CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)

Brooklyn College
Department of Judaic Studies
Spring 2015

CORC3205 Jewish Diaspora

Room 3305 James Hall
ProfessorRobertMosesShapiro
Room3111James
Officehours:Wed., 11-12 Noon; and by appointment.

rshapiro@brooklyn.cuny.edu
7189515000,ext.3990

CourseObjective:
Jewishcommunitieshaveexistedformorethan3,000years.Duringmostofthattime,Jews
existedinscatteredcommunitiescomprisingaDiaspora,asocialformofethnicreligious
culturallifeoutsideofacompactJewishnationstate.TheJewishDiasporawasbothfragileand
enduringacrosscenturiesandcontinents.
ThiscoursestudiestheJewishDiasporaandthevariedenvironingcultureswithinwhichJews
havelivedduringthepastthreemillenia.StudentsexplorethedevelopmentofJewishsociety
withinthecontextofdiversehostculturesencounteredoverthecenturiesandacrosscontinents.
ThegoalofthiscourseistoenablestudentstocomprehendthedynamicsoftheJewishDiaspora
inallitscultural,geographic,andhistoricpermutationsasanexampleoftransnationalcultural
andethnicidentityandgrouphistoricalcontinuity.
Grading:
1.Classparticipation,presentations,onlineposts,attendance.
2. Frequent unannounced quizzes to check reading
comprehension and competency in key terms and concepts.
3.MidtermonMarch19.
4.FinalResearchPaperduebyorbeforeMay10.1
TopicmustbesubmittedforapprovalbyorbeforeFeb.13.
Alphabeticalannotatedpreliminarybibliographyofsourcesforyour
ResearchPaper,includingatleast2encyclopediaarticles,2books,2
periodicalarticles,2onlinesources,and2academicjournalarticles.All
mustbecitedaccordingtotheTurabian/ChicagoStyle(seethebook
citationsinthissyllabusforsamples).DueonorbeforeMarch1.
FullDraftofResearchPaperduebyorbeforeApril12.Failureto
submitthefulldraftpaperforcommentingbyApril12meansapenalty
ofonefulllettergradeontheFinalResearchPaper.
5.FinalExamination

15%
10%
25%
25%

25%

NOTE:ReadtheClassCitizenship/RulesofConductonpage15.

1AlateFinalResearchPaperwillbereducedbyonefulllettergradeforeachdaylate.
1|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)

2|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)

RequiredTextsarebooksandotheritemsthatallstudentsareexpectedtobuy,although
theLibraryReserveRoomhasonecopyofeachbook.Requiredandrecommendedbookscanbe
purchasedbothatthecampusbookstoreandfromvariousonlinesources.Digitalbooksand
usedbooksareeconomicalalternativestobuyingnewbooks,butdomakesurethattheyare
equivalenttothelistededitions:

CoursePack:ReadingsinJewishDiaspora(CORC3205Prof.Shapiro):Spring2015
editionavailablefromFarBetterCopyneartheHillelGate.Usededitionsfrom20112014
areverysimilarandlikelycheaperthantheSpring2015edition.

Onlinematerialsrequiredforpreparationforclass.FollowtheURLlinksintheweekly
assignmentlistandbepreparedtodescribewhattheWebsitesshowandclaimto
demonstrate.

Esther Benbassa and Aron Rodrigue, Sephardi Jewry: A History of the Judeo-Spanish Community,
14th-20th Centuries (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000). ISBN 978-0520218222. This
book provides a good overview of early Sephardic history in Iberia/Andalusia (Spain and Portugal)
and then focuses on the Sephardic Diaspora communities in the Ottoman Empire and the Balkans.

Alanna E. Cooper, Bukharan Jews and the Dynamics of Global Judaism (Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 2012). ISBN 9780253006509GOTIT

Judith Laikin Elkin, The Jews of Latin America (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Library, 2011).
ISBN 9781607852315GOTIT

Reuven Firestone, An Introduction to Islam for Jews (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society,
2008). ISBN 978-0-8276-0864-1. The author is an ordained rabbi and scholar of Jewish studies who
chose to study and teach about Islam to non-Muslim Jews and others. GOT IT

Raymond P. Scheindlin, A Short History of the Jewish People. New York: MacMillan, 1998. ISBN
978-0195139419. The author is a distinguished scholar and translator of Hebrew and Arabic poetry
and literature.

Ilan Stavans, On Borrowed Words: A Memoir of Language (NY: Penguin Books, 2002).
ISBN 978-0142000946. A memoir by a Mexican Jewish literature scholar who was raised in
Spanish and Yiddish, learned Hebrew while living in Israel, and then chose to make English
his principal professional and personal language.

