Week 1: Introduction – the [nearly] Great Books
Reading
Tony Biondi, ‘“[E]very shepherd is an abomination…” Great Books and Jewish Voices’, (2012: unpublished paper).
Yoram Hazony, The Philosophy of the Hebrew Scripture (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012).
Charles Murray, ‘Jewish Genius’ Commentary (April 2007), 29-35. <commentarymagazine.com/article/jewish-genius>
Week 2: Different ways of thinking – static and dynamic
Reading
William Barrett, Irrational Man (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1977).
Thorleif Boman, Hebrew Thought Compared with Greek (New York: Norton, 1970).
Leo Strauss, ‘Jerusalem and Athens: Some Introductory Reflections’, Commentary, 43 (1967), 45-57. <commentarymagazine.com/article/jerusalem-and-athens-some-introductory-reflections>
Week 3: In the beginning…
Reading
Plato, Timaeus <classics.mit.edu/Plato/timaeus.html>
Aristotle, Metaphysics 1.2, 12.7-10; <classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/metaphysics.html>
Hebrew Bible: Genesis 1-3; Job 9, 26, 38; Psalms 8, 19, 33, 104, 136, 148; Proverbs 8 <biblegateway.com>
Week 4: Sound and Vision (Enlightenment)
Reading
Plato, The Republic books 6-7 <classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html>
Hebrew Bible: Genesis 3; Deuteronomy 4-6; Psalm 49; Proverbs 1, 8; Isaiah 6, 42, 59 <biblegateway.com>
Film: The Matrix (1999)
Weeks 5: Wisdom
Reading
Plato, The Apology <classics.mit.edu/Plato/apology.html>
Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings 3; Job 28; Proverbs 2-4, 8-9; Ecclesiastes 1-2 <biblegateway.com>
Weeks 6-7: A Jewish Approach to the Trivium
Reading
The Hebrew Bible: Job 32-41; Proverbs 26; Amos <biblegateway.com>
E. LaB. Cherbonnier, ‘The Logic of Biblical Anthropomorphism’, The Harvard Theological Review, 55.3 (1962), 187-206. <philosophy-religion.org/cherbonnier/logic-bible.htm>
Samuel M. Edelman, ‘Ancient Traditions, Modern Needs: An Introduction to Jewish Rhetoric’, Journal of Communication and Religion, 26.2 (2003), 113-125.
<umdrive.memphis.edu/ajohnsn6/sacred%20rhetoric/intro%20to%20jewish%20rhetoric.pdf>
Week 8-9: A Jewish Approach to the Quadrivium
Reading
Geometry: The Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings 6-7; Ezekiel 40-43 <biblegateway.com>
Music: The Hebrew Bible: Exodus 15; Psalm 33, 57, 92, 95, 98, 149, 150; Song of Songs 1-4 <biblegateway.com>
Astronomy: The Hebrew Bible: Genesis 1, 15:1-5; Deuteronomy 4:15-20; Job 9, 38; Psalm 8; Isaiah 34:1-4; Amos 5:25-27 <biblegateway.com>
David Curzon, ‘The Genesis of Modern Science’, Jewish Ideas Daily (October 18th, 2011)
<jewishideasdaily.com/content/module/2011/10/18/main-feature/1/the-genesis-of-modern-science>
Week 10: The Futility and Shortness of Life
Reading
Plato, The Apology <classics.mit.edu/Plato/apology.html>
Seneca, On the Shortness of Life <forumromanum.org/literature/seneca_younger/brev_e.html#20>
The Hebrew Bible: Job 7, 14; Psalm 39, 90; Ecclesiastes <biblegateway.com>
Week 11: Freedom
Reading
Aristotle, Politics 1.3-7 <classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/politics.1.one.html>
Hebrew Bible: Exodus 1, 20-21; Leviticus 25 <biblegateway.com>
Week 12: Superman v. Uberman
Reading
Danny Fingeroth, Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero (New York: Continuum, 2007).
Arie Kaplan, From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2008).
Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra (Ware: Wordsworth, 1997).
<gutenberg.org/files/1998/1998-h/1998-h.htm>
Jay Schwartz, Jews and the Invention of the American Comic Book (21st October 2005) <jweekly.com/article/full/27413/cover-story-jews-and-the-invention-of-the-american-comic-book>
Robert G. Weiner, ‘Marvel Comics and the Golem Legend’, Shofar, 29.2 (2011), 50-72.
<muse.jhu.edu/journals/shofar/v029/29.2.weiner.html>
Films: Spider-Man (2002); Superman (1978); X-Men (2000)