This course will focus on the dynamic tension of immutability vs. change, permanence vs. adaptation, constancy vs. evolution, as it pertains to the drama of Jewish law. History and Religion of Ancient Israel. Topics in the Study of Judaism. The Arab-Israeli Conflict. Knowledge about the Arab-Israeli conflict is the focus of the course.
Lectures address the history of the conflict from the perspective of general social science ideas.
Discussion sections give students a forum for assessing the relationship between events and ideas. The course discusses the Gulf War as it bears on the Arab-Israeli conflict. There are no prerequisites. There is a midterm exam and a final. There is extensive use of conferencing on the web, COW, in order to make use of the Internet to explore war and peace scenarios in the Arab-Israeli and Gulf zones.