Jewish Studies Departmental Learning Goals:

Majors will be able to conceptualize the development of Jewish culture and history over time (from the era of the Bible until the present) and space (comparing the variety of Jewish cultural production in a given historical moment); recognize and analyze classical, pre-modern Jewish sources; understand the variety of methodologies (historical, literary, philological, anthropological, philosophical, and sociological) used to study Jewish culture; demonstrate language proficiency (two years) in Hebrew or Yiddish; investigate Jewish culture through its literature, either in the original or in translation; and critically read, think and write on the Jewish experience. Majors will be able to demonstrate research skills (bibliographic, analytic, research, and writing) and competence in textual analysis; and initiate, research, and write a semester-length independent research paper.

Minors will be able to demonstrate a broad view of the Jewish past and more in-depth knowledge of a sample of the spectrum of Jewish studies.