Yiddish Language Program

The Al and Malka Green Yiddish Studies Program

Anna Shternshis is an Assistant Professor of Yiddish and Diaspora Studies

The Yiddish Studies program offers two full years of Yiddish language instruction and five courses on Yiddish culture, literature and society. All non-language courses are taught in English translation. Yiddish language courses have to be taken in sequence. Yiddish culture courses can be taken at any point. Note that all Yiddish language and culture courses are cross-listed with the Jewish Studies program and Diaspora Studies program, and can be used towards majors and minors in those fields, in addition to those in German.

First Year sequence

GER 260Y Elementary Yiddish
Instructor: Gloria Brumer or Anna Shternshis

• This course is an introduction to the Yiddish language and the culture of Ashkenazic Jews. It includes a thorough study of elementary Yiddish grammar, composition, and conversation and will allow students to discover the treasures of Yiddish culture: songs, literature, folklore, and films. (T 1, R1-3). No pre-requisites.
• Students with the colloquial knowledge of Yiddish and no knowledge of grammar (“heritage students”) are encouraged to enroll in this course.

Second Year sequence

GER 360H Intermediate Yiddish
Instructor: Gloria Brumer or Anna Shternshis

• Intermediate Yiddish is a continuation of GER 260Y. It will begin with a review of the essentials of Yiddish grammar. Readings of modern Yiddish poetry and prose are included. A special attention is paid to audio comprehension and verbal skills. (T 12, R 10-12)

Prerequisite: GER 260Y or permission of the instructor

GER 460H Advanced Yiddish
Instructor: Anna Shternshis

• Advanced reading, writing, vocabulary and conversation. Study of poetry, short fiction, and memoir literature by Sholem Aleichem, Peretz, Itsik Manger, Ber Borokhov and Celia Dropkin. Selected advanced grammatical topics presented in conjunction with the study of texts. Conducted entirely in Yiddish.

Prerequisite: GER360Y or permission of the instructor

Yiddish Culture, Literature and Society Courses

GER 362H1S Soviet and Kosher: Jewish Culture in the Soviet Union, 1917-41 2
Instructor: Anna Shternshis

• This course examines the remarkable transformation of Soviet Yiddish culture between 1917 and 1941. We will analyze Soviet massive cultural engineering programs directed towards the Jews and how Jews were transformed within a generation into loyal Soviet citizens. Works in translation by Soviet Yiddish writers and poets, performances of central Yiddish theatres, and publications in central Yiddish periodicals will be analyzed as expressions of Soviet ideology and ethnic identity.

No prerequisites.

The course is also cross-listed with the History Department.

GER 365 Knights and Dibbuks: Yiddish and German Storytelling before 1700
Instructors: Anna Shternshis and Markus Stock

• Jews and Germans co-existed in the area of contemporary Southern Germany since the early 11th century. Their cultures not only developed along parallel lines, but also influenced each other tremendously. The course will examine the cultural contacts (and conflicts) between these two groups by analyzing the most important narratives created during the 12th-17th centuries.
• The first theme of the course is the comparative analysis of Yiddish and German knightly romance and epic, including Hartmann’s Erec; Elias Levita’s Bovo Bukh; Gottfried’s Tristan and the Yiddish Dukus Horant. The second theme is the discussion of the supernatural. We will analyze the anxieties within society which the supernatural represents using stories about Melusine, unhappy Jewish ghosts (The dybbuk), and prototypes of Jewish zombies (Golem). The third subject discusses early  modern Yiddish and German autobiographies, which open a window into the daily life in both cultures.
• All texts will be read in English translation. Students with the knowledge of Yiddish and Modern or Middle High German will be encouraged to read some of the texts in their original language. No pre-requisites.

top of page

Page updated on November 10, 2011

All contents © The Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, Faculty of Arts & Science,
University of Toronto. All rights reserved.
For comments or inquiries please send an email to: german(at)chass.utoronto.ca