3|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)

WeeklyOutlineandReadings:
WEEKLYASSIGNMENTS:
AllreadingsaretobecompletedbeforethefirstclasseachweekINCLUDINGTHEFIRSTWEEKOF
CLASS.
Bringyourreadingnotestoclass.Readingnotesaresummariesofthemainpointsofeachreading
andyourreactionsorquestions.Itwillhelpyoubemoreeffectiveinclassdiscussions.Alsonotethat
occasionallystudentsarepermittedtorefertotheirownreadingnotesduringaquizorthemidterm
exam,butNEVERduringtheFinalExam.
Itemswith*areintheCoursePackavailablefromFarBetterPrinting.
Youshouldreadandviewallweeklyassignments.Whenfacedwithcompetingresponsibilities,itis
yourresponsibilitytomakethebestuseofyourtime.ClasstimewillNOTbeexpendedonpresenting
allthedataintheassignedreadingsthatyouareexpectedtohavereadsothatyoucanparticipate
effectivelyinclassdiscussion.
Week1
Introduction:DiasporaStudiesDefinition,typologies,methodology
January29

Diaspora, Encyclopedia Judaica (online through BC Library

website).
*RobinCohen,GlobalDiasporas,Course Pack pp. 3-35.
*RaymondSokolov,AMatterofTaste,Course Pack pp. 36-39.
Scheindlin,chaps.1,2
Stavans,OnBorrowedWords,ch.1.
**Efron,TheJews,ch.1:AncientIsraelandOtherAncestors
Week2
February
35

Week3
February10
Noclasson
Feb.12.
Proposed
Research
Papertopics
aredueonor
before
February13.

TraditionalJewishSociety:RoleofLand,Law,Covenant,andExile]
*I.Epstein,Judaism,Course Pack pp. 40-57.
*H.H.BenSasson,Course Pack pp. 58-61.
*Deuteronomy,11:1328,Course Pack p. 62.
Stavans,OnBorrowedWords,ch.2.
**Efron,TheJews,ch.2:BecomingthePeopleoftheBook
SecondTempleJewryandJudaism,RomanEmpire,BabyloniaandPersia
*RaphaelPatai,Course Pack pp. 83-96.
*Maps, Course Pack pp. 1-2.
*Elephantine,Course Pack pp. 63-66
*Onias,Templeof,Course Pack pp. 67-68.
Scheindlin,Chap.3.
**Efron,TheJews,ch.:JewsandGreeks
Stavans,OnBorrowedWords,ch.3.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/israel/losttribes.html
http://www.google.com/search?q=10+lost+tribes&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:enus:IE
SearchBox&rlz=1I7SUNA_en&tbs=tl:1&tbo=u&ei=MzASuipL8GGtgftuuD
AQ&sa=X&oi=timeline_result&ct=title&resnum=11
http://www.ancientsudan.org/articles_jewish_elephantine.html

4|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)
Week4
February
1719

Week5
February
2426

Week6
March35

Week7
March1012

Week8
March17
19
Midterm
Examon
March19.
Week9
March24
26

http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/TalmudPage.html
TheIslamicWorld:MiddleEastandNorthAfrica
Scheindlin,chap.4
*ThePactofUmar(9thCenturyC.E.),Course Pack pp. 69-70.
*Patai,Course Pack pp. 96-103.
ReuvenFirestone,AnIntroductiontoIslamforJews,pp.1742,79148,184190,
199234.Topics:MuhammadandtheJewsofMedina;God,theQuran,andIslamic
Law;Islamicpractice;theShia.
**Efron,TheJews,ch.4:BetweenCaesarandGod
Stavans,OnBorrowedWords,ch.3.
Islam(contd):JewishAdjustment,Acculturation,Twilight
*AbrahamibnDaud:SamueltheNagid(11thCenturyC.E.),Course Pack pp. 7173.
*Sources(JudahibnTibbon,JudahHalevy,MosesibnEzra),Course Pack pp. 7482.
*NormanStillman,Course Pack pp. 104-116, 117-128.
Benbassa, xxv-lv (Prologue to Sephardic Jewry)
Stavans,OnBorrowedWords,ch.4.
**Efron,TheJews,ch.5:FromTempletoTalmud
PreliminaryresearchbibliographydueonorbeforeMarch1.
TheIberianExperience:ADiasporaandItsDiaspora
Scheindlin,chs.56
**Efron,TheJews,ch.6:UndertheCrescent
Benbassa,pp.164
Aviv,pp.72106(TemplesofAmericanIdentity:JewishMuseumsinLosAngeles)
Stavans,OnBorrowedWords,ch.5.
SephardicJewry:OttomanTurkey;EarlyLatinAmerica
Benbassa,pp.65115
*CecilRoth,TheMarranoDiaspora,Course Pack pp. 129-150.
Judith Laikin Elkin, The Jews of Latin America, pp. 3-24.
Stavans,OnBorrowedWords,ch.6.
**Efron,TheJews,ch.7:UndertheCross
TheSilkRoadtoDiasporainCentralAsia:
Bukhara,Uzbekistan,Tajikistan,Turkmenistan,Azerbaijan,Georgia
AlannaE.Cooper,BukharanJewsandtheDynamicsofGlobalIdentity,Prefaceandpp.
1567,138252.
*RichardFoltz,JudaismandtheSilkRoute,Course Pack pp. 151-158.
*BenjaminofTudela,Travels,Course Pack p. 2.
*Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, "The Jews of Bukhara" in Course Pack pp. 159-175.
**Efron,TheJews,ch.8:AJewishRenaissance
China and India: Adjustment and Acculturation
*Xu Xin, The Jews of Kaifeng, China, Course Pack pp. 176-241.
*Song Nai Rhee, Jewish Assimilation: The Case of Chinese Jews, Course Pack pp.
242-253.
http://www.jewsofchina.org/

