Description
In this course, Peter Kenez and Murray Baumgarten, both emeritus professors at UC Santa Cruz, tell the story of the Jews of the Black Sea port of Odesa. Kenez and Baumgarten include music, literature, and history in their analysis of a city like no other. The course is for anyone with an interest in the history and culture of the Jewish people.
What you will learn
Lecture 1: A city like no other
In this first lecture, Professors Kenez & Baumgarten describe life in Odesa circa 1850-1930, a port city in Ukraine that was a dynamic opportunity zone for its Jewish population. They also introduce Jewish virtuosos Bialik, Babel, and other writers and artists of Odesa.
Lecture 2: Jewish life in the Russian Empire
Professor Kenez discusses the lives of Jews in the Pale of the Settlement, demographic changes, and the impact of industrialization on Jews in late 19th-century Russia.
Lecture 3: Modernism & Internationalism
Professor Baumgarten discusses Babel’s short story “Gedali,” the intercultural lives of Jewish virtuosos, and the impact of modernism and internationalism on their creative output.
Lecture 4: Antisemitism in the Russian Empire
Professor Kenez discusses programs, varieties of antisemitism, and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
