Requirements for a major in Jewish Studies
For students declaring their major in Jewish Studies during Spring 2006 or later
Majors must complete twelve 3-credit courses in Jewish Studies with a grade of C or better in each course. Of the twelve courses, six (18 credits) must be at the 300-level or above. The requirements for the major are as follows:
- Three required courses (9 credits total):
- Jewish Society and Culture I: Antiquity to Middle Ages
- Jewish Society and Culture II: The Modern Experience
- Jewish Studies Seminar
- Two courses (6-8 credits) in one Jewish language (either Hebrew or Yiddish) according to placement.
- Seven courses (21 credits total), as follows:
- one course in modern literature (in the original language or in translation)
- one course in Jewish classical texts, defined as pre-1500 (in the original language or in translation)
- one course in a social sciences approach to Jewish Studies
- four elective courses of the student’s choosing
Jewish Studies Foreign Language Requirement
Jewish Studies majors are required to demonstrate proficiency in either modern Hebrew or Yiddish equivalent to four semesters of college study – though all Jewish studies majors are required to take at least two Jewish language courses at Rutgers, regardless of their level of knowledge upon arrival at the university.All students with prior Hebrew knowledge are required to take the Hebrew language placement exam. Those students who place into a level of Hebrew higher than the fourth semester (01:563:132) are required to take two semesters of Jewish language at Rutgers. Upper-level modern Hebrew courses (e.g., 01:563:210 and above), reading courses in Biblical Hebrew (e.g., 01:563:433, 01:563:434), or study of Yiddish language (01:563:103/01:563:104) may be used to satisfy this requirement.
Those students who wish to reach proficiency in Yiddish and who have no prior knowledge of the language should take the two-semester Introductory Yiddish sequence (01:563:103 / 01:563:104) at Rutgers. If Intermediate Yiddish courses are not offered at Rutgers, the Department of Jewish Studies will assist students in arranging to take a second year of Yiddish at another institution (e.g., the YIVO / New York University program, the National Yiddish Book Center, etc.), either during the academic year or through an intensive summer program, or by doing a directed reading in Yiddish with a Jewish Studies faculty member. Students with prior knowledge of Yiddish may also arrange to take a proficiency exam.
