Program: B.A., Modern Jewish Studies
Program Description
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 400 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 (34 units)
a. Introductory Course (3 units)
JS 200 Jewish Religion and Culture (3)
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 Applied Jewish Ethics (3)
JS 306/SOC 306 Sociology of Jewish Families and Communities (3)
JS 330 Women in the Jewish Experience (3)
JS 335/SOC 335 Jewish Identity in the U.S. (3)
RS 378 American Jewish Experience (3)
d. History (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 the Jews in the Modern Era (3)
HIST 427/JS 427 Israel’s History and Peoples (3)
HIST/JS 486J History of the Jews in the United States (3)
e. Religion and Thought (9 units)
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 Ancient and Medieval Jewish Arts and Literature (3)
3. General Education (48 units)
Undergraduate students must complete 48 units of General Education as described in this Catalog, including 3 units of coursework meeting the Ethnic Studies (ES) graduation requirement.
6 units are satisfied by the following courses in the major: JS 200 satisfies C2 Humanities; and HEBR 102 satisfies 3 units of F Comparative Cultural Studies.
If taken, JS 300 satisfies C1 Arts or C2 Humanities; JS 318 satisfies D1 Social Sciences; JS 390CS satisfies E Lifelong Learning; ENGL 371, HEBR 101, HIST 210/JS 210, JS 306/SOC 306, JS 330, JS 335/SOC 335 or RS 378 satisfies F Comparative Cultural Studies. ENGL 371, JS 300 or RS 378 also fulfills the Information Competence requirement.
Total Units in the Major: 43
General Education Units: 42
Additional Units: 35
Total Units Required for the B.A. Degree: 120
Contact
Jewish Studies
Director: Jennifer Thompson
Office of Interdisciplinary Studies
Sierra Tower (ST) 807
(818) 677-6762
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 led 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.