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Course Info for RELG - 224 - 01, Spring 2026
Class number: 2830 Title: American Jewish Literature Department: Religious Studies
Career: Undergraduate Component: Lecture Session: Regular
Instructor's Permission Required: No Grading Basis: Regular Units: 1.00
Enrollment limited to 25 Current enrollment: 2 Available seats: 23
Start date: Tuesday, January 20, 2026 End date: Friday, May 8, 2026 Mode of Instruction: In Person
Schedule: TR: 10:50AM-12:05PM, HHN - 105 Instructor(s): Catlin, Samuel
Prerequisite(s): None
Distribution Requirement: Meets Humanities Requirement
Course Description:
An exploration of the relationship between US Jewish identity and literary form, through the reading of major works in a range of genres such as prose fiction, lyric poetry, drama, graphic novels, and essays, from the late 19th century to the present. We may also view some films and TV episodes. Throughout, we will insistently pose the question of what makes a literary work count as "Jewish" or "American." Readings may address such topics as immigration, assimilation, nationalism, racialization, whiteness, ethnic identity, antisemitism, class and labor politics, the Cold War and McCarthyism, the impact of the Holocaust, the memory of pre-WWII Europe, Zionism, gender and sexuality, HIV/AIDS, the politics of "Jewish languages," and religious vs. secular textual traditions.