Time Schedule:
Loryn Hazan Paxton
SISJE 490
Seattle Campus
Content varies.
Class description
This course will be taught by the Hazel D. Cole fellows. ALL READINGS WILL BE IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION.
This course will is designed as an introduction to Yiddish culture in America. Students will become familiar with the poetry, short stories, journalism, and film produced in Yiddish in America, with specific attention to the social context in which this culture was produced. We will examine the range of responses Yiddish-speaking writers and artists had to America and explore the role of the Yiddish press as an Americanizing agent, the transformation of Yiddish into a literary language, and how film created new cultural possibilities. We will observe how Yiddish poets confronted a radically different (and rapidly changing) physical landscape as well as an ethnically diverse population. We will also examine perceptions of Yiddish by American scholars and intellectuals. How have attitudes toward Yiddish shifted since the Holocaust? What new subjects emerge in Yiddish literature after the Holocaust? What associations continue to adhere to Yiddish in the 21st century?
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
>The course will be balanced between instructor lecture and student discussion of the assigned readings.
Recommended preparation
>Careful reading of the assigned texts. Attendance and active participation in class.
Class assignments and grading
Weekly reading assignments; one short and one long analytical essay; mid-term examination.
Grades will be assigned on the basis of essays; examination; class participation.
