MUMH 4810 Jews, Judaism, Anti-Semitism, and Opera

This course explores the different roles of Jews in opera, including sympathetic representations by Jewish composers, and negative stereotyping by both Jewish and non-Jewish composers.

The course will examine the following eight operas:

Jaques Fromental Halevy, La Juive [The Jewess] (1836)
Giacomo Meyerbeer, Les Huguenots (1836)
Richard Wagner, Siegfried (1869)
George Bizet, Carmen (1875)
Karl Goldmark, Die Konigen von Saga [The Queen of Sheba] (1875)
Hans Pfitzner, Das Herz [The Heart] (1931)
Arnold Schoenberg, Moses and Aaron (1932)
George Gershwin, Porgy and Bess (1935)

The course-work will encompass both weekly reading and listening assignments, one in-class presentation, and three essays on assigned topics. The final examination in essay format will cover the material of the course.