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Alumni spotlight: Claire Baytas
Claire Baytas graduated with a PhD in Comparative Literature, a Graduate Student Certificate from the Program in Holocaust, Genocide and Memory Studies, and a Graduate Minor in Cinema Studies in May 2023. While a PhD student, Claire’s research focused on representations of memory and history in contemporary literature and cinema in French and Turkish, with a focus on representations of the collective violence and cultural homogenization of the late Ottoman Empire and early Turkish Republic. Since May 2023, Claire works as an Analyst at the not-for-profit organization Ithaka S+R. Ithaka...
Jewish History Since 1700
Traditional Jewish life has experienced significant changes since the 1700s. Once, a homogeneous community whose identity was mainly based on religious ties was replaced by modern Jewries with various identity markers. This course discusses the circumstances under which these processes developed, starting from Jewish emancipation in Western and Central Europe to the Holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel.
History of Antisemitism
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.
Graduate Seminar: Introduction to Jewish Studies
Intensive study of select topics or issues in the study of religion.
Twentieth-Century Germany
The emphasis of this class is on what some observers refer to as the "German Century," the period between 1890 and 1990 when Germany emerged as the most modern, the most revolutionary, and the most belligerent nation-state in Europe. Germany was the site of extraordinary cultural innovation and often lethal political experimentation; it fought two world wars.