Overview
UC Berkeley has long been a national leader in Jewish Studies, especially notable for the innovative scholarship promoted in its graduate program. The Center for Jewish Studies provides a strong new focus and a vivid presence for the many varied activities associated with Jewish Studies on our campus. It oversees our Designated Emphasis in Jewish Studies for graduate students, and our undergraduate minor in Jewish Studies; is home to our two annual endowed lecture series; sponsors conferences and public lectures; offers a congenial setting for graduate student colloquia; and serves as an attractive meeting place for the many visiting scholars in the field who come to Berkeley each year.
Campus Partners
The Berkeley Institute for Jewish Law and Israeli Law, Economy and Society is an interdisciplinary initiative to expand Jewish and Israel Studies offerings at Berkeley coordinated by faculty in Political Science, Sociology, Economics, Comparative Literature, History, and Music, as well in the Law, Journalism, and Business Schools.
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art was established in 2010 at the Bancroft Library after the transfer of the Judah L. Magnes Museum to UC Berkeley. The Magnes is one of the world's preeminent Jewish collections in a university setting. It offers highly innovative and accessible resources to researchers on campus, enabling hands-on learning for students interested in Jewish Studies, and provides stipends for students working on Jewish culture.
The UC Berkeley Judaica collection supports the research of students involved in the graduate Jewish Studies Designated Emphasis, and the undergraduate minor, and instructional activities of faculty and students in a number of interdisciplinary fields. These include Near Eastern languages and literature; Talmudic studies, including the Babylonian and Palestinian Talmuds and subsequent texts and commentaries; rabbinic, medieval, and modern Jewish history throughout the world; modern Jewish thought; and comparative literature, including works in Hebrew, Yiddish, English, and other languages.
Undergraduate Program
Jewish Studies : Minor
Graduate Program
Jewish Studies : Designated Emphasis (DE)
Courses
Jewish Studies
JEWISH 39 Freshman and Sophomore Seminar 2 Units
Terms offered: Fall 2017
Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.
Freshman and Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 4 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Jewish Studies/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered. Final exam not required.
JEWISH 39O Freshman and Sophomore Seminar 1.5 - 4 Units
Terms offered: Fall 2016
Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.
Freshman and Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring:
5 weeks - 3-12 hours of seminar per week
6 weeks - 2.5-10 hours of seminar per week
8 weeks - 2-7.5 hours of seminar per week
10 weeks - 1.5-6 hours of seminar per week
15 weeks - 1-4 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Jewish Studies/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered. Final exam not required.
JEWISH 39P Freshman and Sophomore Seminar 1.5 - 4 Units
Terms offered: Spring 2017
Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.
Freshman and Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring:
5 weeks - 3-12 hours of seminar per week
6 weeks - 2.5-10 hours of seminar per week
8 weeks - 2-7.5 hours of seminar per week
10 weeks - 1.5-6 hours of seminar per week
15 weeks - 1-4 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Jewish Studies/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered. Final exam not required.
JEWISH 39Q Freshman and Sophomore Seminar 1.5 - 4 Units
Terms offered: Spring 2017
Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.
Freshman and Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring:
5 weeks - 3-12 hours of seminar per week
6 weeks - 2.5-10 hours of seminar per week
8 weeks - 2-7.5 hours of seminar per week
10 weeks - 1.5-6 hours of seminar per week
15 weeks - 1-4 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Jewish Studies/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered. Final exam not required.
JEWISH 98 Directed Group Study 1 - 4 Units
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2014
Organized group study on topics selected by upper division students under the sponsorship and direction of the Jewish Studies faculty.
Directed Group Study: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Freshman or sophomore standing
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of directed group study per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 1.5-7.5 hours of directed group study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Jewish Studies/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.
JEWISH 100 The Cultural Legacies of the Jews 3 Units
Terms offered: Spring 2018
The course is intended to give Jewish studies minors a general introduction to the field through a survey of eight major phases of Jewish cultural experiences. Considered in chronological order and embracing several different relevant disciplines (history, literature, language, popular culture) covering major themes, phases, or periods, the course offers subject matter from the Bible to the modern period. Each of the lecturers will have selected one or two articles or chapters from books relevant to his/her subject for students to read.
