turn your phone on silent and put it away during class. I will reduce your participation grade if I see you on Facebook, surfing the web, shopping online, sending emails, texting, etc. Feel free to check with me about your participation grade at any point in the semester.

3. WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS: The written assignments in this class include three transcribed interviews, each accompanied by a response paper (2-3 double spaced pages each), one fieldwork response paper (2-3 double spaced pages), one mid-term paper (5-7 double spaced pages), and a final take-home exam.

2 a) Interviews and Response Papers: Over the course of the semester you will be expected to conduct three interviews with people (preferably Brandeis students but outside people are fine as well) who are of Jewish heritage. The goal for the interviews is to allow you to understand how Jewish identity is thought about and grappled with in daily life. The interviews will each focus on five central questions that we will develop together in class. You should aim for each interview to take about a half-hour. The first assignment is to interview someone who identifies as having a “secular” or “cultural” Jewish identity. The next assignment is to interview someone of Jewish background who has a “religious” Jewish identity (be that Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, or perhaps even non- denominational). The aim of the third interview is to speak with someone who has a particular “ethnic” or “national” religious identity, perhaps that might mean that this person identifies as “Canadian Jewish,” “Persian Jewish,” “Sephardi Jewish,” “Russian Jewish,” or “Israeli Jewish.” This is a chance to do some exploration, and you are encouraged to be adventurous and to try to talk to people who identify Jewishly in a variety of ways. Each interview should be done in person and audio-recorded. We will talk about audio-recording techniques on the first day of class. After you finish with each interview, we will dedicate some class time to transcribing it. After it is transcribed, you will write a 2-3 page response paper that situates the findings of your interview in conversation with at least 2 or 3 class readings. If you have any questions about your interviews or finding people to speak with, please be in contact with me as early as possible. As a good starting point, I recommend contacting the various listserves associated with Hillel (http://brandeishillel.org).

Interviews Due: September 19th October 21st Nov. 21st b) Participant Observation and Fieldwork Response Paper: This assignment asks you to visit a site of explicit Jewish activity on or around campus. For example, you could choose any number of Hillel sponsored activities, the various Jewish religious services offered on campus, Friday night Shabbat dinners, informal Jewish gatherings (like prayer groups or Hanukkah party celebrations), Jewish political/cultural events, etc. Ideally you should choose to site with which you are not intimately familiar. After you visited this site/activity, you will write up a fieldwork response paper (2-3 double spaced pages) about why you found the activity interesting, what sorts of questions it raised for you, what the role of religious symbols, language, rituals, and liturgies played in your site (if any), and how this site reflects broader issues about the nature of Jewish identity at Brandeis and in America more broadly. This assignment can be completed at any point in the semester but is due before the final exam.

3 c) Midterm Paper: The first paper asks you to reflect on one of the substantive themes/questions addressed in the course and allows you a chance to do delve deeper into one particular facet of American Jewish identity. You are welcome to incorporate findings from your interviews into this assignment. I will pass out a sheet with more detailed instruction on how to write this paper later in the semester. If you choose to write this paper on a LGBTQ topic, this course will count towards the minor in Sexuality and Queer Studies (SQS). This paper is due Friday, October 17th by noon in my box.

d) Final Exam: The last assignment will be a take-home final paper that will be passed out on the last day of class. It is due one week later, on Friday, December 12th by noon in my box.

I consider all papers turned in to me after the deadline as late. You will lose five percentage points for every day the paper is late.

I place a high premium on careful research and clear organization and writing. I will dedicate some class time to discussing how to do each of these assignments. I will accept a rewrite of the mid-term paper for up to one week after I return it. I feel that writing is a learned skill, and I want to try to give you the opportunity to practice.

4. GRADING: Final Grades will be based on these criteria: Participation (10%); Interview Response Papers (10% each for a total of 30%), Fieldwork Response Paper (10%) Midterm (25%), and Final Exam (25%). Papers are due at the beginning of class on each of their due dates.

