Jewish Studies Program

Faculty
Undergraduate Minor

The Jewish Studies Program was founded as an extension of the Department of Semitic Languages and Literatures, now the Department of Near Eastern Studies, in 1973 and attained status as an intercollegiate program in 1976.

The program has grown out of the conviction that Judaic civilization merits its own comprehensive and thorough treatment and that proper understanding of any culture is inconceivable without adequate knowledge of the language, literature, and history of the people that created it. Accordingly, the offerings in the areas of Jewish languages and literatures have been considerably expanded, and courses in ancient, medieval, and especially modern Jewish history and culture have been added to the program.

It is a broadly based, interdisciplinary program, bringing together faculty from various Cornell departments and colleges.

The Jewish Studies Program supports teaching and research in the many areas of Jewish Studies. It is a secular, academic program, whose interests are diverse and cross-cultural. The program recognizes its special relationship to teaching and research in classical Judaica and Hebraica pursued by the members of the Department of Near Eastern Studies, with particular emphasis on the interrelationship between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

It presently enables students to obtain basic instruction and specialization in the fields of Semitic languages; the Hebrew Bible; medieval and modern Hebrew literature; ancient, medieval, and modern European and Middle Eastern Jewish history; and Holocaust studies. In some of these fields students may take courses on both graduate and undergraduate levels. Faculty throughout the university provide breadth to the program by offering courses in related areas of study.

Website: www.arts.cornell.edu/jwst/index.html

Faculty

J. Boyarin (Jewish Culture; director), L. Adelson (German-Jewish Literature and Culture), R. Brann ( Judeo-Islamic Studies), M. Diesing (Yiddish Language and Linguistics), Z. Fahmy (Modern Middle Eastern History), K. Haines-Eitzen (Early Judaism and Early Christianity), P. Hohendahl (German Literature), L. Khatchadourian (Archaeology), M. Migiel (Italian Literature), M. Minawi (The Ottoman Empire), C. Monroe (Near Eastern Mediterranean Studies; Nautical Archaeology), L. Monroe (Hebrew Bible Studies), D. Powers (Judeo-Islamic Studies), E. Rebillard ( Jews in the Roman Empire), J. Regenstein (Kosher and Halal Food Regulations), C. Robcis (European Cultural and Intellectual History), N. Scharf (Hebrew Language), D. Schwarz (Anglo-Jewish Literature), E, Shapiro ( Jews in American Literature and Film), G. Shapiro (Russian Jewry), S. Shoer (Hebrew Language), D. Starr, (Modern Hebrew and Arabic Literature; Critical Theory, Middle Eastern Film), P. Stevens (curator), J. Tenney (Ancient Near East), E. Traverso (History & Modern Europe; Memory Studies; Holocaust), S. Zacher (Old and Middle English literature), J. Zorn (Biblical Archaeology). Emeritus: D. Bathrick, N. Furman, D. LaCapra, J. Porte, E. Rosenberg, Y. Szekely.

Undergraduate Minor

The Jewish Studies Program offers an interdisciplinary undergraduate minor in Jewish Studies.

The requirements for the minor are as follows:

Introductory Survey in Jewish Studies: JWST 2644 - [Introduction to Judaism] , or JWST 2651 - [Holy War, Crusade, and Jihad in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam] , or an equivalent introductory survey in Jewish Studies approved by the director.
Historical Breadth Requirement: Two Jewish Studies courses at the 2000-level or above, one course whose chronological parameters fall within the period 3000 BCE to 600 CE, and one course who chronological parameters fall within the period 600 CE to the present.
Upper-level course: One Jewish Studies course at the 3000-level or above. Topical courses taught in Hebrew or other languages may be used to fulfill this requirement.

No course may be used to satisfy two requirements. S/U option not permitted.

For information on declaring the minor, please contact Chris Capalongo by sending email to cmc40@cornell.edu.