THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2021/2022

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Divinity : Religious Studies

Postgraduate Course: Themes and Explorations in Jewish-Christian Relations (REST11013)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Divinity CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course charts 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 lecture component and seminar discussion. The lecture component will be taught as a 'flipped classroom', either with an in-person lecture or with lecture materials provided online via Learn. The seminar discussion centres on the primary source texts assigned for the week. This will be taught in-person or online, depending on current government and university guidance. To prepare for the seminar students write a short 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 a small part of the summative assessment in this course. A course essay tests the learning outcomes for this course. Level 11 students will be taught alongside level 10 students and have access to the same Learn site. Level 11 students will have an additional seminar hour every fortnight in which additional source texts can be studied or a specific historical or religious issue can be discussed in more depth
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Students MUST NOT also be taking Jewish Christian Relations in Modern Times (REST10034)
Other requirements This course is open to taught postgraduate students in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Critically discuss major themes and works in the history of Jewish/Christian relations in modernity.
  2. Confidently handle 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. Competently discuss concepts such as 'dialogue' and 'pluralism'.
  5. Demonstrate ability to identify key terms and their meanings and to demonstrate good judgement on the relative importance of bibliographical items
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Hannah Holtschneider
Tel: (0131 6)50 8933
Email: H.Holtschneider@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Rachel Dutton
Tel: (0131 6)50 7227
Email: rdutton@ed.ac.uk
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