Letter grades will be assigned as follows:

94–99 A 74–76 C 90–93 A- 70–73 C- 87–89 B+ 67–69 D+ 84–86 B 64–66 D 80–83 B- 60–63 D-

**All written work must be completed to receive a passing grade in this class**

7. ACADEMIC ACCOMDATIONS: If you are a student who has academic accommodations because of a documented disability, please contact me and give me a copy of your letter of accommodation in the first two weeks of the semester. If you have questions about documenting a disability, please contact Beth Rodgers-Kay in the Undergraduate Academic Affairs Office (x63470, [email protected]). Accommodations cannot be granted retroactively.

8. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: Academic integrity is central to the mission of educational excellence at Brandeis University. Each student is expected to turn in work completed

4 independently, except when assignments specifically authorize collaborative effort. This means that you must use footnotes and quotation marks to indicate the source of any phrases, sentences, paragraphs or ideas found in published volumes, on the internet, or created by another student. Violations of University policies on academic integrity, described in Section 4 of Rights and Responsibilities (available at: http://www.brandeis.edu/studentaffairs/srcs/pdfs/rr2010.pdf), may result in failure in the course or on the assignment, and could end in suspension from the University. If you are in doubt about the instructions for any assignment in this course, you must ask for clarification. This policy also applies to your LATTE postings.

5 PART I: SETTING THE STAGE: STUDYING RELIGIOUS IDENTITIES

Week 1: Introduction (Aug. 29th)

 Film Clip of Hebrew Mamita in class ("Hebrew Mamita": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAeWyGGTdEE)

 http://www.tabletmag.com/arts-and-culture/theater-and-dance/89197/passing/

 “A Portrait of Jewish Americans,” Pew Research Center 2013: http://www.pewforum.org/2013/10/01/jewish-american-beliefs-attitudes-culture- survey/

Week 2: Overview of Jewish Identities (Sept 2nd and 5th) September 2nd:

 Gitelman, Zvi. 2009. Religion or Ethnicity: Jewish Identities in Evolution. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. (Introduction and Chapter 14)

 Hyman, Paula, “Gender and the Shaping of Modern Jewish Identities,” Jewish Social Studies V.8, Nos. 2-3, Winter/Spring 2002, pp. 153-161 September 5th:

 Silberstein, Laurence. 2000. Mapping Jewish Identities. NY: NYU Press. Introduction (pages 1-36).

 Robert Weiss. 1994. Learning From Strangers: The Art and Method of Qualitative Interview Studies. New York: The Free Press. (c. 4 “Interviewing”)

 Prepare Interview 1 Questions in Class

Week 3: Thinking about and Studying Religious Identity (Sept. 9th and 12th) Sept 9th:

 Cadge, Wendy and Lynn Davidman. 2006. Ascription, Choice, and the Construction of Religious Identities in the Contemporary United States. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 45(1): 23-38.

 Mary Jo Neitz. 2003. Dis/location: Engaging Feminist Inquiry in the Sociology of Religion. In Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, ed. Michel Dillon, Cambridge: Cambridge U. Press, pp. 276-297.

6 Sept. 12th:

 Sharot, Stephen. 2011. Comparative Perspectives on Judaism and Jewish Identities. Wayne State Press (Chapter 7).

 Gans, Herbert. Symbolic Ethnicity: The Future of Ethnic Groups and Cultures in America. Ethnic and Racial Studies Volume 2 Number 1 January 1979

 Time in Class for Transcribing

RECONSIDERING THE AMERICAN JEWISH IDENTITY

Week 4 (Sept 16 & `19): Secular and Sovereign Jewish Identities Sept 16th:

 Sharot, Stephen. 2011. Comparative Perspectives on Judaism and Jewish Identities. Wayne State Press (Chapter 10).

