Robert S. Schine
Silberman Professor of Jewish Studies
Email: schine@middlebury.edu
Phone: work802.443.5151
Office Hours: Spring Term: Mondays and Wednesdays 1:30-2:30; Fridays 10:15-11:15 and by appointment
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Professor Schine teaches courses in Classical Hebrew and in the history of Jewish thought, especially in the modern period from the Enlightenment on, and on the ideas and history of Zionism.
His scholarship is in the area of German-Jewish thought and culture. He is the author of Jewish Thought Adrift: Max Wiener 1882-1950 (1992) and of Hermann Cohen on Spinoza, an annotated translation, with introduction, of Cohen’s 1915 monograph, “Spinoza on State and Religion, Judaism and Christianity” (in press, Shalem Press, Jerusalem). He is also co-editor, with Samuel Moyn, of an anthology of translations, Hermann Cohen: Judaism and Neo-Kantian Philosophy (forthcoming, Brandeis/University Press of New England). In addition, he has written on the early history of Jewish life in Vermont: " 'Members of this Book': The Pinkas of Vermont's First Jewish Congregation," in The American Jewish Archives Journal (2008).
Courses
Courses offered in the past four years.
▲ indicates offered in the current term
▹ indicates offered in the upcoming term[s]
CLAS 0500 - Independent Study ▲ ▹
Independent Study
(Approval required)
Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
CLAS 0505 - Ind Senior Project ▲ ▹
(Approval Required)
Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
CLAS 0700 - Sr Essay Classics/Cy ▲ ▹
Senior Essay for Classics/Classical Studies Majors
(Approval required)
Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
FYSE 1384 - Reading the Book of Job ▲
Reading the Book of Job
Why do the innocent suffer? Why do we want to believe that the world is “fair” and “ordered”? The Book of Job asked these questions millennia ago. Framed by a prose tale about the “patience of Job,” with a happy ending, the core of the book is a debate in poetry, between an impatient Job and his “friends”, with no satisfactory ending at all. We will study the book itself and its retellings and interpretations through novels, poetry, drama, philosophy and art, including works by Kafka, Camus, William Blake, Shakespeare, Voltaire, Kant, and Robert Frost. 3 hrs. sem.
Fall 2012, Fall 2013
HEBR 0101 - Beginning Classical Hebrew I
Beginning Classical Hebrew I
The goal of the Hebrew sequence is to develop students' ability to read the Jewish Bible (Old Testament) and later Hebrew literature. An introduction to classical Hebrew, this course presupposes nothing, begins with mastery of the Hebrew alphabet, and leads students through the noun and the basic structure of the Hebrew verbal system. By the end of the course, students will be reading and translating brief biblical narratives with the use of a lexicon.
Winter 2010, Winter 2013
HEBR 0102 - Beginning Classical Hebrew II
Beginning Classical Hebrew II
This course continues the introductory sequence (HEBR 0101) offered in Winter Term and will conclude by reading a single biblical text such as Jonah or Ruth in its entirety. Selections of biblical poetry and narrative will be read throughout the semester. 3 hrs. lect.
Spring 2010, Spring 2013
HEBR 0202 - Intermediate Hebrew: Classical
Intermediate Hebrew: Classical
Readings from the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and selections from post-biblical Hebrew literature. (formerly CLAS 0206)
Spring 2009
HEBR 0402 - Adv Rdgs Classical Hebrew II
Advanced Readings in Classical Hebrew II
Readings in major texts from the Hebrew Bible and post-biblical Hebrew literature. (formerly CLAS 0406) 3 hrs lect.
Spring 2009
RELI 0160 - The Jewish Tradition
The Jewish Tradition WT
An introductory course on central themes and problems in Judaism and the life of "the People of the Book," with the goal of understanding contemporary ideas, institutions, and problems of Jewish life and thought in historical perspective. Topics will include: the formative ideas in Jewish thought monotheism, commandment, Torah; liturgy, ritual, and rhythm of Jewish life; theory and practice of the commandments; the tension between textual tradition and innovation; the origins and contemporary denominations of Judaism (Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, and Orthodox); Zionism and the meaning of Israel. 2 hrs. lect., 1 hr. disc.
Fall 2009, Spring 2011, Fall 2012
RELI 0161 - Making of Modern Jewish Life ▲
The Making of Modern Jewish Life
Jewish life in the 21st century is radically transformed from a century ago. We will explore these transformations through the thinkers, movements, and events that have shaped Jewish life in our day: the emergence of religious denominations in Europe and North America (Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist), the revival of Kabbalah in our times, the Holocaust as a crisis in religious thought, the eruption of Zionism and founding of the State of Israel, the transformations brought about by the changing role of women, and finally, post-denominationalism and "the un-Jewish Jew." 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Fall 2013
RELI 0280 - Hebrew Bible /Old Testament
Studies in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament WT
Studies in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament is an introductory course that focuses on a major religious text in the Western tradition. We will closely read diverse selections from the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Writings in English translation; no familiarity with the Bible or background is presumed. Special attention will be paid to matters of genre and methods of modern biblical scholarship, as well as Jewish and Christian traditions of interpretation. 2 hrs. lect., 1 hr. disc.
Note: Students with sufficient knowledge of Hebrew who would like to study selections from relevant texts in the original should register for RELI 0280B. (HEBR 0102, HEBM 0103, or waiver)/
HIS PHLFall 2010
RELI 0362 - Zionism: Ideas and Realities
Zionism: Ideas and Realities WT
In this course, we study the emergence of Zionism as a Jewish national movement in the 19th century, and follow its proponents and critics into the present debate on the nature of the modern State of Israel. Topics will include: Zionism as a secular rebellion against tradition; Zionism as a messianic movement; the vision of a "bi-national state"; the Palestinian critique of Zionism; "Postzionism" and the controversy over the "New Historians." Materials include readings from the major voices in the history of Zionism and their critics, as well as modern scholarship, and Israeli and Palestinian literature. (Approval Required) 3 hrs. sem.
Spring 2010, Spring 2013
RELI 0400 - Seminar: Study of Religion
Seminar on the Study of Religion
This seminar for advanced religion majors examines important and influential theories and methods in the study of religion. (Open to junior and senior religion majors or by waiver.) 3 hrs. sem.
Spring 2009
RELI 0500 - Independent Research ▲ ▹
Independent Research
(Approval Required)
Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Winter 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
RELI 0601 - Senior Project in Religion
Senior Project
(Approval Required)
Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011
RELI 0700 - Senior Project in Religion ▹
Senior Project
(Approval Required)
Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Winter 2013, Spring 2013, Spring 2014
RELI 0701 - Senior Thesis in Religion ▲ ▹
Senior Research for Honors Candidates
Approval required
Winter 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
RELI 1024 / PHIL 1024 - Jewish Thinkers/Big Questions
Jewish Thinkers on Big Questions
What is atonement? How do we human beings confront our own flaws and mistakes? How do we respond to suffering? What is compassion for the “Other”? If there is revelation, can we know what it is? What is divine law? What is commandment? How do Jewish answers to these questions differ from Christian ones? These are perennial, looming questions in Jewish thought, and we will probe them with the help of texts from Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Hermann Cohen, and Emmanuel Levinas, as well as the great medieval thinker Maimonides.
Winter 2011