printer friendly pageREES 85B: Jews in the Contemporary World: The Jewish Present and Past in Film, Television and Popular Culture (CSRE 85B, HISTORY 85B, JEWISHST 85B)
(Same as
HISTORY 185B. History majors and others taking 5 units, register for 185B.) This course explores the full expanse of Jewish life today and in the recent past. The inner workings of religious faith, the content of Jewish identify shorn of belief, the interplay between Jewish powerlessness and influence, the myth and reality of Jewish genius, the continued pertinence of antisemitism, the rhythms of Jewish economic life ¿ all these will be examined in weekly lectures, classroom discussion, and with the use of a widely diverse range of readings, films, and other material. Explored in depth will the ideas and practices of Zionism, the content of contemporary secularism and religious Orthodoxy, the impact Holocaust, the continued crisis facing Israel and the Palestinians. Who is to be considered Jewish, in any event, especially since so many of the best known (Spinoza, Freud, Marx) have had little if anything to do with Jewish life with their relationships to it indifferent, even hostile?
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Smith, A. (PI)
;
Zipperstein, S. (PI)
REES 100: Current Issues in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (REES 200)
Enrollment limited to REEES students. Scholars present analyses of methodologies, challenges, and current issues in the study of Russia, E. Europe, and Eurasia.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 1-2
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 3 units total)
Instructors:
Lazic, J. (PI)
;
Weiner, A. (PI)
REES 128: Literature of the former Yugoslavia (COMPLIT 128, SLAVIC 128)
What do Slavoj Zizek, Novak Djokovic, Marina Abramovic, Melania Trump, Emir Kusturica, and the captain of the Croatian national football team have in common? All were born in a country that no longer exists, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945-1992). This course will introduce masterpieces of Yugoslav literature and film, examining the social and political complexities of a multicultural society that collapsed into civil war (i.e. Bosnia, Kosovo) in the 1990s. In English with material available in Serbo-Croatian and Slovenian.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
Instructors:
McDonald, T. (PI)
REES 145D: Jewish American Literature (AMSTUD 145D, ENGLISH 145D, JEWISHST 155D)
From its inception, Jewish-American literature has taken as its subject as well as its context the idea of Jewishness itself. Jewish culture is a diasporic one, and for this reason the concept of Jewishness differs from country to country and across time. What stays remarkably similar, though, is Jewish self-perception and relatedly Jewish literary style. This is as true for the first-generation immigrant writers like Isaac Bashevis Singer and Anzia Yezierska who came to the United States from abroad as it is for their second-generation children born in the United States, and the children of those children. In this course, we will consider the difficulties of displacement for the emigrant generation and their efforts to sustain their cultural integrity in the multicultural American environment. We'll also examine the often comic revolt of their American-born children and grandchildren against their (grand-)parents nostalgia and failure to assimilate. Only by considering these transnational roots can one understand the particularity of the Jewish-American novel in relation to mainstream and minority American literatures. In investigating the link between American Jewish writers and their literary progenitors, we will draw largely but not exclusively from Russia and the countries of Eastern Europe.
Last offered: Spring 2018
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
REES 185B: Jews in the Contemporary World: The Jewish Present and Past in Film, Television and Popular Culture (CSRE 185B, HISTORY 185B, HISTORY 385C, JEWISHST 185B, SLAVIC 183)
(Same as
HISTORY 85B.) This course explores the full expanse of Jewish life today and in the recent past. The inner workings of religious faith, the content of Jewish identify shorn of belief, the interplay between Jewish powerlessness and influence, the myth and reality of Jewish genius, the continued pertinence of antisemitism, the rhythms of Jewish economic life ¿ all these will be examined in weekly lectures, classroom discussion, and with the use of a widely diverse range of readings, films, and other material. Explored in depth will the ideas and practices of Zionism, the content of contemporary secularism and religious Orthodoxy, the impact Holocaust, the continued crisis facing Israel and the Palestinians. Who is to be considered Jewish, in any event, especially since so many of the best known (Spinoza, Freud, Marx) have had little if anything to do with Jewish life with their relationships to it indifferent, even hostile?