 Cohen, Steven M. and Arnold Eisen. 2000. The Jew Within. Bloomington: Indiana University Press (Introduction and Chapter 2) Sept. 19th:

 Cohen, Steven M. and Arnold Eisen. 2000. The Jew Within. Bloomington: Indiana University Press (Chapters 3 and 5)

 http://forward.com/articles/162290/untangling-the-oxymoron-of-the-secular-jew/? p=all

 First Interview and Response Paper Due ** No Classes Sept. 23rd or 26th**

Week 5 (Sept 30th & Oct.3): Jewish Ethnicity, continued and revisited Sept. 30:

 Cohen, Steven M., and Arnold Eisen. 2000. The Jew Within: Self, Family, and Community in America. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press (Chapter 6 and Conclusion)

 Gaye Tuchman and Harry Gene Levine, "New York Jews and Chinese Food:The Social Construction of an Ethnic Pattern," Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 22 (3), October 1993: 382-407.

7 Oct. 3:

 Rebhun, Uzi. “Jewish identification in contemporary America: Gans’s symbolic ethnicity and religiosity theory revisited.” Social compass 51.3 (2004): 349–366.

 Cohen, Steven M. “Religious Stability and Ethnic Decline,” JCC Association Research Center (power skim)

 In class: youtube video about ethnic Jewish mother: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRbL46mWx9w

Week 6 (Oct 7th & Oct.10th) : “Religious” Jewish Identities Oct 7th:  Davidman, Lynn. 1993. Tradition in a Rootless World. University of California Press (Chapters 1, 2, 4)

 Prepare Interview 2 Questions in Class

Oct. 10th:  Davidman, Lynn. 1993. Tradition in a Rootless World. University of California Press (Chapters 5 and 6)

 Cohen, Steven M., and Arnold Eisen. 2000. The Jew Within: Self, Family, and Community in America. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press (Chapter 4)

Week 7 (Oct. 14 and 17th): Queer Jewish Identities October 14:

 Balka, Christine and Andy Rose. Twice Blessed: On Being Lesbian or Gay and Jewish. Beacon Press. (Introduction and Gerry’s Story)

 Schnoor, Randal. Being Gay and Jewish: Negotiating Intersecting Identities. Sociology of Religion 67:1 43-60.

 Guest Speaker from Keshet, the national grassroots organization that works for the full equality and inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Jews in Jewish life. October 17:

 Film to watch in class: Trembling Before G-d. Sandi Simcha Dubowski, filmmaker. 2001. http://www.hulu.com/watch/76545

 Paper One/Midterm Due

8 Week 8 (Oct. 21 and 24): Hybridity and Fluidity, cont.

October 21: (“Halfies” and associated questions):  Susan Katz Miller, “Being Partly Jewish,” NYTIMES 31 October 2013; http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/opinion/being-partly-jewish.html?_

 http://ideas.time.com/2013/11/06/the-case-for-raising-your-child-with-two- religions/

 Sylvia Barack Fishman, Relatively Speaking: Constructing Identity in Jewish and Mixed Married Families , Belin Lecture in American Jewish Affairs at the University of Michigan.

 Read “A Question of Membership,” A, B, and C cases

 Time in class to transcribe Interview 2

**October 24: No Class**

Week 9 (Oct. 28 and 31st): How the Jews Became White Folks?: Racial Identities Oct. 28th:

 Brodkin, Karen. 1998. How the Jews Became White Folks. Rutgers University press (Introduction and Chapter 1)

 Goldstein, Eric. 2006. Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race, and American Identity. Princeton U. Press (Introduction, Chapter 8, Epilogue)

 Guest Speaker from the Boston Interfaith Community to Speak in Class Oct. 31st:

 Jacobson, Matthew Frye. Whiteness of a Different Color. Harvard University Press. (Introduction, Epilogue, and Chapter 3)

 Interview Two and Response Paper Due

 Prepare Interview 3 questions in class

Week 10 (Nov. 4th and 7th): Jews, Race, and Biological Discourse, cont. Nov. 4th:  Glenn, Susan. In the Blood? : Consent, Descent, and the Ironies of Jewish Identity Jewish Social Studies (2002). 8. 2/3: 139-152

9  Tenenbaum, Shelly, and Lynn Davidman. “It’s in my genes: Biological discourse and essentialist views of identity among contemporary American Jews.” The Sociological Quarterly 48.3 (2007): 435–450.

