What does it mean to be “black” in Jewish culture? In this course, we explore how Jewish societies have understood and engaged with Blackness and Black peoples over the ages. Delving into the parallel struggles of Blacks and Jews, we ask: How does the history of slavery intersect with the status of Jews in the Middle East? What connections can be drawn between the civil rights struggles in Israel and America? Throughout the course, we discuss the flexible and interrelated nature of the categories of Blackness and Jewishness across different historical, geographical, and temporal contexts. Themes explored include black and Jewish anti-colonial thought; Ethiopian and North African Jewish history; race and racism within the Middle East. By the end of the course, students will better understand how diasporic and racial identities are constructed and reconstructed over time and space.