Global Connections of Synagogues Throughout the World: Over the Past Two Millennia

Throughout history and in various geographies, the synagogue became a marker of the Jewish presence and the form changed because of complex interactions among Jewish and non-Jewish communities. These places of worship, which also served as community centers for local communities, were transformed over time in response to a local context. The unique history and design of each synagogue reflects the history of the Jewish community with its ups and downs.

The purpose of this course is to investigate the global connections that materialize in the architecture of synagogues. The subject matter will derive from case studies that either still exist, or at one time existed from the European, American, and Asia/African parts of the world, covering a timeline from before 1000 A.D. to the 20th century. Special attention will be paid to the political atmosphere of the case studies in question. Furthermore, an examination between the religious comparisons of the synagogue architecture to other spaces of worship in the hopes of discovering “the global connections and the transfer of cultural knowledge” across religions and geographies will be undertaken.

This course aims to discover links that bond seemingly separate groups together via the spaces that hold significance to them. While examining the case studies, the use of textual, graphic, and statistical analysis will aid in showcasing the connections that exist within continental regions, and ultimately the globe across time periods.