5|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)
*Joan G. Roland, The Jewish Communities of India, Course Pack pp. 254-271
http://www.jewsofchina.org/JewsOfChina08/Templates/showpage.asp?
DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=84&FID=643&PID=1124 (Kai Feng remnant)
**Efron,TheJews,ch.9:NewWorlds,EastandWest
Week10
March31
April2
Spring
Breakfrom
April3to
11.

Week11
April1416
Draft
Research
Paperis
dueonor
before
April12.

Week12
April2123

Islamiccivilizationandreligiousminorities;Jewishadjustment&acculturation;
BalkanSephardicJewry.
ViewMOVIEMyMexicanShivahonNetflixStreamingorDVDatJUSTOffice.
Scheindlin,ch.4
Benbassa,pp.116191
**Efron,TheJews,ch.10:TheStateoftheJews,theJewsandtheState
FateofsomeDiasporasinmoderntimes(anecdotal)
http://www.babylonjewry.org.il/new/english/index.html(IraqiJewsinShanghai)
http://www.babylonjewry.org.il/new/english/index.htmlescapefromIraq
http://www.bneimenashe.org/history.html(BneiMenasheIndian/Burmesecommunity)
JewsofIran
**Efron,TheJews,ch.11:ModernTransformations
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/opinion/22ihtedcohen.3.20350579.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/opinion/23cohen.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5367892.stm
http://www.sephardicstudies.org/iran.html
http://www.jewishjournal.com/iranianamericanjews/item/the_fate_of_the_jews_in_iran_afte
r_the_election_violence/
LatinAmericanJews:Argentina,Mexico,Brazil,Chile,Colombia,Cuba
Elkin,TheJewsofLatinAmerica,pp.25214
http://www.jewishcuba.org/
Ruth Behar and Humberto Mayol, An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish
Cuba (NewBrunswick:RutgersUniversityPress,2007),pp.57107.(OnReserveat
Library).
RECOMMENDED NOVEL: Nina Barragan, Losers and Keepers in Argentina: A
Work of Fiction (University of New Mexico Press, 2001).
**Efron,TheJews,ch.12:ThePoliticsofBeingJewish

Week13
April2830

Week14

TheuniqueAmericanexperience:IsthereExileinAmerica?
Scheindlin,ch.8
**Efron,TheJews,ch.13:AWorldUpended[19141939]
Aviv,pp.137176(NewYorkasaCenteroftheJewishUniverse;theEndoftheJews)
Nationalism,ZionismandIsrael

6|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)
May57
Paperis
dueonor
before
May10.
Week15
May1214

Scheindlin,ch.1011
Elkin,pp.230250.
Cohen,chapter5.
**Efron,TheJews,ch.15:IntothePresent[1945tothe21stCentury]
Reviewingthesemester:BringinpossibleessayquestionsandIDtermsfortheFinal
Examination.FinalopportunitytopresentOralResearchReports.

FinalExamination

RecommendedTextsareavailableinsinglecopiesattheBCLibrary
Reserve.(NotethatyouareNOTexpectedtobuyallofthesebooks,butonlytheonesthat
youdecidetoreadforyourResearchPaper.Savebybuyingusedcopiesorebooksonline
atAmazon.comandotheronlineretailers.Youmayqualifyforastudentdiscounton
shipping.)

