Course Meeting Times
Seminar: 1 session / week, 3 hours / session
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course. This course is appropriate for both undergraduate and graduate students.
Learning Goals
By the end of the course, you should be able to:
- Define and describe major events in the history of modern Israel
- Define and describe Israel's political system (political parties, municipal and regional administration, etc.)
- Define, describe and appraise the major analytical terms used in our course
- Integrate course data into a coherent narrative(s) of current Israeli identity(ies)
Grading
| ASSIGNMENTS | PERCENTAGES |
|---|---|
| Research paper (5-7 pages) | 40% |
| Four discussion papers (1-2 pages)/Cultural presentation | 40% |
| Short presentation on current events | 10% |
| Class participation | 10% |
Calendar
| SES # | TOPICS |
|---|---|
| 1 | Israel: An introduction |
| 2 | Zionism: Sources, variations |
| 3 | Zionist ideologies and the land of Israel |
| 4 | Nation building and immigrants |
| 5 | Settlements and the Zionist Project |
| 6 | The Arab-Israeli conflict |
| 7 | Israeli society: Cleavages |
| 8 | Israel in the West Bank and Gaza |
| 9 | Israeli identity revisited: The post Zionist challenge |
| 10 | Foreign and security policy |
| 11 | Israeli economy |
| 12 | Israeli culture |
| 13 | Israel: A comparative perspective |