In 2012, Jonathan Boyarin, the Mann Professor of Modern Jewish Studies, spent a year of academic leave studying Torah at Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem (MTJ), New York’s oldest institution of rabbinic learning.
Jonathan Boyarin takes time off from academia to get an insider's view of a Lower East Side institution.
For students who want to take The US and and Middle East (NES 3687), but are not enrolled in the Cornell in Washington program. For more information please contact Professor Ross Brann.
NES/AMST/GOVT/HIST/JWST 3687, 4 credits. Offered online. R. Brann
This seminar examines the history of the United States’ involvement with Middle East beginning with evangelical efforts in the 19th century and President Wilson’s engagement with the colonial powers in the early 20th century during and after WWI.
4 credits. Student option grading. J. Mokhtarian
This course explores the interactions between Jews, Christians, and other religious groups in late antiquity, especially in Sasanian Persia circa the first through seventh century C.E. Students pay particular attention to the portrayals of Christians in Jewish rabbinic literature, including Midrash and Talmud, but also draw from early Christian, Zoroastrian, Manichaean, and other sources. There will be an emphasis on the reading of primary texts in translation in their appropriate historical contexts, and in comparison with one another. Students engage such questions as: How did Jews define themselves in relation to Christians, and vice versa? In what ways did Jews and Christians part ways with one another, as scholars often maintain, and what were the factors at play in their separation? And, lastly, what role did other religious and political groups, such as Gnostics, Zoroastrians, Romans, Mandaeans, Manichaeans, and early Muslims play in these developments?
contact Director of Undergraduate Studies Seema Golestaneh
contact Director of Graduate Studies Lori Khatchadourian
contact Chair Ziad Fahmy
Find more administrative contacts on our contacts page.
