REL4113F / REL5113F ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY JEWISH THOUGHT
24 NQF credits at NQF level 8
24 NQF credits at NQF level 9
Convener: Dr L P Blond
Course entry requirements:
REL4113F: Acceptance for an honours programme.
REL5113F: Acceptance for a master’s programme.
Course outline:
This course raises issues that affect much of 20th century and Contemporary Jewish Thought as they affect religious and secular life. The Jewish experience of the twentieth century is marked by emancipation, holocaust and the re-establishment of the State of Israel. We will explore a selection of thinkers who have attempted to come to terms with the consequences of these events as they affect secular and religious life. The thinkers selected will be major figures in Jewish thought who have wrestled with the political, philosophical and religious questions raised in Jewish experience, such as Hannah Arendt, Emil Fackenheim, Richard Rubenstein, Theodor Adorno, Emmanuel Levinas, Jacque Derrida, Yeshayahu Leibowitz. We will also address themes such as post-holocaust thought, religious freedom and the law, and the relationship of Jews to the European tradition and the concept of otherness.
Lecture Times: Wednesdays
DP requirements: Regular attendance at all seminars and timeous completion of all assignments and essays.
Assessment:
- REL4113F: Attendance of, and preparation for, seminar; seminar papers (50%) and a final essay of 4000 words (50%).
- REL5113F: Attendance of, and preparation for, seminar; seminar papers (50%) and a final essay of 6000 words (50%).