Program: B.A., Modern Jewish Studies
Overview
The Bachelor of Arts in Modern Jewish Studies provides an interdisciplinary examination of Jews and Judaism in terms of the interactions of culture, history and religion during the last 300 years. The courses in the major explore the modern Jewish experience in multiple geographical settings and include language study.
Program Requirements
A course may be used only once within the major.
1. Required Courses
a. Introductory Course (3 units)
JS 200 Introduction to Judaism (3)*
*This course will count toward 3 units of the General Education requirement in Arts and Humanities.
b. Language (4 units)
HEBR 102 Elementary Hebrew II (4)
c. Culture and Society (9 units)
ENGL 371 Issues in Jewish-American Writing (3)
JS 318 Jewish Ethics and Society (3)
JS 330/GWS 330 Women in the Jewish Experience (3)
RS 378 American Jewish Experience (3)
SOC 306 Jewish Communal and Family Structure (3)
SOC 335 Jewish Identity in the U.S. (3)
d. History Area (9 units)
HIST 210/JS 210 History of the Jewish People (3)
HIST 356 Anti-Semitism in Europe (3)
HIST 357 History of the Holocaust (3)
HIST 406 The Jews in the Ancient World (3)
HIST 409/JS 409 History of Jews in the Modern Era (3)
HIST 427/JS 427 Israel's History and Peoples (2)
HIST 486J/JS 486J History of the Jews in the United States (3)
e. Religion and Thought (9 units)
RS 356 Contemporary Religious Thought (3) (Jewish Studies section)
RS 375 Classical Judaic Texts (3)
RS 377 The Holocaust: Religious Responses (3)
RS 379 Zionism: Religious and Secular (3)
RS 476 Modern Jewish Thought (3)
2. Electives (9 units)
Choose from the Upper Division courses listed above as well as the following:
HEBR 101 Elementary Hebrew I (4)
JS 151 Natural Environment in Judaism (1) and RTM 151F Survival (2)
JS 300 Humanities in Jewish Society: Ancient and Medieval (3)
JS 390CS Service Learning in the Jewish Community (3)
JS 499C Independent Study (3)
RS 310 Religion and Literature (3) (Jewish Studies section)
RS 320 Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) (3)
Total Units Required for the B.A. Degree: 120
Contact
Program Director: Jody Myers
Office of Interdisciplinary Studies
Sierra Tower 807
(818) 677-6762
www.csun.edu/humanities/jewish-studies
Student Learning Outcomes
Students majoring in Jewish Studies will have an appreciation and understanding of the major events and cultural features of Jewish life in different international settings from 1600 to the present. Students will be able to:
- Define and analyze significant Jewish religious beliefs, ethics, religious practices, philosophies and cultural expressions.
- Demonstrate an ability to speak, comprehend and write Modern Hebrew at an elementary level.
- Identify the major events of modern Jewish history and articulate the internal (within the Jewish community) and external (outside of the Jewish community) forces that lead up to and shaped these events.
- Describe the principal social contours of modern Jewish communities and families and give examples of the complex and multifaceted forms of modern Jewish identity.