Jewish Studies
Minor
Jewish Studies
Jewish Studies - Psalms in a Synagogue
Jewish Studies is an exciting, interdisciplinary field that draws from history, literature, and philosophy to explore the history of the Jews and of the Jewish religion.
Jewish Studies explores Judaism as a religion, but also looks at how Jews around the world have formed new interactive cultures and shared histories.
Through your coursework, you will learn the history of Judaism, and find out how this religion has grown, changed, and adapted itself over the centuries, in multiple parts of the world. You will also learn about Judaism’s basic belief system and about the long histories of anti-Semitism.
Perhaps most importantly, you will explore the role of Judaism in the modern world, and see how historical events of the last century and a half have affected the Jews religiously, socially, and culturally, as well as how Judaism has affected the world.
Need More Info?
For questions about the Jewish Studies program, please contact:
Lisa Keller
Professor of History
Upcoming Events
Feb
4
Jewish - Christian Dialogue in Modern Times - A Talk with Dr. Malka Simkovich
Dr. Malka Z. Simkovich is the Crown-Ryan Chair of Jewish Studies and director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. She is the author of The Making of Jewish Universalism: From Exile to Alexandria (2016) and Discovering Second Temple Literature: The Scriptures and Stories That Shaped Early Judaism (2018), which received the 2019 Association of Jewish Libraries Judaica Reference Honor Award. Dr. Simkovich’s articles have been published in the Harvard Theological Review and the Journal for the Study of Judaism. She is involved in numerous local and international interreligious dialogue projects which help to increase understanding and friendship between Christians and Jews.
Mar
19
No Return: Jews, Christians Usurers, and the Spread of Mass Expulsion in Medieval Europe - A Book Talk with Dr. Rowan Dorin
Rowan Dorin is Associate Professor of History and Director of the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at Stanford University, as well as core faculty of the Taube Center for Jewish Studies. His research and teaching focus on the history of premodern Europe and the Mediterranean, in particular Jewish-Christian relations, religious law, and digital humanities. His recent book, No Return: Jews, Christian Usurers, and the Spread of Mass Expulsion in Medieval Europe (Princeton UP, 2023), received the 2024 Salo Baron Prize from the American Academy for Jewish Research, awarded annually for the best first book in Jewish Studies.
Apr
8
The Rescue of History: Uncovering Help for Jews in the Holocaust
Dr. Mark Roseman is the Pat M. Glazer Chair in Jewish Studies at Indiana University. He received a Ph.D. in history from the University of Warwick and a B.A. in history from Christ’s College, Cambridge. For his Ina Levine Invitational Scholar Fellowship, Professor Roseman conducted research for his project, “Between Utopia and Rescue: The ‘League of Socialist Life’ before, during and after the Third Reich.”
Professor Roseman is the author or editor of several publications, including, with Jürgen Matthäus, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Documenting Life and Destruction: Jewish Responses to Persecution, 1933-1946. Volume I: 1933-1938 (2009); with Frank Biess and Hanna Schissler, eds., Conflict, Catastrophe and Continuity: Essays on Modern German History (2007); with Neil Gregor and Nils Roemer, eds., German History from the Margins (2006); with Carl Levy, eds., Three Postwar Eras in Comparison: Western Europe 1918-1945-1989 (2002); The Villa, the Lake, the Meeting: The Wannsee Conference and the ‘Final Solution’ (2002) (and 14 international editions); and The Past in Hiding (2000) (and 4 international editions). He has received several awards and honors for his research, including the 2007-2008 Charles H. Revson Foundation Fellowship for Archival Research at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; funding from the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung; the 2003 Geschwister Scholl Prize for “In einem unbewachten Augenblick”; and the 2002 Lucas Prize Project Mark Lynton prize for his book A Past in Hiding. Professor Roseman is also the recipient of various grants and teaching awards, including a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (2009) and he is a two-time recipient of the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award for excellence in teaching (history, 2007; Jewish studies, 2005). In 2006 he led the Silberman Seminar for University Faculty: Teaching about the Holocaust at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. He is on the editorial board of several journals: German History; Holocaust Studies: A Journal of History and Culture; Contemporary European History; and Revue d’histoire de la Shoah.
Latest Stories
A Letter from Outgoing Jewish Studies Coordinator Rachel Hallote
I first came to Purchase College as Coordinator of the Jewish Studies Program in the fall of 2001, just days before 9/11. It was quite a beginning, learning the ropes in the wake of a national catastrophe.
Welcome Professor Lisa Keller
I am delighted to have the honor of becoming Purchase College’s Jewish Studies Program Coordinator starting Fall 2021.
Spotlight On Students
The Richard Alan Sarnoff Prize in Jewish Studies
This year’s Sarnoff award in Jewish Studies, presented at the Humanities Awards Ceremony in May, went to Martin Drob. Martin was a History Major with a strong interest in Jewish Studies, who wrote his Senior Project about the United States’ response to the Holocaust.