Nina Barragan, Losers and Keepers in Argentina: A Work of Fiction (University of New Mexico
Press, 2001). ISBN 978-0826322227. This is an example of a historical novel in the form of a
fictional diary and narrative based on extensive research combined with creative imagination.

Ruth Behar and Humberto Mayol, An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba (New
Brunswick:RutgersUniversityPress,2007).ISBN978-0813545004

Joseph Berger, Displaced Persons: Growing Up American after the Holocaust (NY: Washington
Square Publications, 2002). ISBN 0671027530. The author is a respected journalist who grew up in a
Jewish immigrant family in New York.

Edith Bruder, The Black Jews of Africa (NY: Oxford Univ. Press, 2009). ISBN 978-0195333565. A
rising number of groups in Africa have and claim traditions of Jewish identity.

Ruby Daniel and Barbara C. Johnson, Ruby of Cochin: An Indian Jewish Woman Remembers
(Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1995). ISBN 978-0827607491

John Efron, et al., The Jews: A History, 2nd ed. (NY: Pearson, 2014). ISBN 9780205858262.A
newly revised textbook with many illustrations, maps, chronologies, and very current discussions
of major trends and issues in the history of Jews. Relevant pages and chapters are listed in the
weekly syllabus of reading assignments as an alternative option, if you can afford to buy a copy of
this book.

Seymour Epstein, From Couscous to Kasha: Reporting from the Field of Jewish Community Work
(Jerusalem-New York: Urim, 2009). ISBN 978 965 524 017 7. This is an often humorous and
sardonic memoir by a Canadian Jew whose career took him to work in Jewish communities in North
Africa and the former Soviet Union.

7|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)

Ayala Fader, Mitzvah Girls: Bringing Up the Next Generation of Hasidic Girls in
Brooklyn (Princeton University Press, 2012) ISBN 978-0691139173. A modern,
secularized Jewish linguistic anthropologist describes Hasidic girls upbringing in
contemporary Borough Park, Brooklyn.

Ruth Gay, Unfinished People: Eastern European Jews Encounter America (New York: W.W. Norton,
2001). ISBN 978-0393322408. The author was born into a family of East European
Jews in the Bronx. Her book combines research with personal memoir.

Heskel Haddad, Flight from Babylon: Iraq, Iran, Israel, America (NY: McGraw-Hill, 1986). ISBN
978-0070254183. This is a memoir by a Jew born in Iraq, who lived in Iran and Israel before coming
to America.

Lucette Lagnado, The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: A Jewish Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to
the New World (NY: Harper Perennial, 2008). ISBN 978-0060822187. The author was born into an
Egyptian Jewish family that emigrated to France and the USA.

Albert Memmi, Pillar of Salt (NY: Beacon Press, 1992). ISBN 978-0807083277. This is an
autobiographical novel by a Jew born and raised in Tunisia who became a prominent French author.

Tudor Parfitt, Black Jews in Africa and the Americas (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2013).
ISBN 0674066987.

Larissa I. Remennick, Russian Jews on Three Continents: Identity, Integration, and Conflict (New
Brunswick: Transaction Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0765803405. The author was born and trained as a
sociologist in the Soviet Russia, before emigrating to Israel in 1991.

Ariel Sabar, My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Family's Past (NY: Algonquin Books,
2009). ISBN 1565124901. The author is a journalist born and raised in Los Angeles by his father, a
Kurdish Jew.

Haim Sabato, Aleppo Tales (Engelwood: The Toby Press, 2005). ISBN 978-1592641260. The
author was born in Egypt to a Syrian Jewish family with roots in Aleppo.

Haim Sabato, From the Four Winds (Engelwood: The Toby Press, 2010). ISBN 9781592642403. The author was born in Egypt to a Syrian Jewish family with roots
in Aleppo. In this book, he tells stories about abiding Diaspora identity and
traditions in Israel.

Ariel Segal, Jews of the Amazon: Self-Exile in Paradise (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society,
1999). ISBN 0 8276 0669 9. A sociologist stumbles upon a community with roots among Jewish
frontier immigrants in the Amazon jungles.

MaximD.Shrayer,WaitingforAmerica:AStoryofEmigration(Syracuse:SyracuseUniversity
Press,2012).ISBN 978-0815609971. The author was born in the former Soviet
Union, using autobiographical stories to narrate his familys departure from the
Soviet Union and their migration across Europe to America.

8|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)

GaryShteyngart,LittleFailure:AMemoir(NY:RandomHouse,2014).ISBN978
0679643753.

