Undergraduate
Major Requirements | Minor Requirements
Spring 2012 Course Schedule | Spring 2012 Course Descriptions
Fall 2012 Course Schedule | Fall 2012 Course Descriptions
STUDY ABROAD
Click here for the complete list of Jewish Studies courses that can be counted towards the Jewish Studies major or minor
Major in Jewish Studies
Program of Concentration in Jewish Studies
The major in Jewish Studies requires a minimum of 30 hours.
1. Foundational course, 3 hours. JS 180W, Introduction to Jewish Studies.
2. Language, 6 hours. A year of modern Hebrew (Hebrew 113a–113b, Intermediate Hebrew) or biblical Hebrew (REL 3814, Intermediate Hebrew).* Proficiency at the level of intermediate Hebrew can be demonstrated through testing. If this option is exercised, students will take an additional 6 hours of electives toward the major.
*In place of biblical or modern Hebrew, interested students may substitute one of the following languages of the Jewish people: Rabbinic Hebrew, Aramaic, Yiddish, Ladino, or Judaeo-Arabic. For languages not presently taught at Vanderbilt, proficiency at the intermediate level may be demonstrated through an exam administered by a designated member of the Jewish Studies faculty. If this option is exercised, students will take an additional 6 hours of electives toward the major.
3. Focus courses, 12 hours selected from three of four subfields of study:
• Area 1: Biblical Studies
• Area 2: Antiquity and the Medieval World
• Area 3: Modern and Contemporary Experience
• Area 4: Culture, Philosophy, and Literature
4. Senior Capstone Course, 3 hours. JS 295, Senior Seminar; or JS 296, Senior Project in Jewish Studies. Senior Project proposal must be approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
5. Electives (minimum of 6 hours)--Any of the courses listed below that is not used to fulfill a requirement towards the major may be counted as an elective with the exception of JS 288a, which cannot count towards the major because it must be taken pass/fail. In addition to courses drawn from Arts and Science departments and the professional schools, nontraditional course work may also be selected, including archaeology at Tel Megiddo (Israel), service learning, and internships. Study abroad is encouraged and can be fulfilled with Jewish Studies in Prague and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
LANGUAGE: Hebrew: (modern Hebrew): 111a–111b, Elementary Hebrew; 113a–113b, Intermediate Hebrew; 201, Hebrew Grammar and Composition; 202W, Advanced Hebrew Grammer and Composition; 289a–289b, Independent Study in Modern Hebrew. REL (Biblical Hebrew): 2500–2501, Elementary Biblical Hebrew; 3803, Ben Sira with Introduction to Mishnaic Hebrew (Rabbinic Hebrew); 3814, Intermediate Biblical Hebrew; 3816, Advanced Biblical Hebrew; 3818, Aramaic.
BIBLICAL STUDIES: English: 282, The Bible in Literature. Music Literature and History: 219, The Bible and Music. Religious Studies: 108, Themes in the Hebrew Bible; 112, Introduction to Judaism; 225, Sexuality in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East; 226, Ancient Goddesses; 238, Marriage in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible; 256, Job and Ecclesiastes. With instructor approval, advanced undergraduate students can also enroll in REL: 2503, 2513, 3108, 3109, 3111, 3112, 3113, 3115, 3116, 3117, 3120, 3123, 3124, 3125, 3127, 3129, 3130, 3133, 3135, 3139, 3142, 3148, 3169, 3718, 3800, 3801, 3802, 3806, 3808, 3810, 3811, 3822, 3823, 3828, 3880.02, 3881.
ANTIQUITY AND THE MEDIEVAL WORLD: Jewish Studies: 115F.01, FYS: In a Pluralistic Age: Jews, Christians and Muslims in Spain; 120, Islam and the Jews; 122, Classical Judaism: Jews in Antiquity; 123, Jews in the Medieval World; 222, Jews in Egypt; 233, Issues in Rabbinic Literature; 234, Reading across Boundaries: Jewish and Non-Jewish Texts; 257, Topics in Ancient and Medieval Jewish History. Anthropology: 104, Introduction to Archaeology; 215, The Collapse of Civilizations. Classics: 207, History of the Ancient Near East; 209, Greece and the Near East from Alexander to Theodosius; 213, History of Roman Empire; 224, The Ancient Origins of Religious Conflict in the Middle East. History: 119, A History of Islam; 213, Muhammad and Early Islam;217, Islam and the Crusades; 288c, Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Spain. History of Art: 207, Religious Art of the Roman Empire. Philosophy: 211, Medieval Philosophy; 218, Hellenistic and Late Ancient Philosophy. Religious Studies: 254, The Qur'an and its Interpreters. With instructor approval, advanced undergraduate students can also enroll in REL 3127, 3131, 3156, 3304, 3501, 3503, 3809, 3813.
MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY EXPERIENCE: Jewish Studies: 115F.03, FYS: Radical Jews from Karl Marx to Noam Chomsky; 115F.07, From Einstein to Chomsky: Revolutionary Sciences in Jewish America; 115F.09, Jews and Muslims: A Modern History; 124, Perspectives in Modern Jewish History; 125, Modern Israel; 155, American Jewish Life;156, The Holocaust; 158, World Jewish Communities in the New Millennium; 252, Social Movements in Modern Jewish Life; 256, Power and Diplomacy in the Modern Middle East; 258, Topics in Modern Jewish History; 280, Contemporary Jewish Issues (Service Learning in Jewish Studies). European Studies: 215W, Europe on Trial;237, Air War and Aftermath. German: 115F.02, First Year Seminar: Representing the Holocaust.History: 115F.18, The Life, Science, and Times of Albert Einstein; 172, World War II; 209, Russia: Old Regime to Revolution; 210, Russia: The U.S.S.R. and Afterward; 219, Last Empire of Islam; 228, Europe, 1900–1945; 230, Twentieth-Century Germany; 287c, Cities of Europe and the Middle East; 287d, Immigration, Race, and Nationality: The American Experience; 288a, Religion, Culture and Commerce: The World Economy in Historical Perspective. Political Science: 230, Middle East Politics. Religious Studies: 220W, Constructions of Jewish Identity in the Modern World; 229, The Holocaust: Its Meaning and Implications; 233, History and Memory in Modern Judaism; 239, Religious Autobiography. Sociology: 255, Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the United States. With instructor approval, advanced undergraduate students can also enroll in REL 2750, 3531.
CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, AND LITERATURE: Jewish Studies: 115F.02, FYS: Music and Identity in Jewish Traditions; 115F.04, FYS: Civil Rights and Civil Wrongs: Black-Jewish Relations in the 1950s and 1960s; 115F.05, FYS: Gender, Sexuality, and Desire in Jewish Literature; 115F.06, FYS: Reading across the Boundaries: Arab and Israeli Literature and Culture; 115F.08, FYS: Berlin: Cabaret, Communism, Creativity; 135W, Introduction to Hebrew Literature;136W, Imagining the Alien: Jewish Science Fiction; 137W, Blacks- Jewish Relations in Post-War American Literature and Culture; 182, Writing about the Jewish Experience; 235W, Hebrew Literature in Translation;244, Freud and Jewish Identity; 245, Major Themes in Jewish Studies; 246, Berlin and Jewish Modernity; 248W, Jewish Storytelling;250, Is G-d Guilty? The Problem of Evil in Judaism; 251. Mysticism & Myth in Modern Jewish Thought; 253W, Witnesses Who Were Not There: Literature of the Children of Holocaust Survivors; 254, Jewish Literary Centers; 255, Zionism: Politics, Religion and Ethnicity. English: 283, Jewish American Literature. French: 258, Struggle of Encounter: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in Literature. German: 271, Women at the Margins: German-Jewish Women Writers; 273, Nazi Cinema: The Manipulation of Mass Culture. History of Art: 242, Art Since 1945. Music Literature: 261, Music, Identity, and Diversity; 278, Music and Religion. Philosophy: 212, Modern Philosophy; 232, Critical Theory; 260, Twentieth-Century Continental Philosophy; 261, Jewish Philosophy; 262, Islamic Philosophy. Religious Studies: 140, Great Books of Literature and Religion; 203, Jewish Theories of Religion; 222, Jewish Ethics; 237, Psychology of Religious Myth and Ritual; 240, The Nature of Evil. Russian: 231, Jews in Russian Culture: Survival and Identity; 234, Russian Cinema. Sociology: 218, Tourism, Culture and Place; 246, Sociology of Religion. With instructor approval, advanced undergraduate students can also enroll in REL 2567, 3303, 3311.
Honors Program
The Honors Program in Jewish Studies affords superior students a more intensive concentration within their major field. To be admitted, students must have:
1. 3.0 cumulative grade point average
2. 3.25 grade point average in Jewish Studies
3. Completion of the junior year
Requirements for graduation with Honors in Jewish Studies are:
1. 6 hours in Honors sections (JS 298a–298b), including completion of thesis—these hours may count as elective credit toward the major. Honors thesis to be completed by mid-spring of the senior year.
2. Successful completion of an honors oral examination on the topic of the thesis.
Minor in Jewish Studies
The minor in Jewish Studies provides a basic understanding of Jewish history and culture across continents and the past three millennia. The minor requires a minimum of 18 hours.
Core Requirements (15 hours)
1. Foundational course, 3 hours. JS 180W, Introduction to Jewish Studies.
2. Language, 6 hours. A year of modern Hebrew (Hebrew 111a–111b, Elementary Hebrew) or elementary biblical Hebrew (REL 2500–2501, Elementary Biblical Hebrew).* Proficiency at the level of elementary Hebrew may be demonstrated through testing. If this option is exercised, students will take an additional 6 hours of electives toward the minor.
*In place of biblical or modern Hebrew, interested students may substitute one of the following languages of the Jewish people: Rabbinic Hebrew, Aramaic, Yiddish, Ladino, or Judaeo-Arabic. For languages not presently taught at Vanderbilt, proficiency at the intermediate level may be demonstrated through an exam administered by a designated member of the Jewish Studies faculty. If this option is exercised, students will take an additional 6 hours of electives toward the major.
3. Focus courses, 6 hours. (See major for categories.)
4. Electives (minimum of 3 hours)
Any of the courses not used to fulfill a requirement toward the minor may be counted as an elective. Special Topics courses or First-Year Writing Seminar courses dealing with topics related to Jewish Studies may be counted with the approval of the major or minor adviser.