BA in Judaic Studies

The program in Judaic Studies gives students the opportunity to explore the experience and diverse cultural heritage of the Jewish people from various perspectives.

Questions about program requirements should be addressed to Professor Joel Rosenberg, Program Director.

Program Requirements and Policies

Ten courses are required for the BA in Judaic Studies.
Other courses, taken at Tufts and elsewhere, are acceptable upon approval of the Program Director, Professor Joel Rosenberg, Olin 322, but at least four of the primary courses must be taken at Tufts.

Course Requirements

8 primary courses
2 related courses
The equivalent of three years of Hebrew, or two years of Hebrew and two years of another language related to the student's special interests within the field, are also required.
As your major advisor you may choose the Program Director or a member of the core faculty (see Faculty for a current list).

Primary Courses

DR 172: Imagining the Holocaust on Stage and Screen
ENG 159/JS 159: Contemporary Jewish Fiction
ENG 162/JS 162: Philip Roth and Company
ENG 164/JS 164: Representing the Jew
HEB 21,22: Composition and Conversation
HEB 121,122: Composition and Conversation
HEB 93: Directed Study
HEB 193: Advanced Directed Study
JS 48: Israeli Film
JS 55/MUS 55/REL 55: Technology & Jewish Oral Tradition
JS 65/REL 65/ILVS 64: Introduction to Yiddish Culture
JS 73/REL 73: Aspects of the Sephardic Tradition
JS 78/REL 78/ILVS 62: Jewish Women
JS 84/REL 84: The Sources of Jewish Tradition
JS 87/REL 87: Introduction to Talmud
JS 91, 92, 191, 192: Special Topics, including Ladino Language and Culture
JS 93, 94, 193, 194: Directed Study
JS 99: Internship
JS 126/REL 126: Roots of the Jewish Imagination
JS 132/REL 132: The Book of Genesis and Its Interpreters
JS 136/REL 137: King David and the Israelite Monarchy
JS 142/REL 142: Jewish Experience on Film
JS 150/REL 158: Music & Prayer in the Jewish Tradition
JS 198, 199: Senior Honors Thesis
REL 21: Introduction to the Hebrew Bible

Related Courses

Related courses establish links between Judaic Studies and other disciplines by examining such topics as: countries or regions that are major sites of Jewish civilization, past or present; the life of cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic societies more generally; the dynamics of tradition; the impact of modernity and historical crisis on traditional societies; issues of philosophy, ethics, myth, religion, and spirituality that bear upon Jewish life and thought; issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality in the life of a culture; the legacy of biblical and Jewish tradition in world cultures. A student may, with the approval of the program directors, substitute an appropriate course not presently on this list.

AMER 16: American Identities
ANTH 119: Peoples of the Middle East
ANTH 132: Myth, Ritual, and Symbol
ARB 62: Modern Arabic Literature
FAH 22, 122: Iconoclasm and Iconophobia
FAH 28, 128: Medieval Art in the Mediterranean: Pagans, Jews, Christians, Muslims
CLS 26: Ancient Egypt
CLS 75: Classical Mythology
CLS 148: Time and Festivals in the Ancient World
CLS 151: Ancient Philosophy
REL 6: Philosophy of Religion
REL 48: Introduction to Islam
REL 195: Mystics
ENG 49: The English Bible
ENG 77: The Modern Mind
ENG 175: Post-structural Literary Theory
HIST 70: Modern Middle East to World War I
HIST 71: Modern Middle East since World War I
HIST 167: Medieval Islam
ILVS 114/RUS 114: Politics and Literature in Russia and Eastern Europe
PHIL 48: Feminist Philosophy
PHIL 55: The Making the Modern Mind
PHIL 126: Theories of Human Nature
PHIL 128: Human Rights: History and Theory
PJS 120/SOC 120: Sociology of War and Peace
PS 41, 42: Western Political Thought
PS 134: Comparative Politics of the Middle East
RUS 73: The Bible in Russian Literature
SOC 110: Racial and Ethnic minorities
SOC 143: Sociology of Religion
SPN 130: Civilization of Muslim Spain
CIV 5: Time and Festivals
CIV 6: Time and Modernity
CIV 9, 10: Memory and Identity in World Cultures
CIV 22: East-West Perspectives on Fascism: Japan and Germany
WL120: Central European Writers
WL 122/ILVS 122: South African Writers