9|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)

TheResearchPaper
Option1:WritearesearchpapercomparingandcontrastingtheDiasporaexperiences
describedorportrayedinoneoftherecommendedpairsofbooksontheRecommendedBook
list.Besuretosupplementyourtwomainsourceswithadditionalpublishedandonlinesources
thatareproperlycited.IfyouchooseOption2,youmustspecify,bothbyauthorsnamesand
booktitles,yourchoiceofbookstocompareandcontrast.
Somerecommendedbookpairs:2
1.Lagnado,Memmi
2.Berger,Epstein
3.Epstein,Memmi
4.Berger,Daniel
5.Daniel,Sabar
6.Baragan,Behar
7.Haddad,Sabar
8. Segal,Behar
9. Barragan,Berger
10. Remennick,Berger
11.Behar,Lagnado
12. Epstein,Remennick
13. Bruder,Daniel
14. Bruder,Segal
15. Shrayer,Berger
16. Sabato,Fader
17. Memmi,Sabato
18. Gay,Shrayer
19. Stavans,Shrayer
20. Behar,Stavans
Option2:WritearesearchpaperexaminingJewishDiasporalifeinone
particularcityin
theFormerSovietUnion,theMiddleEast(butnotinIsrael),Africa,LatinAmerica,Canada,or
Australia,tellingthestoryofthecitysJewsfromtheearly20thcenturythroughthe1920sand
1930s,duringtheSecondWorldWar,andthenduringthelatterhalfofthe20thcentury,untilthe
present.Youmustsuggesttwopossiblecities(NOTwholecountries)onwhichtofocus.
Option3:WriteapapercomparingandcontrastingtheexperienceofJewsfromtheFormer
SovietUnioninIsraelandtheUSAonthebasisofLarissaRemennicksRussianJewsonThree
Continents.WhatfactorsdeterminedwhetherFormerSovietJewsimmigratedtoIsraelorthe
USA?WhatbasicchallengesdidsuchFSUJewsfaceineachcountry?Whatweretheparticular
strengthsthatFSUJewscouldcalluponastheyadaptedtolifeineachcountry?Whatisthe
relativevalueofRussianlanguageforFSUJewsineachcountry?Towhatextentarethe
experiencesofFSUJewsinIsraelandtheUSAsimilarordifferent?Isthereadiscerniblegender
differenceintheexperienceofimmigrantsfromtheFSU?
Option4:InterviewaJewishimmigrantwhowasatleastage13beforeimmigratingto
theUSA.Israelisareacceptable,BUTyoumustgetdataabouttheirfamilysorigins.Combine
yourinterviewdatawithatleast4publishedsourcesandatleast3carefullyselectedonline
sources.
Thefocusshouldbeontheimmigrantssocialandculturalrootsandhowheorshehas
acculturatedtolifeintheUSA.Usetheattachedlistofsuggestedinterviewquestionstoconduct
yourinterview.Besuretodobackgroundresearchabouttheimmigrantshomecountryand
2 You may suggest other combinations of books on which to base your paper in Option 1.

10|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)
hometownbeforetheinterview.Seethelistsofsuggestedinterviewquestionsbelowonpp.9
10.
Yourpapershouldweavetheimmigrantsresponsesintoacoherenttextinwhichonly
unusuallysignificantremarksandstatementsaredirectlyquotedinquotationmarks.Therestof
yourpapershouldparaphraseyourvarioussources,includingtheinterview(thatshouldbe
electronicallyrecordedorrecordedintypedtranscribednotes)intoyourownwords,whilebeing
carefultocitethesourceandthepagenumbers.Significantdirectquotesfromtheinterviewcan
beincludedinthebodyofthepaper,butmustnotexceed20%ofthepaper.
Therecordedandtranscribedinterviewshouldbesubmittedalongwiththefinalresearch
paperasattachmentstoemail.

