The Jews of Latin America, Class schedule

History 534.08: The Jewish Experience in Latin America

TTH, 9:30-11:18

Evans Lab 2001

Prof. Donna J. Guy

Dulles 210, Tel. 292-0324

http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/guy60

Office Hours: Wed. 10-12 and by Appointment

This course is designed to introduce students to selected issues in the history of Jews in Latin America. There are no language requirements. It begins with the Jewish communities in medieval Spain and Portugal and then focuses on the history of the Jewish experience in Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, and Cuba. It examines the role of Latin America as both a refuge from and a source of anti-Semitism, the role of immigration, Zionism, Jewish philanthropy, the politics of the Jewish communities, and the impact of current events on particular countries. It is designed to give students a basic understanding of the dynamics of the Jewish Diaspora in Latin America.

Students completing this course will have an understanding of how the both the Sephardic and the Ashkenazi Diasporas affected Latin America, and how Jews constructed lives and communities in predominantly Hispanic, Catholic countries. They will be able to compare and contrast these experiences and read personal reminiscences of participants in these Diasporas. Furthermore, they will be able to develop critical thinking through historical analysis of primary and secondary sources, and will improve their writing and communication skills in exams, papers, and discussions.

Syllabus

All students will be expected to attend each class ready to participate in discussions and have the readings finished by Thursday of each week. Students will also be expected to write two 5 to 10 page papers. The first will compare and contrast the Jewish experience in Argentina and Brazil based upon the Avni and Lesser books. It will be due on May 8. The second will be a thoughtful essay about the Jewish experience based upon Agosín book. There will also be a take-home final. Grades will be determined by class attendance and participation 10%; paper 1 25%; paper 2 25%; final exam 40%. Students must hand in all papers and exams to receive credit for the course.

Any plagiarized paper, i.e. papers that quote directly from sources without quotation marks or footnotes and/or those that summarize opinions of others without acknowledging the source in a footnote, will be subject to penalties listed in the University Code of Conduct. See this web site for information on plagiarism and writing handouts: http://cstw.osu.edu/especially http://cstw.osu.edu/writing_center/handouts/index.htm. Be forewarned that I will pursue cases of academic misconduct to the appropriate University committee.

Disability Policy: All students with disabilities should speak with Prof. Guy immediately in order to work out potential problems with note taking and writing.

Class attendance is mandatory. If a student misses a class meeting without an excuse or more than one of the scheduled classes (regardless of the reason), he/she must still hand in the thought paper for the next class.

All students must be officially enrolled in the course by the end of the second full week of the quarter. No requests to add the course will be approved by the Chair of the Department after that time. Enrolling officially and on time is solely the responsibility of the student.

Grade Breakdown: A: 92.6 and above; A-: 89.6-92.5; B+: 87.6-89.5; B: 82.6-87.5; B-: 79.6-82.5; C+: 77.6-79.5; C: 72.6-77.5; C-: 69.6-72.5; D+: 67.6-69.5; D: 62-67.5; E: below 62

Required Readings: all in paperback

David Gitlitz, Secrecy and Deceit; The Religion of the Crypto Jews

Avni, Haim, Argentina and the Jews: a History of Jewish Immigration

Lesser, Jeffrey, Welcoming the Undesirables: Brazil and the Jewish

Question

Agosín, Marjorie, Memory, Oblivion and Jewish Culture in Latin America

Weekly Schedule

March 25-27: Introduction The Jewish Diaspora in World PerspectiveThe Jewish Diaspora in World Perspective

; Iberian Jews on the eve of the conquest

Readings

Start reading Avni and Lesser

Gitlitz, Intro and Ch. 1-2 Study Questions Ch1, Study Questions Ch2

April 1-3 : Crypto Jews and the Sephardic Diaspora; Life as a Crypto Jew

Students will divide into groups and lead discussions of their findings in Gitlitz Chapters 7, 8, 9,10, and 12.

Each group will only have to read one or two chapters for their presentation

April 8-10 :The Inquisition in Colonial Latin America; Video on Crypto Jews in Spain

Readings : Wim Klooster, "Communities of Port Jews and their Contacts in the Dutch Atlantic World"

April 15-17:Jews in Early 19th Century Latin America; The 19th Century Ashkenazi Experiment in Alternate Zions: Argentina and Brazil

Readings:

Irene Silverblatt “New Christians and New World Fears in Seventeenth-Century Peru”

Morton D. Winsberg, “Jewish Agricultural Settlement in Entre Ríos, Argentina 1

Fabel Nachman, “Jewish Agricultural Settlement in Brazil,”

Be ready to discuss Klooster as well

April 22-24: Video: The Yiddishe Gauchos; Building Jewish Institutions in South America

Klich, “Arab-Jewish Coexistence in the First Half of 1900s Argentina,”

April 29-May 1: Jews under Vargas in Brazil and Perón in Argentina Class Notes;The Jewish Experience in Modern Mexico Class Notes

Readings:

Robert Levine, “Jews During the Vargas Era and After,”

Lawrence Bell, “Bitter Conquest: Zionists Against Progressive Jews and the Making of Post-War Jewish Politics in Argentina”

Cimet-Singer, "The Last Battles for Old Word Ideologies in the Race for Identity and Communal Power: Communists vs. Bundists vs. Zionists in Mexico, 1938-1951” Click here for access

May 6-8: Jewish Philanthropy in the Americas ; Jewish White Slavery and Anti-Semitism Paper on Avni and Lesser due May 6.

Readings

Sandra McGee Deutsch, “Changing the Landscape: The Study of Argentine Jewish Women and New Historical Vistas,” Jewish History 18:4 (2004), 49-73.

Guy, Ch. 1 “On the Road to Buenos Aires,” Donna J. Guy, Sex and Danger in Buenos Aires: Prostitution, Family and Nation in Argentina.

Guy, “Women’s Organizations and Jewish Orphanages in Buenos Aires, 1918-1955,” Jewish History 18:1 (2004), 75-93.

Comparative Paper on Avni and Lesser Due on Thursday

May 13-15: The Modern Jewish Community in Cuba (Video: Havana Nagila)

Read Behar article on Cuban Jewish Identity in Agosín

Robert Levine, ”Jews Under the Cuban Revolution 1959-95”

May 20-22:Jews During Latin American Civil Wars; Timerman in Argentina and Chile

Mark Falcoff, Jacobo Timerman

see website on Anti-Semitism in Argentina http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/