HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: history of jewish people & contemporary jewry

Semester: 1st Semester

Teaching Languages: Hebrew

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Dr. Dimitry Shumsky

Coordinator Email: dimitry.shumsky@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours: by appointment

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Dimitry Shumsky

Course/Module description:
The course will trace the socio-cultural and political roots, contents and goals of Theodore Herzl's Zionism. A particular emphasis will be placed on the dialectics of assimialtion and Jewish collective self-assertion, which was essentially inherent to earlier political Zionism. Likewise, we will address national perceptions and socio-cultural profile of Herzl's followers.

Course/Module aims:
The seminar is meant to introduce students to the socio-cultural roots and ideological contents of Theodore Herzl's political Zionism, in the context of multiethnic fin-de-siecle Central Europe and the German-Jewish acculturation and identity patterns. It is also meant to provide students with the tools to independently deal with the scholarly topics of their choice.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
critically analyze the ideologically biased "Assimilation / Nationalism" dichotomy in the history of modern Zionism in general, and in the case of Herzl's political Zionism in particular; master new scholarship on the founder of modern Zionism; conduct comparative studies of Herzl's Zionism vis-a-vis case studies of non-dominant nationalities national movements in the Habsburg Central Europe; assess contribution of fiction as a historical source

Attendance requirements(%):
90

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: Lecture, seminar, analytical reading of historical sources and scholarship

Course/Module Content:
Assimilation and Nationalism: definitions and concepts; Habsburg monarchy, nationalities conflicts and Central European Jews; Herzl: biographical background, German-Jewish identity context; "the New Ghetto"; "Der Judenstaat"; "Altneuland"

Required Reading:
John, Michael. " 'We Do Not Even Possess Our Selves': On Identity and Ethnicity in Austria, 1880-1937". Austrian History Yearbook 30 (1999): 17-64

Wistrich, Robert S. "The Jews and Nationality Conflicts in the Habsburg Lands". Nationalities Papers 22 (1, 1994): 119-139

Robertson, Ritchie. "'The New Ghetto' and the Perplexities of Assimilation", in Theodor Herzl, Visionary of the Jewish State, ed. G. Shimoni and R. S. Wistrich (Jerusalem 1999), pp. 39-51

Kornberg, Jacques. Theodor Herzl: From Assimilation to Zionism. Bloomington & Indianapolis, 1993.

שוורץ, יגאל. הידעת את הארץ שם הלימון פורח. אור יהודה תשס"ז
פנסלר, דרק. "הרצל והערבים הפלשתינים: מיתוס ומיתוס שכנגד". ישראל 6 (תשס"ו): 149- 161
אלמוג, שמואל. "לאומיותו של הרצל במבט מפולש". יהדות זמננו 11- 12 (תשנ"ח): 3- 21
הרצל, תאודור. הגטו החדש. תל אביב, 1992
הרצל, בנימין זאב. מדינת היהודים: ניסיון לפתרון מודרני של שאלת היהודים (ירושלים: הספרייה הציונית, תשל"ג)
הרצל, תיאודור. אלטנוילנד (תל-אביב: בבל, תשס"ד)
פונקנשטיין, עמוס, "דיאלקטיקת ההתבוללות". זמנים 55 (1996): 64- 71

Additional Reading Material:

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 0 %
Participation in Tutorials 10 %
Project work 45 %
Assignments 45 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %

Additional information:
Two grades will be given: one for the seminar paper, and one for the course