For the Fall 2021 term, we're offering a mix of virtual and in-person classes. Although we are still primarily virtual, you will find a smaller selection of in-person seminars in the schedule. For more information about the Newberry’s virtual seminars, including a Zoom tutorial, please see our Virtual Seminars FAQ page. Registration opens on September 1st at 9am (Central time). Registration will take place through our online platform, Learning Stream.

Seminar Description

The holy city of Jerusalem has been a city of worship, a destination for pilgrims, and a political flash-point for millennia. Why is Jerusalem so significant to the three Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? How can Jerusalem be the undivided capital of both a future Israeli and a future Palestinian state? What are contemporary archaeologists discovering about the city's history? What is it like to live and work in Jerusalem today? In this course, we will watch documentary footage from different eras of Jerusalem's history, read primary source material, and discuss the rich, multilayered heritage of Jerusalem over the past five thousand years.

Three sessions. Registration – $170

Laurel Harig-Khan teaches courses on the arts, culture, and history of the Arab world. She received an MA in Islamic studies from the Divinity School at the University of Chicago and a BA in Arabic from Bard College. She has been teaching at the Newberry since 2018.

Materials List

Required:

• Karen Armstrong, Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths. (Knopf, 1996). ISBN: 978-0679435969.

First Reading:

• There is no reading assignment for the first meeting.