TheResearchPaperexaminesaspectsoftheJewishDiasporaexperience.Informatting,
yourpapershouldbebetween1,200and2,500wordsinlength,typedasaMicroSoftWORD
document,doublespaced,inTimesNewRomanfont,12pt,oneinchmargins,withindented
paragraphs,sourcescitedinfootnotes(notinparentheticsourcecitations),withanalphabetical
bibliographicallistofSourcesCited,includinganyonlinesourcesthatmustincludethenameof
thewebsite,thesponsoringorganizationoreditor,theURL,anddateofaccess.Printedsources
thatareaccessedthroughanonlinedatabaselikeJSTORmustbeidentifiedassuch,including
thedateofaccess.
1. ResearchpapertopicsmustbesubmittedforapprovalonorbeforeFebruary13bye
mail.Submitafirstchoiceandasecondchoiceoftopic.Intwotofivefullsentences,
identifyanddescribeyourproposedpapertopics.DoNOTjustciteaparagraphoritem
number.
2. PreliminaryalphabeticalannotatedlistofsourcesforyourResearchPaper,including
atleast2encyclopediaarticles,2books,2periodicalarticles,2onlinesources,and2
academicjournalarticles.AllmustbecitedaccordingtotheTurabian/ChicagoStyle.
DueonorbeforeFeb.13.
a. LookforrelevantarticlesinEncyclopediaJudaica(1stedition,1971,
http://www.bjeindy.org/resources/library/encyclopediajudaica/;2ndedition,2006,
alsoavailableonlinethroughBCLibraryOnline;andTheYIVOEncyclopediaof
JewsinEasternEurope(NewHaven:YaleUniv.Press,2008;
http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/).
b. BothofthesesourcesarealsoavailableinbookformatBCLibrary.
Encyclopediaarticlesandbooksoftenprovidelistsofotherusefulsources.
3. AfulldraftofyourresearchpaperwillbedueonorbeforeApril12asaWORDemail
attachment.FailuretosubmittherequireddraftoftheResearchPaperwillresultin
reductionofonefulllettergradeinthefinalgradingofyourResearchPaper.Thedraft
willbecritiquedandreturnedsothatyoucanhavetimetorevisethefinalversionofyour
paperthatwillbedueonorbeforeMay10.Latepaperswillbepenalizedbya
reductionofonefulllettergradeforeachdaylate.
11|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)
4. Wikipediaisnotavalidsourceforacademicresearchpapers.Anypaperciting
Wikipediaasasourcefordatausedwillbepenalizedonefulllettergrade.
5. SourcesfoundcitedinothersourcesMUSTincludethestatementascitedin[namethe
accessedsource,providingfullbibliographicdata,andpagenumber].
6. Unattributeduseofdata,ideas,wording,phrasing,andillustrationsconstitutes
plagiarism,resultinginafailinggradeofF.
7. Yourprimarysourcedatamustbesupplementedwithdatafromatleast4sources
publishedasbooksorasarticlesinperiodicals,alongwithatleast3onlineInternet
sourcesthatareallcitedinfootnotesasrequiredinstandardguidestoresearchand
writing.3
8. NOTEthatthebibliographyofcitedsourcesisarrangedalphabeticallybythelastname
ofthefirstauthororeditor,followedbytheunderlinedtitle(andCityofpublication:
Publisher,YearofPublication).DoNOTnumbertheindividualentriesinabibliography.
9. Formoreinformationonhowtocitesources,followtheonlinelinksonpage15;andsee
theguidestoresearchwritingcitedinthefootnoteonpage10.
10. RememberthatyouhaveaccesstoWritingTutorsattheLearningCenteratBoylanHall,
thatisopen7daysaweek,butcheckthehoursandmakeanappointment,ifpossible.
11. Remembertonumberyourpages,tocitesourcesinfootnotes(andNOTparenthetically),
andtoprovideyourpaperwithaheadingonthefirstpage:Yourname,nameofthe
course,dateofsubmission,andashorttitlethatindicatesthepaperstopic.
12. Youropeningparagraphshouldclearlyidentifythetopicofyourpaperstatedintheform
ofaquestionthatyouwillanswerinthepaper.Inthefirstparagraph,youshouldclearly
stateyourthesisorbasicanswertoyourresearchquestions.Thefollowingparagraphsof
yourpaperwillprovideevidenceandexamplesthatsupportyourthesis.
13. AVOIDdirectquotationofsecondarysources,whosedatashouldbeparaphrasedinyour
ownwords,withafootnoteattheendofeachparagraphcitingthesourcesofthedatain
theparagraph.
14. Reservedirectquotationsformaterialfromyourprimarysources.Afootnoteisrequired
immediatelyaftereverydirectquotation,withthefootnotesuperscriptnumberappearing
aftertheclosequotationmarks.
15. Togetabetterideaofwhatwillresultinanexcellentgrade,seethesectiononWhatis
anexcellentresearchpaper?onpage11.
3 Such as Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History (New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006);
Kate Turabian, et al., A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Seventh Edition: Chicago
Style for Students and Researchers (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007); and William Kelleher Storey,
Writing History: A Guide for Students (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008).

12|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)

13|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)

Whatisanexcellentresearchpaper?

Excellentpaperswilldemonstrateasenseofthegeographicandchronologicalcontexts.

Excellentimmigrantinterviewpaperswillpointouthowextensivelyyourimmigrantwas
acculturatedinhisorheroriginalhomecountry,aswellaspointouthowtheimmigrant
hasacculturatedintoAmericansociety.

