Taught by Andrew Stein
Sundays, October 20, 27; November 10, 17; December 8, 15; January 12, 19, 26; February 2, 9, 23; March 2, 9, 16, 23; April 6, 27; May 4, 18
9:15-10:30am, in person and on Zoom

Synopsis: Many American Jews, though not all, trace their roots to ancestors who came to the United
States of America before 1945, with subsequent waves of Jews from the former Soviet Union and
Islamic world, Holocaust survivors, Israelis and others. This course will take a new look at the experience
and evolution of the Jews in America over time and topically with a different lens. We’ll compare and
contrast the American Jewish experience with that of other English-speaking Diaspora communities like
the UK, Canada, and Australia, as well as France, Argentina, and Brazil. We will explore a series of
themes such as efforts to achieve civic equality and Jewish participation in each country’s politics and
the military, the history of immigration and ghetto life from the 19th century up to the present, Jewish
demography, and the history of Judaism in its varieties. The course will also address the experiences in
diverse communities with Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, and different communities’ ties to Zionism
and Israel.