Borns Jewish Studies Program

This course is offered in a hybrid model as a flipped class, with in-person sessions and asynchronous online sessions. This course is the fifth course in the Modern Hebrew program. It targets the advanced acquisition level. This course meets three times a week. It introduces Israeli media and literature as tools for language and culture integration, while also covering complex grammatical topics in Hebrew. This course is based on the first four core-courses of the Modern Hebrew language program. Therefore, knowledge of all of the grammatical core concepts - taught during the first two years of the program - is required. 

This course is conducted solely in Hebrew and assumes developed reading and writing Hebrew skills. at the intermediate level. The language and culture of Modern Hebrew are integrated into every class session in this course. This course reviews the grammar of Modern Hebrew by integrating it into the daily work, which students perform. The course also introduces new complex grammatical concepts, which complement the skill-sets students have developed in the first two years of the program. With the verbal and nominal systems both acquired, this course focuses on the unique structures, which the rich morphology of Modern Hebrew supports. It thus explores the generative power of Modern Hebrew, analyzing similarities and differences between the two systems, as students learn to combine and deconstruct multiple parts of speech - even when those form a single word. 

This advanced-level language course offers students the opportunity to use their structural knowledge of the language, while exercising their communication skills. In doing so, students continue to develop both. Class sessions offer the opportunity to read and discuss a variety of sources in Modern Hebrew, which include multimedia resources. Students continue to use their workbook, while also reading, Israeli news articles, and watching and listening to skits and programs. All of these tools help introduce topics in the language and culture of Modern Hebrew, which are discussed in class sessions. Students practice their speaking abilities as they present and participate in these discussions, focusing on various topics within the culture. Students thus develop a tolerance for and an appreciation of the issues raised in these discussions, as they learn to accept alternate cultural and linguistic perceptions to their own. Students further develop their writing abilities by producing short essays on the various topics discussed. Finally, students continue to develop their computer skills in Hebrew, by accessing media, completing successful searches and data collection, and writing and submitting assignments online.

P: Grade of C or higher in JSTU-H 250 or equivalent proficiency.