Program Overview

Bachelor of Arts in Jewish Studies

The Program in Jewish Studies offers an undergraduate major (B.A. in Jewish Studies) and minor, Departmental Honors (both by research paper and by service learning), and courses in Jewish Studies, Hebrew, and Yiddish; we also co-sponsor courses in many other units, especially Religious Studies and History, Global and International Studies, and Political Science. Among our several focus areas are Jewish history and culture, Judaism, Holocaust studies, Israel Studies, Jewish languages and narratives, and applied service in Jewish organizations.

Students who choose to complete the B.A. in Jewish Studies often find employment working in Jewish education, non-profit organizations, outreach, and other areas where knowledge of Jewish languages, history, and culture is an asset. The Jewish Studies B.A. is easy to combine with other majors and/or minors within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Jewish culture and religion have flourished in a rich variety of forms and in remarkably disparate places on the globe for thousands of years. Jewish contributions have deeply affected the art, languages and literature, law, philosophy, and political thought, and the sciences of all nations. The global impact of Jewish culture thus warrants its study as an important component of the liberal arts curriculum at KU. The Jewish Studies Program at KU is the only such program in the state of Kansas. Its mission, therefore, is to celebrate the Jewish experience and promote the understanding of its cultural importance with courses and academic programs that focus on the history, diversity, culture, languages, thought, and practices of the Jewish people and their religion.

Undergraduate Admission

All students applying for admission must send high school and college transcripts to the Office of Admissions. Prospective first-year students should be aware that KU has qualified admission requirements that all new first-year students must meet to be admitted.

Requirements for the B.A. Major

Students take 30 credit hours structured according to the following plan:

1. Gateway course to Jewish Studies;
2. 7 Jewish Studies core courses;
3. 2 Capstone Research Coursework

• Core Courses:
  • Gateway course to Jewish Studies
  • Jewish Studies Core Courses: Choose 7 courses (21 credit hours) from the following lists. Up to 5 courses can be taken from the same list.
    • List 1: Jewish Languages
      • HEBR 210: Intermediate Modern Hebrew I
      • HEBR 220: Intermediate Modern Hebrew II
      • HEBR 340: Advanced Modern Hebrew I
      • HEBR 350: Advanced Modern Hebrew II
      • HEBR 300: Topics in Hebrew:
      • HEBR 490: Independent Study
      • ARAB 210: Intermediate Arabic I
      • ARAB 220: Intermediate Arabic II
      • ARAB 310: Advanced Arabic I
      • ARAB 320: Advanced Arabic II
      • RUSS 204: Intermediate Russian I
      • RUSS 208: Intermediate Russian II
      • RUSS 504: Advanced Russian I
      • RUSS 508: Advanced Russian II
      • YDSH 300: Studies in Yiddish:
    • List 2: Jewish Religion
      • JWSH 107: Jews, Christians, Muslims
      • JWSH 124: Understanding the Bible
      • JWSH 125: Understanding the Bible, Honors
      • JWSH 301: Topics in Jewish Religion:
      • JWSH 320: The Bible Then and Now
      • JWSH 323: The Jewish World of Jesus
      • JWSH 325: Introduction to Judaism
      • JWSH 326: The Talmud: Its Origins, Nature, and Evolution
      • JWSH 330: Mystical Tradition in Judaism
      • JWSH 337: Religious Zionisms
      • JWSH 347: Jewish Ethics
      • JWSH 379: Prophets and Profits
      • JWSH 562: Judaism and Political Theology
    • List 3: History and Culture of the Jewish People
      • JWSH 300: Topics in History and Culture of the Jewish People:
      • JWSH 314: Anthropology and the Jews
      • JWSH 315: The Spanish Inquisition
      • JWSH 327: Jewish Secular Culture
      • JWSH 333: Jewish Women and Leadership
      • JWSH 334: Jewish Women and Leadership, Honors
      • JWSH 335: History of Jewish Women
      • JWSH 336: Jewish American Literature and Culture
      • JWSH 338: Languages of the Jews
      • JWSH 339: Languages of the Jews, Honors
      • HIST 340: The History of the Second World War
      • JWSH 341: Hitler and Nazi Germany
      • JWSH 343: The Holocaust in History
      • JWSH 344:
      • JWSH 345: Theatre and Genocide
      • JWSH 348: Graphic Novels as Memory
      • JWSH 349: Antisemitism: A Long History
      • JWSH 361: Jewish Film
      • JWSH 380: Ethics and the Holocaust: Perpetrators, Collaborators, and Bystanders
      • JWSH 396: Hitler and Nazi Germany, Honors
      • JWSH 645: Theatre and Genocide
    • List 4: Israel Studies
      • HIST 328: The Modern Middle East
      • JWSH 329: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An Introduction
      • JWSH 410: Israel: From Idea to State
      • JWSH 412: Mandatory Palestine:
      • JWSH 414: Israel/Palestine: The War of 1948
      • JWSH 416: Israel in the First Decade
      • JWSH 420: Politics and Government in Israel
      • JWSH 422: Topics in Israeli Society:
      • JWSH 426: Polls and Public Opinion in Israel
      • JWSH 434: Arab-Palestinian Society, Culture and Politics
      • JWSH 440: International Relations of the Middle-East
      • JWSH 445: Local Self-Governments in Israel
      • JWSH 681: Regimes in the Middle-East and North Africa
• Capstone Research Coursework: Students must take two courses from the following list, one at the 400 level and one at the 600 level.
  • HEBR 490: Independent Study
  • JWSH 490: Directed Study in Jewish Studies
  • YDSH 490: Independent Study
  • JWSH 491: Directed Study in Jewish Studies, Honors
  • JWSH 601: Senior Seminar in Jewish Studies
  • JWSH 650: Service Learning in Jewish Studies

