Winter 2026

GBL2400 – Holocaust Journey

This course will allow participants to learn about the Holocaust through tours of concentration/extermination camps, ghettos, and discussions with Holocaust scholars and survivors. The course originates in Amsterdam, continues to Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow, and Prague and concludes in Nuremberg, Germany, all extremely significant locations for Jews during the Holocaust. Students will also have the opportunity to visit Jewish museums and archives, synagogues, and Jewish cemeteries, as well as more traditional tourist attractions such as cathedrals, castles, and art museums. Preparation for the course will include reading the novels Treblinka (Jean-Francoise Steiner) and Night (Elie Wiesel). Students will also keep a journal and research their project throughout the journey and will prepare their final project after they return to the States. Class discussions will occur throughout the term. Free time will be available in every city for individual research and exploration. Application and acceptance required. Additional travel fee is required. Counts toward Civilization requirement, and satisfies one unit of the Experiential Learning Requirement. The course may also count as an English elective, and toward the Jewish Studies and German Studies minors. Prerequisite: GBL 1400. Crosslisted as: ENG 2400.

 

ENG2590 – Literature of the Holocaust

This course will explore a variety of literature with the Holocause as its central theme. Genres of literature will include short and long fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, and film. The Holocaust will be explored through the historical, spiritual, cultural, and literary viewpoints of first and second generation survivors, witnesses, deniers, and perpetrators. This course satisfies the Elon Core Curriculum Literature requirement.

M-F 8:30-11:45am

 

Spring 2026

HEB1020- Modern Elementary Hebrew II

This course builds on the skills learned in HEB  1010 and continues the study of basic Modern  Hebrew grammar and syntax and provides further  development of culture, communication and comprehension skills. Prerequisite: HEB 1010 or  permission by chair of the department. If you have prior knowledge of Hebrew either in a  traditional academic setting or a religious  setting contact the instructor to determine your  Hebrew level. A paper and pencil placement exam is available.

MWF 12:30-1:40pm

 

HEB2010 – Modern Intermediate Hebrew I

This course provides intensive development of all  language skills, with focused emphasis on reading  and composition. Students will learn to describe,  analyze, and express opinions on cultural topics.  Prerequisite: HEB 1020 or permission by chair of  the department. If you have prior knowledge of  Hebrew either in a traditional academic setting  or a religious setting contact the instructor to  determine your Hebrew level. A paper and pencil  placement exam is available.

MW 2:00-3:40pm

 

HEB2020 – Modern Intermediate Hebrew II

This final course in basic language experience  consolidates all skills learned in previous  Modern Hebrew classes or student’s previous  experience. Advanced reading, writing, and  speaking skills are refined through study of more  advanced cultural and literary topics.  Prerequisite: HEB 2010 or permission by chair of  the department. If you have prior knowledge of  Hebrew either in a traditional academic setting  or a religious setting contact the instructor to  determine your Hebrew level. A paper and pencil  placement exam is available.

MW 2:00-3:40pm

 

HST3381 – Germany after 1945: History, Memory, and the Cold War

Germany’s post-1945 history has been one of  dramatic change from post-war reconstruction to  the transitions following the fall of the Berlin  wall. This course explores the history of the two  republics that emerged from the defeated Nazi  Reich, the Federal Republic of Germany and the  German Democratic Republic, and the challenges  faced by the two countries, comparing their  responses directly whenever possible. Topics  include the questions of re-building,  re-education, and restitution; the efforts of  denazification and democratization; the  development of diverging societies and independent  policies during the Cold War; Jewish life in  postwar Germany; migration, immigration, and guest  worker programs; popular culture and  “Americanization”; as well as the virtual  explosion of memory since 1978, the unification in  1989/90, and the emergence of a new and  independent national identity to the present.

TuTh 12:30-2:10pm

 

POL3301 – Middle East Issues in Films

This course explores the Middle East through  internationally acclaimed films that are directed  by the filmmakers from the Middle East and North  Africa -mostly, from Iran, Israel, Turkey, and the  predominantly Arab countries, and from minority  groups in the region (e.g. the Kurds). These  movies showcase the various political, economic,  ethnic, gender, religious contexts of the region,  and serve as a point of departure to understand  the contemporary Middle East. The class follows a  selection of modules (“topics”) such as a  historical background to the region,  Israel/Palestine, identities (ethnicities, gender,  and religious), and social mobilization/protests.

MW 2:00-3:40pm

 

REL3230 – Satan and the Supernatural

This course explores beliefs, traditions, and  practices related to supernatural beings within  the cultures of the Mediterranean world (e.g.  ancient Judaism, Roman paganism, emerging  Christianity, early Islam). Special attention will  be given to the character of Satan, including how  the character functions in communal contexts. This  course primarily employs literary and historical  approaches to the study of religion. While  historical in focus, this course will give some  attention to contemporary constructions of the  supernatural and/or the satanic.

MW 4:00-5:40pm

 

REL3820 – Jewish Ethics

This course explores historical and contemporary  Jewish approaches to ethics. We will think  critically about a wide range of ideas developed  by Jews about how people should act and what kinds  of people we should be, and how Jewish tradition,  identity, and history may shape responses to a  range of moral and political issues. Topics for  discussion include honesty, forgiveness,  compassion, solidarity, social justice, gender and  sexuality, environmental ethics, war and violence,  and other areas determined by student interest.

TuTh 12:30-2:10pm