Course Description

Instructor: Eric L. Goldstein, PhD

This course will explore the social, economic, religious and cultural lives of Jews in the American South from the eighteenth century to the present. We will wrestle with the question of regional distinctiveness: how was Jewishness shaped by the South’s approach to social relations and “respectability,� its emphasis on evangelical religion, and its struggle with the issue of race? We will also ask whether Southern Jews still constitute a distinctive community in light of the massive social and demographic changes of the post-World War II era. This course is offered in partnership with the MJCCA Lisa F. Brill Institute of Jewish Learning.

Instructional fee: $40.

Eric is the Judith London Evans Director at the Tam Institute for Jewish Studies. He is also an Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies at Emory University.