ExcellentpaperswilladdresstheextentoftheimmigrantssenseofJewishidentity,both
beforeandafterimmigratingtotheUSA.

Excellentpaperswillbecarefullywrittenandorganized,andthoroughlyproofedfor
spelling,grammar,syntaxandlogic.

Excellentpaperswillbe1200to2,500wordsinlength(notcountingfootnotesand
bibliographyofworkscited),typed,doublespaced,in12ptTimesNewRomanfont,
withoneinchmargins,andpaginated.

Excellentpaperswillproperlycitesourcesinfootnotesandwithanalphabetical(by
authorssurnamesortitles,ifauthorsoreditorsarenotstated)bibliographyofsources
citedinthepaper.

Excellentpaperswillbeconstructedasananalyticessay,withanintroductoryparagraph
thatclearlystatesathesisabouttheimmigrantsacculturationexperience.Lesserquality
interviewpapersconsistofintroductoryandconcludingparagraphstogetherwiththe
quotedresponsestoeachoftheinterviewquestions.

ExcellentpaperswillbeturnedinontimeasaWordemailattachment.

AdraftmustbeturnedinonorbeforeApril12forungradedcommentsthatcanbeused
torevisethefinaldraftthatwillbegraded.Failuretosubmittherequireddraftofthe
ResearchPaperwillresultinreductionofonefulllettergradeinthefinalgradingofyour
ResearchPaper.

LATEPAPERSWILLBEREDUCEDINGRADEBYONEFULLLETTERFOR
EACHDAYLATE.

14|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)

SuggestedInterviewQuestionsforResearchPaperOption4:
NOTE:Wheninterviewing,youshouldeitherelectronicallyrecord(withpermissionofthe
personyouareinterviewing)ortakecarefulnotesthatyoucanlaterwriteupmorecarefully.
Notewhenandwhereyoumeet,includingthedatesandtimesthatyouwillhavetociteinyour
paper.

General(Acculturation)Questions
1. Whatlanguagedidyouspeakathome?Atschool?Whatdidthegeneralpopulation
speak?
2. DidJewsgotouniversities?Schoolsofartormusic?Wasitonlymenwhowent?
3. Wheredidyoulive?Howmanypeoplelivedinyourhouse?
4. Whowereyourneighbors?
5. Whowereyourfriends?(Jewish?)
6. Whatkindofclothingdidyouwear?Thelateststyle?
7. Whatkindofmusicdidyoulistento?
8. Didyoufeeltotally(Russia,Syrian,Iranian...)?
9. Whatdidyourfatherdoforaliving?Mother?Grandfather?
10. Whatdidyoueatduringtheweek?Ontheweekend?
11. Whatkindofweddingdidyourparents/youhave?
12. DidyoudatenonJews?WasthefamilyofyourspouseinvolvedintheJewish
community?
13. Didyougodancing?Tothemovies?
14. WhendidyouimmigratetotheUSA?Why?Werethereanyobstaclesinyourway?
15. WheredidyoufirstmovetoonarrivingintheUSA?Why?Whatneighborhooddoyou
liveinnow?Ifyoumoved,why?
16. WhatwerethebiggestchallengesyoufacedasanewimmigranttotheUSA?Howdid
youdealwiththem?
17. Haveyoureturnedtoyournativecountrytovisit?
18. DoyouhaveanyregretsaboutmovingtotheUSA?
19. DoyoufeelthatyouareanAmerican?
15|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)

JewishIdentityQuestions
20. DidyougetaJewisheducation?Describeit.
21. Didyoudoanyathleticactivities?
22. Didyouplayanymusicalinstruments?Ifyes,whotaughtyou?
23. DidyoukeeptheJewishholidays?Whichones?
24. Didyoukeepkosher?Wastherekosherfoodavailable?
25. DidyouknowaJewishlanguage?Readingtoo?
26. Didyougotosynagogue?Howoften?
27. Didyoufeeldiscrimination?Describe.DidJewshaverights?
28. WhatwasthegovernmentsattitudetowardsJewsandJudaism?Wasthere
discriminationintheworkplace,school,orentryintouniversity?
29. DidyouwearanythingspecificallyJewish?(tsitsitfringes,hat,StarofDavid)
30. Werethereanyreligiousobjectsthatyouwereabletoobtain?
31. DidyouknowaboutIsrael?
32. DidyoueatJewishfoods?
33. DidyouliveinaJewishneighborhood?WastherealargeJewishcommunity?Were
thereJewishschoolsandsynagogues?Wasitdangeroustowalkthestreets?
34. HowreligiouswasthemainJewishpopulation?
35. DoyouhaveaHebrew/Jewishname?Whatisyourusualname?
36. Didyourparents/grandparentstellyouBiblestories?StoriesfromJewishhistory?Your
ownparticularhistory?
37. Whendidyouleaveyourcountryandwhy?
38. Whatdoyoumissifanythingfromtheoldcountry?
39. WhenandwhydidyoudecidetocometoAmerica?Wasthereanothercountrystopover
ontheway?
40. Doyoustillkeepanycustomsfromtheoldcountry?
41. Didyoudobusiness?Whatkind?WithnonJews?
42. Inwhatlanguagedoyouthink?
43. HaveyoubecomemoreorlessreligiouslyinvolvedasaJewintheUSA?

