Here is a preview of a syllabus for a course that Paula Wapnish Hesse and I first created and taught several times when we were both at Penn State. Brian Hesse ×–”ל provided us the logistical support as then head of the Jewish Studies program but was also helpful with content. I later revised and taught the class alone at Lycoming College. Initial development was also supported by a grant from AJS.
​
Paula and I were (and are) deeply interested in modern American Jewish (and to a lesser extent, progressive Israeli) food movements. We wanted to build a course that would study and reflect on these but would also root their ideologies and their texts in traditional Judaism. We further wanted to explore what realities of the Iron Age Levant influenced those traditional texts. We believed (and believe) that Jewish Studies as a discipline must evolve to stay relevant for college students of today, especially as programs struggle to keep enrollment numbers up. Courses dealing with WWII and the Middle East can sometimes be seen as the easiest way to fill seats, but, while Holocaust studies have perhaps never been more important in our lifetimes than they are right now, Holocaust alone will not save JST as a discipline. All the esoteric fields must be persuasive in demonstrating their modern relevance. In approaching the topic of contemporary food movements, we wanted to address an area of modern, relevant, and relatable study under the JST umbrella.
​
I think it proved true. In one iteration of the course, we visited a farm run by one of these movements and it was an incredible experience for the students. And for us. Foodways are such a fundamental element of the human experience that offering students a chance to engage deeply with them is bound to be a profitable endeavor.
​
Of course, it is now about a decade since we first undertook this project and so these syllabi are already out of date. But I save all sorts of material, so if anyone does pursue a course like this, I am here ready to give you more!
Margaret Cohen
9 January 2019
Jerusalem