This course analyzes major episodes in the history of anti-Semitism and tries to clarify the motives and dynamics involved. It seeks to understand what these episodes have in common and what is unique in each case–is there a single universal, eternal antisemitism? Or are there rather ‘anti-Semitisms’ each belonging to a unique historical context? Is there a single continuous line of development in anti-Semitism? What is the relationship of a particular anti-Semitism to the national culture in which it originates?We will be reading the major original texts of anti-Semitism from Roman and ancient writers, through early Christian texts and medieval Christian Blood Libels against the Jews, documents of the Spanish expulsion, Lutheran tracts, Voltaire’s essays, German philosophical texts from Kant to Marx, Wagner’s racial essays, the Protocols of Zion, and documents of Nazi anti-Semitism by Hitler and Streicher. The major part of the grade will depend on a short research paper which will be presented in various drafts, so that the final version represents the culmination of discussion and constructive criticism and advice. This course is a parallel course to J ST/HIST 416 (Zionist History) and J ST/HIST 118 (Modern Jewish History). This course will count toward the Religious Studies, Jewish Studies, and History majors and minors in the 400-level category.