Major Hours & Major GPA

While completing all required courses, majors must also meet each of the following hour and grade-point average minimum standards:

• Major Hours: Satisfied by 30 hours of major courses.
• Major Hours in Residence: Satisfied by a minimum of 15 hours of KU resident credit in the major.
• Major Junior/Senior Hours: Satisfied by a minimum of 12 hours from junior/senior courses (300+) in the major.
• Major Junior/Senior Graduation GPA: Satisfied by a minimum of a 2.0 KU GPA in junior/senior courses (300+) in the major.

Sample 4-Year Plan

Below is a sample 4-year plan for students pursuing the BA in Jewish Studies:

• Freshman:
  • Fall: HEBR 110, JWSH 177 or 176, Core 34: English, Core 34: Math and Statistics
  • Spring: HEBR 120, Second Area of Study/Elective/Degree/Junior-Senior Hours, Core 34: English, Core 34: Communications
• Sophomore:
  • Fall: HEBR 210, Jewish Studies, Religion Course, Core 34: Natural and Physical Sciences, Core 34: Social and Behavior Science
  • Spring: HEBR 220, Jewish Studies, History or Culture Course, Core 34: Social and Behavior Science, Core 34: Arts and Humanities
• Junior:
  • Fall: Jewish Studies, Israel Studies Course, Jewish Studies Course, Second Area of Study/Elective/Degree/Junior-Senior Hours
  • Spring: Jewish Studies Course, Second Area of Study/Elective/Degree/Junior-Senior Hours
• Senior:
  • Fall: Capstone Research Coursework, Second Area of Study/Elective/Degree/Junior-Senior Hours
  • Spring: JWSH 601, Second Area of Study/Elective/Degree/Junior-Senior Hours

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Identify and interpret major events, figures, and topics in Jewish history and culture and situate them within the larger context of Jewish history and culture.
• Develop a critical awareness of the complexity of Jewish societies and cultures over the ages and geographic spaces, including in the US and modern Israel.
• Identify and interpret major components of Jewish religious thought such as philosophies, religious practices, mysticisms, and ethics.
• Develop critical awareness and appreciation of Jewish religious expression in interaction with other worldviews religions and values, including in the US and modern Israel.
• Able to read, write, understand, and converse in modern Hebrew or another approved Jewish language.
• Be able to identify and analyze a variety of primary and secondary sources in Jewish Studies, and develop effective research and/or leadership skills by integrating Jewish scholarship, classical texts, and best practices, including through service-learning, internship opportunities, and discipline-specific research projects in Jewish Studies.

Departmental Honors

For departmental honors in Jewish Studies, students must meet the following criteria:

1. Candidates will have a grade-point average in Jewish Studies of 3.5 both at the time of declaring their intention to seek honors and by graduation.
2. In consultation with the JS honors coordinator and with approval from a supervising professor, candidates will declare their intention to seek honors no later than the time of enrollment for the final undergraduate semester.
3. Candidates will fill out a Departmental Honors Intent form and submit a copy of that form to College Undergraduate Academic Services.
4. Candidates intending to conduct research and write a substantial, original research paper (honors essay) will enroll in JWSH 490 Directed Study in Jewish Studies or in JWSH 491 Directed Study in Jewish Studies, Honors (if they are in the University Honors Program) for one or two semesters.
5. A committee of three members of the University faculty (the supervising professor and two others, one of whom must be a member of the Jewish Studies faculty) will approve the honors essay or service learning project and will certify to the JS honors coordinator that the candidate has successfully completed the requirements to earn honors.