Jewish Studies

College of Letters and Science
Program Office: 4401 Dwinelle Hall, (510) 664-4138

Chair: Jill Stoner, MArch (Department of Architecture)
Program Website: Jewish Studies

Undergraduate Program (Minor)

The Undergraduate Minor in Jewish Studies was founded in 2005. The program involves faculty from a large number of disciplines including Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and Law, and students may choose from a range of exciting offerings from across the breadth of Jewish Studies. After completing an introductory survey course, participants in the minor may take classes and seminars offered within the Jewish Studies program itself, including language courses in the Near Eastern Studies (Hebrew) and German (Yiddish) Departments, hands on experiential learning through the Magnes Collection for Jewish Art and Life, and relevant courses offered in departments including History, Comparative Literature, Near Eastern Studies, Music, Sociology, and Political Science. The program allows students to work closely with members of the faculty, to be mentored by graduate students, and to participate in the intellectual life of the broader Jewish Studies community on campus.

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Graduate Programs

Doctor of Philosophy

The PhD in Jewish Studies at UC Berkeley is a joint-degree program with the Graduate Theological Union . Though the University has decided not to admit additional students to the program, and to discontinue a formal joint-degree structure, current students in the Joint Degree Program will continue to work with faculty from both institutions.

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Designated Emphasis (DE)

This academic year marks Berkeley’s inauguration of Designated Emphasis in Jewish Studies. The DE provides curricular and research resources for students who want to concentrate on Jewish Studies within their respective disciplines and have their work formally recognized in their degree designation. Designed to bring together faculty and students from different departments, the DE is administered by the Graduate Group in Jewish Studies and provides a unique context for rigorous cross-disciplinary research. Students applying to the DE must be prepared to integrate high-level research in Jewish Studies into their coursework, qualifying exam, and dissertation.

Requirements for Admission

Students will be required to fill out a form requesting admission, listing their prior preparation in the field, and their projected pathway through the program. In addition, they should submit a brief essay stating interests and reasons for applying, a CV, a writing sample, and a letter of recommendation from a faculty member in the student’s home department indicating why and how the student would benefit from the DE in Jewish Studies.

According to the Berkeley requirements for a Designated Emphasis, students must be admitted to the DE prior to taking their Qualifying Exams. But because in this instance the DE is replacing the Joint Degree Program in Jewish Studies, exceptions will be made for exceptionally qualified and motivated students who have already taken qualifying exams, who are working within established departments, and whose work has an emphasis in an area of Jewish Studies. These "grandfathered" exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis, on the recommendation of the faculty graduate group. In every case, admission to the DE will be determined on the basis of how coherently and logically the student can articulate the value of the DE for her/his larger course of study and career goals, as well as on the quality of the written work.

Normative Time Considerations

Given the flexibility of the program, the completion of the DE will have no impact on Normative Time to degree.

Requirements for Designation

Students admitted to the Designated Emphasis in Jewish Studies must complete the following requirements before applying for their Qualifying Examination:

1. Students will be required to complete the course Jewish Studies DE 290 Individual Studies in the field of Jewish Studies for Graduate Students, which will serve as the integrative course for the program regarding methodology and research skills. This course can be offered by any faculty member of the Graduate Group in the DE in Jewish Studies, and will likely rotate among core faculty. The course topics will thus vary in accordance with the specific expertise of individual faculty member(s). The number of units for this course ranges from 3-8 and is decided on the basis of a mutual agreement between the student and faculty instructor(s) in accordance with the amount of working hours the student intends to dedicate to this course. The course will be a combination of standard seminar format with shared readings and discussion, and individualized research and writing. The goal of this course is thus two-fold:  to provide cohort cohesion and intellectual exchange across disciplines, and to provide the necessary intellectual background for top quality scholarship in the field of Jewish Studies. The course will have a strong practical component, including engagement with bibliographical resources and scholarly practices essential to doing work in the field of Jewish Studies. The student will need to write a 5000-word article to complete the course, using a bibliography that includes Jewish Studies materials. The content of the article will be determined on an individual basis with attention to the students’ research interests. This course will be offered once each year. The faculty members offering Jewish Studies DE 290 are core members of the Graduate Group for the Designated Emphasis in Jewish Studies.
2. Students in the DE will also complete three additional course electives related to Jewish Studies and approved by the Graduate Group’s Curriculum Committee. These courses will support the interdisciplinary nature of the program with attention to the individual students’ research interests. At least one of these courses has to be a graduate seminar. One of the three course electives can be fulfilled by repeating Jewish Studies DE 290 under the condition that the topic of this course changes. Students will be provided a list of potential electives offered by the different departments sponsoring the DE. A student may petition to the Advising Committee to approve a course not on the established list.

Examination

A member of the Graduate Group in Jewish Studies must be a formal member of the PhD Qualifying Examination committee. Under most circumstances, the Graduate Group member in the student’s home department will serve in this function. A member of the Graduate Group may also serve as the outside member of the Qualifying Exam committee if not a faculty member of the student’s major. A Jewish Studies topic must be included as a subject on the Qualifying Examination. Satisfactory performance on the Qualifying Examination for the PhD will be judged according to the established rules in the student’s major program.

Dissertation

A member of the Graduate Group in Jewish Studies must be a formal member of the dissertation committee. The dissertation must relate to Jewish Studies (History, Literature, Culture, Arts).