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Syllabus Israel and Europe - What you see from here you don't see from there - 54836
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Last update 26-02-2017
HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: cont. german studies:politics, soc.&cult

Semester: 2nd Semester

Teaching Languages: English

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Dr. Gisela Dachs

Coordinator Email: gisela.dachs@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours: Monday, 12.15 – 13.15 or by prior arrangement

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Gisela Dachs

Course/Module description:
The course teaches views of the contemporary challenges European countries are faced with by examining debates about major issues such as democracy, migration, demography, media credibility, security, human rights etc.



Course/Module aims:
The course aims to transmit national as well as international perceptions within Europe and in Israel as well as their discussions within various frameworks.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
• To orient themselves within major “European” discourses about current affairs.

• To assess the similarities and differences between views from Israel and from the Old Continent.

• To have knowledge about various European approaches, such as between East and West.

• To read, analyze and discuss media content from different national frameworks

• To have a reflective view on European societies through the critical discussion of their collective perceptions.


Attendance requirements(%):
80%

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: The teaching combines theoretical and practical approaches.

Course/Module Content:
1. Class - 27.2.2017
Introduction to the course

2. Class – 6.3.2017
Stereotypes and Stereotyping: European Self-perceptions and Image of the others

Billig, M. (1995), Banal Nationalism, Introduction P.1-12.

Inthorn, S. (2007) The Ethno-Cultural Nation in the Kitchen: Food and National Identity, in: German Media and National Identity, PP. 129-167.


3. Class - 20.3.2017
“From Europe, but not in Europe”
Views about Europe from Israel – Views about Israel in Europe

Dachs, G. and Peters, J. (2005) Israel and the EU, the Troubled Relationship: Between Perceptions and Reality. PP 317 – 333, in: Reader of the Israeli-European Policy Network.
Goldfarb, M. (2001) All Journalism is Local: Reporting on the Middle East: How the US and European media cover the same events differently, Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics.


4. Class - 27.3.2017
Germany and Israel - special relations, special views?

Witzthum, D. (2016) Germany’s image in Israel, in: A. Wittstock (ed.) Rapprochement, Change, Perception and Shaping the Future, 50 years of German-Israeli and Israeli-German diplomatic relations

Neureiter, M. (2017) Sources of media bias in coverage of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict: the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid in German, British, and US newspapers, Israel Affairs, 23:1, 66-86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2016.1244381


5. Class – 24.4.2017
Other Shadows from the past – from former colonial times to today’s global human rights.

Kenneth C. (2002) Human Rights, Freedom of Information and the Origins of Third World Solidarity, in: Truth Claims, Representation and Human Rights.

Sicher, E. (2011) The Image of Israel and Postcolonial Discourse in the Early 21st Century:
A View From Britain, Israel Studies.


6. Class– 8.5.2017
The globalization of the nationalism – from Geert Wilders to Marine Le Pen

Bos, L. et al. (2011) How the Media Shape Perceptions of Right-Wing Populist Leaders

Kriesi, H. (2014) The Populist Challenge


7. Class – 15.5.2017
Views from the left

Stavrakakis, Y. and Katsambekis, G. (2014) Left-wing populism in the European periphery: the
case of SYRIZA.

Shindler, C. (2012) Israel and the European Left: Between Solidarity and Delegitimization.


8. Class – 22.5.2017
Burkini and Cross. Values revisited – religious rights, identity and secularism

Greeley, A. (2003) Religion in Europe at the End of the Second Millennium: A Sociological Profile, Introduction.

Eisenstadt, S.N. (2009) Minorities, the Formation and Transformation of Nation-States, and the Intercivilizational Relations – Jewish and Christian Minorities in Germany. In: Jahrbuch fuer deutsche Geschichte der Tel Aviv Universitaet.

(further reading) Sacks, J. (2016) Altruistic Evil, in: Not in God’s Name, Confronting Religious Violence, PP.3-29.


9. Class – 29.5.2017
Soft power, hardpower: Divides across the Atlantic – Europe and the United States of America

Joffe, J. (2005) Nations we love to Hate: Israel, America and the New Antisemitism

Chiozza, G. (2009) Anti-Americanism and the American World Order, overview p.3-26

Ramadan, T. (2006) The Global Ideology of Fear, New Perspectives Quaterly.


10. Class - 5.6.2017
Divides between East and West

Brecknerl, R. et al. (2000) Biographies and the Division of Europe Experience, Action, and Change on the 'Eastern Side', Introduction, 7-22

Stolting, E. (2000), The East of Europe: A Historical Construction, in: Biographies and the Division
of Europe, 23-39.


Minkenberg, M. (2013) From Pariah to Policy-Maker? The Radical Right in Europe, West and East: Between Margin and Mainstream.



11. Class, 12.6.2017
Demographic challenges – Ageing societies and young migrants

Walker, A. and Aspalter V. (2008) Securing the Future for Old Age in Europe.

Billari, F. (2004) Becoming an Adult in Europe: A Macro(/Micro)-Demographic Perspective, Max Planck Gesellschaft.

Algan, Y. et al. (2010) The Economic Situation of First and Second-Generation Immigrants in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, The Economic Journal. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2009.02338.x/full

(further reading) Raz, A. et al. (2014) Making responsible lifeplans: Cultural differences in Lay Attitudes toward predictive genetic testing for late-onset diseases, in: Genetics as Social Practice: Transdisciplinary Views on Science and Culture, PP. 181-199.

12. Class – 19.6.2017
Gender, family and fertility

Allemann-Ghionda et al. (eds) Children, Families, and States: Time Policies of Childcare, Preschool, and Primary Education in Europe (2011). Berghahn. Introduction PP. 3-34

Hashiloni-Dolev, Y. (2007). A Life (Un)Worthy of Living: Reproductive Genetics in Israel and Germany. Dordrecht: Springer. Under the Series: International Library of Ethics, Law and the New Medicine. Foreword.

(further reading) Fagnani, J. and Letablier T. (2004) Work and family life balance: the impact of
the 35-hour laws in France.


13. Class, 26.06.2017
Fears – climate change, gene manipulation and big data

Biess, F. (2009) ‘ Everybody has a Chance ’ : Nuclear Angst, Civil Defence, and the History of Emotions in Postwar West Germany *, German History Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 215–243.

Freude, A. and Freude, T. (2016) Echos of History: understanding German Data Protection, Report Bertelsmann Foundation.



Required Reading:
see above, the required reading is written next to each class, in some cases there is also "further reading" which is not compulsory.

All the reading material which is not available online will be posted a week in advance on the Moodle.

Additional Reading Material:
see above

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 0 %
Participation in Tutorials 0 %
Project work 0 %
Assignments 0 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 100 %
see additional information

Additional information:
Regular attendance of and participation in class discussions is essential to success in this course. Absences must be cleared with the instructor in advance barring emergencies so appropriate make-up work can be assigned.

Requirements and Grading: Active participation (30 %) including reading of the required texts as listed with each class. Two presentations in class (1) related to a topic of common concern, (2) summarizing and contextualizing a news event (together 30 %). A written final assignment (3000 words without bibliography) in English focusing on one of the major themes of the course. Your discussion must draw from at least two relevant course readings and at least two newspapers articles presenting and analyzing different views (40 %). Alternatively, a research proposal can also be written instead.



 
Students needing academic accommodations based on a disability should contact the Center for Diagnosis and Support of Students with Learning Disabilities, or the Office for Students with Disabilities, as early as possible, to discuss and coordinate accommodations, based on relevant documentation.
For further information, please visit the site of the Dean of Students Office.
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