A continuation of Spoken Korean I, this course aims to further develop oral communication skills by exploring a variety of topics, such as shopping, hobbies, family and future plans. Class activities include interactive tasks, role plays and presentations. Cultural topics will also be incorporated in order to further deepen students' understanding of Korea's culture and language. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to comprehend and carry on basic conversations; exchange information on a variety of topics in the past, present and future tenses; and achieve a proficiency level of Novice High based on the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) proficiency scale. NOTE: This course does not count toward the language requirement or the EALC major or minor. Offered through the Penn Language Center.

This is a continuation of Advanced Korean I. Students continue to develop functional proficiency in Korean at the advanced-low level. The topics include literature, culture, Korean customs, and social issues in contemporary Korea.

This course allows development of creative and analytical thinking through introduction of more organized thematic topics such as family, human relationships, and the reflection of self-images, and individual's mental status while the society changes in time.

Offered through the Penn Language Center. Business Korean I is designed for students who want to sharpen their Korean language skills to the advanced-high level by focusing their study on Korean business and economy. Students will learn business/economy-related terminologies and concepts. They will also take an in-depth look at the issues related to business practices and environment in Korea. Students will improve and refine their language skills through actively participating in discussions, research, and presentations.

Offered through the Penn Language Center. Current Korean Media II aims at a deeper understanding of the contemporary Korean society, through critical analysis of language use and viewpoints expressed in various types of media including the Internet, TV, films, magazines and newspapers. This course will focus on cultural products and practices such as popular culture, media culture, and entertainment. By catering to the needs and interests of individual learners of Korean, the course will provide them with a rich opportunity to relate what they have learned in previous Korean language courses to the larger context of Korean culture and society. In addition, students will have an in-depth discussion on topics related to Korean society as well as Penn news. This course is conducted entirely in Korean.

Europe’s early modern period (roughly 1450-1750) has been described an “age of religious wars,” with the Reformation and contact with the New World prompting the formation of new fault lines, new collectives, and the reshaping of old animosities in new expressions. It was a period of bloody riots between Catholics and Protestants, expulsions of Jews and Muslims, prosecution of heretics, martyrdoms of saints, and inquisitions of witches. But it was also an age of living together, of pragmatism, and of coexistence. This seminar explores the complexities and curiosities of religious intellectual, political, social, and daily life as people across religious lines clashed, cooperated, communicated, and carried-on. We will explore the experiences both of influential thinkers but also ordinary people, and ask how and why people were willing, in the name of religion, to persecute, prosecute, fight, kill, and die, and how others traded and traveled together, defended each other, and even married across religious lines.

This course aims to explore the role of religion in the political and legal culture of the state of Israel by examining Israel's efforts and vision to be both a Jewish state and a democratic state at the same time. How does the state of Israel manage the challenges and conflicts inherent in such an identity, and what is there to be learned about the relationship between the state and religion by comparing the situation in Israel with the separation of Church and State in the United States? What is the status of gender equity in Israel when it is in apparent conflict with religious considerations? Religious freedom and the rights of people belonging to other religious groups? Students will have the opportunity to learn more about these and other questions as the course examines the political, legal and cultural foundations of Israel's self-identity as a Jewish and democratic state.

Please see department website for current description at: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/italians/graduate/courses

The course will begin with and historical introduction to Sephardic Jewry. It will discuss the history and language of the Jews in Spain prior to their expulsion in 1492 and follow up with their history in the Ottoman Empire. It will then introduce the students to the phonology of the language both in a descriptive and historical perspective. There will also be discussion of the contrast with Castillian Spanish. After a discussion of the grammar, there will be lessons designed to teach the students conversational Judeo-Spanish, using dialogs, pictures, videos, music, visits with native speakers and other interactive methods.

This course surveys the intertwined histories of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We will focus on the shared stories which connect these three traditions, and the ways in which communities distinguished themselves in such shared spaces. We will mostly survey literature, but will also address material culture and ritual practice, to seek answers to the following questions: How do myths emerge? What do stories do? What is the relationship between religion and myth-making? What is scripture, and what is its function in creating religious communities? How do communities remember and forget the past? Through which lenses and with which tools do we define "the West"?