JWST 286 - Jewish Italy from Antiquity through Modernity

FC SSCI CD

4 credits
In this course, students will explore the vital roles that Jews played in the cities of the Italian Peninsula from antiquity into the modern era. We will focus primarily on the fifteenth through the late-nineteenth centuries, a period marked by mass migration, ghettoization, cultural efflorescence, and the often volatile relationship between Italian Jewish communities and the Roman Catholic Church. In examining preunification Italy through a Jewish lens, we will probe the political, social, and economic forces that shaped the modern nation and resulted in a uniquely Italian Jewish identity.

This course is cross-listed with HIST-286