THE 511 American Jewish Thought
This course aims to consider the American Jewish experience through the prism of Jewish thought generated in North America since 1934. Based on an anthology published in 2020 (co-edited by Michael Marmur and the late David Ellenson), the course comprises close readings of excerpts from seven chapters relating to God, Revelation and Commandment, Spirituality, Hermeneutics and Politics, Holocaust and Israel, Feminism and Gender, and Peoplehood. While considering some of the readings selected for this volume, we also ask who is missing from the list, what are the most recent developments in the field, and what other categories deserve attention. We also ask what is particularly American about American Jewish thought.