Study Jewish Culture at Illinois

Jewish Studies events

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Jewish Culture & Society News

Read article: Funding Opportunities
Funding Opportunities
The Program in Jewish Culture & Society announces a call for applications for the Gendell/Shiner Family Fellowship, the Karasik Scholarship, and the Dick Abrams Scholarship. Applicants must be degree-seeking students in good academic standing enrolled at the University of Illinois. The...
Read article: Introducing New Faculty: Rachelle Grossman
Introducing New Faculty: Rachelle Grossman
Rachelle Grossman is an assistant professor in the Department of Comparative and World Literature. She is a specialist in Yiddish literature and print culture who received her PhD from Harvard University. Her current book manuscript discusses the transformation of...
Read article: Introducing New Faculty: Eli Rosenblatt
Introducing New Faculty: Eli Rosenblatt
Eli Rosenblatt joined the Department of Religion as an assistant professor in Fall 2024. His research and teaching illuminate Jewish texts, ideas, and practices in the 19th and 20th centuries, with a particular interest in the Caribbean and United States. His...
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Diana Sacilowski

Alumni spotlight: Diana Sacilowski

Diana Sacilowski earned her Ph.D. in Slavic Languages & Literatures, along with graduate certificates in Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies and Criticism and Interpretive Theory, at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2021. She is now a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures at the Ohio State University, where she teaches Polish language and various Slavic culture courses. Her major research interests involve 19th–21st century Polish culture with specialization in Polish-Jewish culture, Holocaust and memory...

Featured Courses: Spring 2025
JS 201

History of Antisemitism

The course studies the negative representations of Judaism and Jews from antiquity to the modern world. Topics include: Greco-Roman concepts of the Jewish religion; medieval Christian symbolization of the demonic Jew; Jews and negative attitudes to capitalism; blood purity and blood libel; the rise of racial prejudice in the modern nation-state; totalitarianism and genocide; antisemitism and anti-Zionism.

JS 201

REL 201

Hebrew Bible in English

The course analyzes critical issues in interpreting the literature of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and surveys the history and religion of Ancient Israel, with special reference to Israel's setting in the ancient Near East.

REL 201

REL 511

The Jewish Atlantic

It is an intensive study of select topics or issues in the study of religion.

REL 511

1040

Grad Intro to Jewish Culture

What is a history of emotions? How does the environment shape history? Can smell serve as a historical source? Can you write a contemporary history of a place where Jews no longer live and still present a Jewish perspective? “Historical Methods in Jewish Studies” covers these and many more research methodologies, concepts, and categories of analysis.

JS 501

YDSH320 Flyer

Lit Responses to the Holocaust

In this film course we will be watching and discussing Holocaust Cinema. We will consider different genres, including documentaries, testimony, comedy, drama, musicals and action-adventure films. We consider films from different locations, including the UK, the US, Israel, Poland, Hungary and Italy.

JS 320

hebrew keyboard

Elementary Modern Hebrew II

Continuation of HEBR 201, with introduction of more advanced grammar, and with emphasis on more fluency in speaking and reading. 5 credit hours. Prerequisite: HEBR 201 or equivalent.

HEBR 202

ruins of an ancient city from JS 231 course flyer

Development of Ancient Cities

Explore the monuments, archaeological remains, and histories illustrating the development of the earliest states and urban centers of the Ancient Mediterranean and Near East, including Uruk, Jerusalem, Carthage, Athens, and Rome.

JS 231

The Frankfurt School

The Frankfurt School is a school of “social thought” and, at the same time, is known for its programmatic emphasis on “critical theory.” It was, however, above all, an experimental initiative designed to foster new forms of interdisciplinary research in the humanities and social sciences. Because the full interdisciplinarity of this project exceeds the scope of a single course, this seminar will engage social, political and theoretical dimensions through the critical analysis of literature, culture, art and aesthetics. Meets with CWL 551, JS 502, and ENGL 581.

GER 575