THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2020/2021

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Divinity : Religious Studies

Undergraduate Course: Jewish Christian Relations in Modern Times (REST10034)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Divinity CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryTo chart the developments of Jewish-Christian relations since the French Revolution in order to enable a better understanding of the different levels of mutual interpretation. Attention will be paid to the social, political, literary and theological interpretations of Jews by Christians and of Christians by Jews. Concepts such as 'dialogue' and 'pluralism' will be problematised and examined in their historical and theological contexts. The geographical focus of this course will be Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries, broadening to the United States after World War II.
Course description Academic Description:
This course aims to chart the developments of Jewish/Christian relations since the French Revolution in order to enable a better understanding of the different levels of mutual interpretation. Attention will be paid to the social, political, literary and theological interpretations of Jews by Christians and of Christians by Jews. Concepts such as 'dialogue' and 'pluralism' will be problematised and examined in their historical and theological contexts. The geographical focus of this course will be Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries, broadening to the United States after World War II.

Syllabus/Outline Content:
Students will read a variety of sources, such as Lessing's Nathan the Wise, Dohm's Regarding the Civic Improvement of Jews, Mendelssohn's Jerusalem, and including Jewish scholarship on Christianity and Christian scholarship on Jews in the works of prominent scholars such as Geiger and Wellhausen, Harnack, Baeck and Rosenzweig. In the post-World War II period the course will chart the development of organised Christian-Jewish dialogue in the Western World, looking at documents published by member churches of the WCC and the Roman Catholic Church as well as Jewish perceptions of Christianity as expressed in statements and contributions of individuals. Alongside these, the course will examine the expanding scholarship in Jewish/Christian relations in different academic disciplines such as Cultural Studies and Sociology.

Student Learning Experience Information:
The course consists of a two hour weekly seminar taught as a 'flipped classroom'. In the first hour students will engage in a discussion of the source text(s) for the week. To prepare students write a discussion paper for each week. The paper consists of a source analysis of set primary sources and forms the basis for class discussion. The discussion paper is a key part of the formative and summative assessment in this course. The second hour of the seminar will take the form of a lecture to prepare students with an overview of issues relevant to the following week's source text. A class essay and a final exam test the learning outcomes for this course.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesBy permission of the Course Manager.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate knowledge of major themes and works in the history of Jewish/Christian relations in modernity.
  2. Summarise key interpretive concepts of the relationship between Christians and Jews on a theological level.
  3. Demonstrate awareness of 'relations' of Christians and Jews beyond theological conceptualisations.
  4. Critically discuss concepts such as 'dialogue' and 'pluralism'.
  5. Demonstrate an ability to identify key terms and their meanings and show good judgment about how to assess the relative importance of items on course bibliographies.
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsJCRel
Contacts
Course organiserDr Hannah Holtschneider
Tel: (0131 6)50 8933
Email: H.Holtschneider@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Katrina Munro
Tel: (0131 6)50 8900
Email: Kate.Munro@ed.ac.uk
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