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.
Odesa: Jews in the Modern World
1,614 already enrolled
(14 reviews)
What you'll learn
Describe the connection between Odesa as a place of opportunity and abundance, international trade, and modern capitalism.
Connect virtuosity with Jewish interculturality and the complications of multilingual cultural production .
Describe the ambiguous class and economic status of Jews in the Russian Empire and Pale of Settlement.
Details to know
Add to your LinkedIn profile
8 quizzes
See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills
Earn a career certificate
Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV
Share it on social media and in your performance review
There are 8 modules in this course
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.
What's included
4 videos5 readings2 quizzes1 discussion prompt
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.
What's included
1 video1 reading1 quiz
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.
What's included
1 video3 readings1 quiz
Professor Kenez discusses programs, varieties of antisemitism, and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
What's included
1 video1 reading1 quiz
Professor Kenez discusses the culture, skills, and talents that Jews used to achieve something extraordinary in the modern world. He focuses on the development Jewish working and entrepreneurial classes, the advent of the Bund (the Jewish Labor Force), and the onset of the Revolution and Russian Civil War.
What's included
1 video1 reading1 quiz
Professor Baumgarten discusses Babel’s stories about growing up in Odesa where, for a brief window of time, Jews could have a better life than anywhere else in the Russian Empire. Simultaneously this was a dangerous and contested social space.
What's included
2 videos2 readings1 quiz
In this final letcure, Professors Kenez & Baumgarten discuss the role and fates of Jews during the Russian Revolution and Civil War.
What's included
1 video1 reading1 quiz
Learners will compete a peer reviewed final project: "A Postcard from Odesa"
What's included
1 peer review
Instructors
Offered by
Recommended if you're interested in History
University of California, Santa Cruz
Tel Aviv University
University of Colorado System
Why people choose Coursera for their career
Learner reviews
Showing 3 of 14
14 reviews
- 5 stars
85.71%
- 4 stars
0%
- 3 stars
14.28%
- 2 stars
0%
- 1 star
0%
Open new doors with Coursera Plus
Unlimited access to 7,000+ world-class courses, hands-on projects, and job-ready certificate programs - all included in your subscription
Advance your career with an online degree
Earn a degree from world-class universities - 100% online
Join over 3,400 global companies that choose Coursera for Business
Upskill your employees to excel in the digital economy
Frequently asked questions
Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:
The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.
The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
When you purchase a Certificate you get access to all course materials, including graded assignments. Upon completing the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
You will be eligible for a full refund until two weeks after your payment date, or (for courses that have just launched) until two weeks after the first session of the course begins, whichever is later. You cannot receive a refund once you’ve earned a Course Certificate, even if you complete the course within the two-week refund period. See our full refund policy.