HIST259

Since 1654, Jews have been a minority presence in America. This course surveys the Jewish experience from the colonial period through the late 20th century and places that experience in the larger context of American ethnic history. The various forms of Jewish identity--ethnic, cultural, religious, etc.--will be examined as they changed over time in response to experiences in America and in the larger Jewish world. Attention will be given to the impact of the successive waves of Jewish immigration on the American Jewish community, to regional variations in American Jewish experiences, and to the relationships between American Jewish communities and other ethnic/religious/racial minority communities, including recent debates over the evolving place of Jews in the American ethnic/racial hierarchy, often cast as the relationship of Jews to whiteness.

Odd Years

Fall Semester