Global Arc

This course uses various forms of Israeli media, including television shows, web sites, blogs, and newspapers, to explore the ethical and moral dimensions of contemporary debates on cultural pluralism in Israel and tensions in Israeli society. Topics include relations between Jews and Arabs, rifts between Orthodox and secular Jews, and the challenges of accommodating and integrating into a single society immigrants who come from diverse backgrounds and lack a common immigrant experience. The course is intended for advanced speakers of Hebrew.

Israeli music is multi-faceted and complex. Israel represents an extreme case of a society of immigrants and refugees grouped together under pressures and traumas. This course explores how music, the most social and active of the arts, has acted as a powerful social and psychological agent.

This course explores in Hebrew the roots of Jewish and Israeli humor that reflects values and self image. Sources include Biblical, Hasidic and contemporary stories, films, TV series, web sites, songs, etc. Classes will be conducted in Hebrew.

An introduction to the scientific analysis of the structure and uses of language. Core areas covered include phonetics and phonology, morphology, the lexicon, syntax, semantics and pragmatics, with data from a wide range of languages. Additional topics include language acquisition, language and the brain, and language change.

This course is about constructed languages (those deliberately created for artistic or political purposes; think Elvish or Esperanto) and how they relate to or differ from natural languages (which arise spontaneously in human communities; think English or Ewe). By studying and analyzing variation in natural languages, we will learn to appreciate language constructors' aesthetic, ethical, and philosophical intentions. We will survey the history and properties of existing constructed languages, as well as collaboratively construct our own class language, providing hands-on experience with language creation and diverse grammatical structures.

Noam Chomsky's linguistic theory has revolutionized our understanding of the nature of human language. This course examines the core concepts of this theory, its development over four decades, and its implications for philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and anthropology. Other topics include the controversy over Darwinian accounts of the origin of language (e.g. Steven Pinker) and the connection between Chomsky's views on human language and his broader views on human nature and the organization of society. Two 90-minute classes.

This course introduces DEAF+WORLD, a world where people speak with their hands and hear with their eyes. It is for students who are interested in learning basic American Sign Language (ASL). Students will acquire basic vocabulary and grammar through interactive activities in order to develop conversational skills in ASL. Students also will practice using body language to communicate in order to effectively communicate with Deaf people while having minimal signing skills. In addition, the basics of Deaf culture and Deaf American history will be discussed.

This course aims to improve conversation skills in ASL, review and refine knowledge of basic grammar, broaden vocabulary, develop ASL-English translation skills, and increase awareness of Deaf culture. Students will develop their ASL skills through interactive activities in class and interacting with Deaf people out of class.

An intermediate language course that aims to strengthen students' communication and comprehension skills. Students will broaden their grammar, vocabulary, and Deaf culture knowledge through viewing and analyzing various ASL literary works and films. Students will also practice holding conversations about a wide variety of topics following Deaf cultural norms through interactive activities.

The world's astonishing linguistic diversity owes to the fact that languages change, and that each language takes a unique and unpredictable trajectory of change. In this course, students explore different models of change and the forces behind it. Employing core methodologies (the Comparative Method and Method of Internal Reconstruction), students learn to analyze phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic language changes. We also learn about the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European language and the people who spoke it. Strong focus on applying methods to a variety of data sets.