WGSS 274 - Women, Gender and Sexuality in the Jewish Tradition

FDR: Humanities (HU)
Credits: 3

How does the Jewish tradition understand gender, sexuality, and sexual difference - and how have Jews past and present sought to influence, negotiate, or critique the tradition? How are women, men, and others portrayed, discussed, and legislated in the Hebrew Bible and Talmud? Is Judaism in fact a patriarchal tradition - and who gets to decide? How do experiences and debates about belief, embodiment, selfhood, ritual, narrative, and moral conviction interact with questions and debates about gender and sexuality? In this course, we’ll explore these enduring questions through classical Jewish texts, scholarly textual analysis, contemporary theological/philosophical responses, first-person accounts, and ethnographic observation.