History, Memory, and Identity in Israel

Israeli society was born in effort to reshape images of Jewish past and has been shaken by many debates over history, recent and ancient events, and how these are represented by historical scholarship as well as in popular media and public spaces. Struggles over image of past have become central (as in many other societies) to debates about identity in present and directions, goals, and hopes for future. Exploration of ways in which struggles over past have shaped Israeli present. Examination of historiographical debates and their reflections in range of media to make some sense of ever-changing past, ways in which it shapes political, ideological, and cultural identities in present, and where meeting points are between popular discourse and work historians do. Examination of conflicting readings of past and its representation in Israeli historiography and in shaping of Israeli collective memory and identity. Concurrently scheduled with course C222.

P/NP or letter grading.