BA Jewish Studies

The Jewish Studies program is dedicated to unrestricted inquiry into all aspects of the Jewish experience. It hosts numerous public events concerning Jewish culture, film, arts, history, and religion, encouraging active outreach around current issues and, in the broadest sense, world affairs. Majors benefit from access to New York’s multicultural, multilingual Jewish community as well as the numerous museums, libraries, and cultural institutions in the metropolitan area.

The program has four main areas of study: Jewish social and intellectual history; the anthropology, sociology, political life, and folklore of Jews; Jewish religious and philosophical thought; and Jewish languages and literatures. It can be tailored to a wide range of personal interests.

Some graduates will find this program a springboard to careers in Jewish institutions, such as education, service, journalism, or the rabbinate. Others, whether Jewish or not, will find it a fulfilling liberal arts program from which they can go on to graduate or professional school and careers of a generally humanistic bent, from law, business, and education to government, social work, and medicine.