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Smith, A. (PI)
;
Zipperstein, S. (PI)
REES 200: Current Issues in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (REES 100)
Enrollment limited to REEES students. Scholars present analyses of methodologies, challenges, and current issues in the study of Russia, E. Europe, and Eurasia.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 1-2
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 3 units total)
Instructors:
Lazic, J. (PI)
;
Weiner, A. (PI)
REES 204: Cities of Empire: An Urban Journey through Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean (HISTORY 223E, HISTORY 323E, REES 304)
This course explores the cities of the Habsburg, Ottoman and Russian empires in the dynamic and turbulent period of their greatest transformation from the 19th century through the Two World Wars. Through the reading of urban biographies of Venice and Trieste, Vienna, Budapest, Cracow, Lviv, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Salonica, and Odessa, we consider broad historical trends of political, economic, and social modernization, urbanization, identity formation, imperialism, cosmopolitanism, and orientalism. As vibrant centers of coexistence and economic exchange, social and cultural borderlands, and sites of transgression, these cities provide an ideal lens through which to examine these themes in the context of transition from imperial to post-imperial space.
Last offered: Spring 2019
REES 212: The Politics of Migration in Russia, Eurasia, and Eastern Europe
From the anti-migrant riot in Moscow to the refugee crisis in Budapest, migration in post-communist countries significantly influences the politics and society in this region. This course aims to provide paths to understanding this phenomenon based on political science, history, and sociology. The course examines how post-communist countries are responding to, and being transformed by, migration. The central questions that this course addresses are as follows: What are the scales and trends of migration in post-communist states? What consequences does migration have for the societies and politics of the region? What factors determine anti-immigrant sentiment? What explains the immigration policies of post-communist countries? The course covers the history of migration in Russia, Eurasia, and Eastern Europe, as well as investigates the migration policies of post-communist states, focusing on labor migration in Eurasia and the refugee crisis in Eastern Europe. nnThe course is open to advanced undergraduate students and graduate students. Previous knowledge of the Russian language, statistics, and political science is not required.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
Instructors:
Joo, S. (PI)
REES 213: US-Russia Relations After the Cold War (POLISCI 213, POLISCI 313)
A quarter century ago, the Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War ended. At the time, Russian leaders aspired to build democratic and market institutions at home. They also wanted to join the West. American presidents Democrat and Republican encouraged these domestic and international changes. Today, U.S.-Russia relations are once again confrontational, reminiscent of relations during the Cold War. This course seeks to analyze shifts in U.S.-Russia relations, with special attention given to the U.S.-Russia relationship during Obama¿s presidency. Readings will include academic articles and a book manuscript by Professor McFaul on Obama's reset policy. Open to students with previous coursework involving Russia.
Last offered: Spring 2017
REES 213A: Russia and the West (INTLPOL 231A, POLISCI 213A)
(Formerly
IPS 231A) Today, American-Russian relations, and Russia¿s relations with West more generally, are tense and confrontational. One has to look deep into the Cold War to find a similar era of confrontation and competition. Yet, relations between Russia and the West were not always this way. The end of the Cold War, for instance, ushered in a period of cooperation. Back then, many believed that Russia was going to develop democratic and market institutions and integrate into Western international institutions. This seminar will examine various explanations for these variations in Russia¿s relations with the West, starting in the 19th century, and briefly examining the Cold War period, but a real focus on the last thirty years. In evaluating competing explanations. the course will focus on balance of power theories, culture, historical legacies, institutional design, and individual actors in both the United States (and sometimes Europe) and Russia.nn** NOTE: The enrollment of the class is by application only. Please send a one page document to Anya Shkurko (ashkurko@stanford.edu) by March 23rd with the following information: full name, class year, major, contact email, which version of the course you want to enroll in (PoliSci/REES/IPS). In the document please also outline previous associated coursework and/or relevant experience and write why you want to enroll in the seminar. Application results will be announced on March 30th. Any questions related to this course can be directed to Anya Shkurko.
Last offered: Spring 2018
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