16|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)
44. Ifyouhavechildren,whatkindofelementaryandhighschooleducationdoyouwant
themtohave?WouldyousendthemtoJewishschoolsorpublicschools?
45. DoyouhaverelativesinIsrael?HaveyouevervisitedIsrael?

17|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)
Class Citizenship: Rules of Conduct, Ethics, Etiquette and Manners
Attendance & Participation
Attendance means more than just showing up; it means doing the reading and, more importantly,
actively engaging with the ideas and issues brought up in the reading and in lecture. Your
comments, questions and opinions are essential ingredients for making this course a challenging
and rewarding experience for your classmates as well as for yourself, and I expect you to come
prepared to make this contribution. This means that all readings listed for a particular day should
be read before that class session.
Lateness & Absences
Attendance will be taken daily at the beginning of class; it is mandatory. Your grade will be
adversely affected if you miss class (other than for medical or religious reasons) or are habitually
late. Your grade will also suffer if you miss class because you will miss out on lecture material
and classroom discussion. You will be responsible for whatever transpires in class when you are
absent. Therefore, if you do have to miss class, please make arrangements to get notes from a
classmate and speak to me.
Cell phones, etc.
Your cell phone, PDA, or other device must be turned off during class. If you absolutely need to
have your phone on during classtalk to me at the beginning of the semester. Violation of the
rules will be reflected in your grade and habitual offenders may be asked to leave the class.
Audio or video recording or transmission during class is forbidden unless you have the
expressed permission of all persons present. Special accommodations may be made for
students with documented disabilities. Such authorized recordings are for exclusive use of the
accommodated student and are to be erased and destroyed immediately after the final
examination. I claim and hold copyright for any recordings of my classes.
E-mail
Check your e-mail daily
When corresponding with me, always identify yourself and the course title in the subject
window.
Remember - Email is not IM. Please write in standard English and avoid inappropriate
language not suitable for professional communication. (You might also reconsider using
juvenile e-mail addresses.)
I will regularly use e-mail to send out announcements, changes in the syllabus, reminders about
assignments, tests or due dates etc. It is your responsibility to check e-mail regularly to keep upto-date with these announcements. I will use the e-mail address you have listed with the College
Registrar. Therefore, please make sure that this is indeed the correct address. You may also use email to communicate with me regarding absences, assignments, etc.
Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct
Academic Dishonesty is prohibited in the City University of New York and is punishable by
penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion, as provided herein.
-- CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity. Adopted by the Board of Trustees 6/28/2004
18|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)
Go to http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/policies/ for further information about definition and
penalties for violation of college policy on academic integrity.

Whatisplagiarism?Plagiarismisaformofacademicdishonesty:
"Plagiarismincludesuseofintellectualmaterialproducedbyanotherperson
withoutacknowledgingitssource."BerkeleyCampusCodeofStudentConduct
Plagiarismisaseriousviolationofacademicandstudentconductrules
andispunishablewithafailinggradeandpossiblymoresevereaction.
UniversityofCaliforniaatBerkeleyLibraryGuidestoCitingSources
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/instruct/guides/citations.html
ChicagoManualStyleGuide,PurdueUniversityOnlineWritingLab:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/01/
GeneralFormatofPaper:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/02/
CitingBooks:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/03/
CitingPeriodicals,Journals,Newspapers,andOnlinePeriodicals:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/04/
CitingWebSources:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/05/
CitingFilmandTelevision:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/06/
CitingInterviewsandPersonalCommunications:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/07/
CitingPublicDocumentsandUnpublishedMaterials:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/09/
CriticalEvaluationofSources:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/instruct/guides/evaluation.html
DoingResearchandCitationofSourcesatBrooklynCollegeLibrary:
19|P a g e

CORC3205JewishDiaspora(Spring2015)
http://library.brooklyn.cuny.edu/library/help/loop/?concept=research&area=plagiarism

20|P a g e