Cross-list with History, Jewish Studies
Students will apply the histories and archeology of mikvaot (Jewish ritual pools) in the United States to analyze a communal collection of interviews and media items. Students will identify gaps in these histories for mikvaot and develop a research plan.
First half | Histories of Jews in North America. Robinson. Canada’s Jews: In Time, Space and Spirit. Kaplan, ed. Religious Changes and Cultural Transformations in the Early Modern Western Sephardic Communities. Sarna, American Judaism. Histories of mikvah in the United States. Selections from: Joselit. New York’s Jewish Jews: The Orthodox Community in the Interwar Years. ———. The Wonders of America: Reinventing Jewish Culture 1880-1950. Wasserfall, ed. Women and Water: Menstruation in Jewish Life and Law. Brandeis Series on Jewish Women. Slonim. Total Immersion: A Mikvah Anthology. News reports about excavated mikvaot in North America. Assess comprehension of major terms, key concepts, and histories through concept mapping. Primary source collection: interviews and media items, preferably focused on mikvah in Canada. |
Second half | Review: students’ collected interviews & media sources about mikvah. Differentiate the mikvah histories of Canada and the United States. Design research questions with corresponding data sources. Individual research proposals including: rationale, literature review, research question-set, and annotated bibliography from course materials. |