 Guest Speaker Jennifer Sartori, Northeastern University

Nov. 7th:

 Gilbel-Azloulay K 1997. Black, Jewish and Interracial: It's Not the Color of Your Skin, but the Race of Your Kin, and Other Myths of Identity. Durham and London: Duke Univ. Press (Prelude and Chapter 3)

 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/16/us/studying-and-living-jewish-asian- intermarriage.html?_r=1&

 Kim, Helen and Noah Leavitt. 2012. The Newest Jews? Understanding Jewish American and Asian American Marriages. Contemporary Jewry. 32(2):135-166

 Watch “The Culture Bandit” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNXrC-9SPL4 in class

Week 11 (Nov. 11 and 14): National and Political Jewish Identities November 11 (Latin-American/Russian Identities):

 Judit Bokser Liwerant. 2013. Latin American Jews in the United States: Community and Belonging in Times of Transnationalism. Contemporary Jewry. 33(1-2): 121-143.

 Fran Markowitz, "Rituals as Keys to Soviet Immigrants' Jewish Identity," in Jack Kugelmass (ed.) Between Two Worlds: Ethnographic Essays on American Jewry, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1988: 128-147.

 http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/russian-jewish-americans-build-a- community-all-their-own-1.396304

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/10/opinion/35-and-single.html?_r=0 November 14:

 Moore, Debra Dash. American Jewish Identity Politics (Introduction)

 Lang, Berel. 2005. "Hyphenated-Jews and the Anxiety of Identity." Jewish Social Studies 12(1): 1-15.

 Time in class to transcribe last interview

Week 12 (Nov. 18th and 21): Identification with Israel

10 November 18: Read/power skim all four pieces of this debate in Contemporary Jewry

 Sasson et al. Trends in American Jewish Attachment to Israel: An Assessment of the ‘‘Distancing’’ Hypothesis. Cont Jewry (2010) 30:297–319

 Cohen, Steven and Ari Kelman. Thinking About Distancing from Israel. Cont Jewry (2010) 30:287–296 .

 Horowitz, Bethamie. Beyond Attachment: Widening the Analytic Focus about the American Jewish Relationship to Israel. Cont Jewry (2010) 30:241–246

 Fellman, Gordon. “Responding to the Debate Between Sasson, et al., and Cohen and Kelman.” Cont Jewry (2010) 30:247–251 November 21st (Birthright and Identity):

 Kelner, Shaul. 2003-4. The Impact of Israel Experience Programs on Israel’s Symbolic. Contemporary Jewry 24: 124-154.

 Birthright Evaluation Results: http://bir.brandeis.edu/bitstream/handle/10192/22999/bri2006.evaluationimpact.p df?sequence=1

 Interview 3 and Response Paper Due

** No Class November 25th**

Week 13: Wrapping up and Looking Forward…

Dec 2.:

 Horowitz, Bethamie. 2002. Reframing the Study of Contemporary American Jewish Identity. Cont. Jewry 23: 14-34.

 Gitelman, Zvi. Religion or Ethnicity: Jewish Identities in Evolution. Conclusion.

December 5:

 Rokhl, Kafrissen. “The Roots and Structure of the Identity Discourse in Contemporary Jewish Life.” Speech at “Rethinking Jewish Identity” conference held at Brandeis University, March 2014.

 In Class: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgHHX9R4Qtk&feature=related (Sarah Silverman youtube video)

11 December 9th (Tuesday): Make-up Class (12-2:30)

 Jewish/Buddhist readings, to be announced.