Judaic Studies Minor

Judaic Studies Committee

Barbara Jacobskind English

Robert P Waxler (Program Director) English

The Judaic studies minor presents an interdisciplinary focus for studies of Jews and Judaism, including, but not limited to historical, literary, linguistic and philosophical perspectives and approaches.

The primary educational goal of this minor is to provide students with a clear idea of how different approaches to the framing and answering of questions of systematic learning deal with the same social entity over a long period of history. From studies in this minor, the student should learn at least three things:

• some of the facts of the subject; that is, some knowledge of the history, philosophy, literature and languages of the Jews;
• some clear knowledge of how a historian, philosopher, literary critic or scholar of language frames humanistic questions and proceeds to answer them; and
• some ideas of what it means to look at the same subject from different perspectives.

Each student in the Judaic Studies minor is required to work closely with a faculty member in choosing courses offered through the minor. Although each student will have the flexibility to choose any course in the program, the advisors will guide the students so the program does not become a non-disciplinary exercise in Jewish studies, but a crafted effort to show how diverse disciplines within the academic community deal with a single subject. Those students completing the minor will receive recognition on their transcripts.

The Judaic Studies minor is open to any interested student with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 and with a 2.5 or higher GPA in the major.