The Cultural Legacies of the Jews: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Jewish Studies/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Formerly known as: Jewish Studies 101
JEWISH 120 Special Topics in Jewish Studies 3 Units
Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016
Course will focus on specific areas or topics in Jewish studies through a combination of lectures, term papers, and examinations. Instructors and topics to vary from semester to semester. Consult Jewish Studies website for updated course descriptions.
Special Topics in Jewish Studies: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Jewish Studies/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
JEWISH 121 Topics in Jewish Music 4 Units
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017
This course will address topics related to Jewish music, with a format that includes lecture and lab hours.
Topics in Jewish Music: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of laboratory per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 8 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Jewish Studies/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Instructor: Spagnolo
JEWISH 122 Topics in Contemporary Judaism 3 Units
Terms offered: Spring 2018
A course on current trends in Jewish religious, cultural, and social life. The course will study innovative and conservative aspects of thought, ritual, and belief in relation to contemporary life and traditional Jewish values.
Topics in Contemporary Judaism: Read More [+]
Objectives Outcomes
Course Objectives: This course will offer an opportunity for students to gain familiarity with a spectrum of diverse approaches to Judaism. This will include participation in current debates on topics such as spirituality, secularism, social justice, and discrimination.
Student Learning Outcomes: Students will have a better understanding of the variety of Jewish responses to contemporary social, political, and cultural life. They will learn how historically salient issues, covered in other Jewish Studies courses, are being addressed by Jewish leaders and communities.
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Jewish Studies/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
JEWISH 123 Israeli Society: Social Structure, Inequality, and Political Cleavages 3 Units
Terms offered: Fall 2017
This course will map Israel’s social structure, identify its implications for social and economic inequality, and shed light on its role in structuring political loyalty, conflict and action. It will introduce students to relevant concepts and theories from sociology and political science, and findings from comparative research, that aid understanding of the Israeli case and place it in a broader perspective.
Israeli Society: Social Structure, Inequality, and Political Cleavages: Read More [+]
Objectives Outcomes
Course Objectives: Expose students to a selection of research findings on specific sectors of society that shed light on their socioeconomic position, power resources, and characteristic forms of political action.
Provide a comprehensive view of Israel’s social structure and its implications for both inequality and politics.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Jewish Studies/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Instructor: Shalev
Israeli Society: Social Structure, Inequality, and Political Cleavages: Read Less [-]
JEWISH 198 Directed Group Study 1 - 4 Units
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Organized group study on topics selected by upper division students under the sponsorship and direction of the Jewish Studies faculty.
Directed Group Study: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Junior or senior standing
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of directed group study per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 1.5-7.5 hours of directed group study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Jewish Studies/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.
JEWISH 200 Advanced Topics in Jewish Studies 4 Units
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2016, Spring 2016
Graduate seminar will focus on specific areas or topics in Jewish studies through a combination of close reading of texts, student presentation, and informal lectures. Instructors and topics to vary semester to semester. Consult department website for updated course descriptions.
Advanced Topics in Jewish Studies: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Jewish Studies/Graduate
Grading: Letter grade.
JEWISH 290 Modern Jewish Scholarship: History and Practice 4 Units
Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2015, Spring 2014
This seminar, specifically designed as the ‘integrative course’ for students pursuing the Designated Emphasis in Jewish Studies, will offer an in-depth introduction to some of the central trends and personalities in modern Jewish historiography. We will read (and read about) the founders of modern Jewish historiography, and then explore some contemporary trends in Jewish scholarship, according to the disciplinary affiliations of the students in the class.
In addition to weekly assignments, students will write a 7000-word paper suitable for publication in a scholarly journal. Course topic may change when faculty from different disciplines within Jewish Studies teach the course.
Modern Jewish Scholarship: History and Practice: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: This is the required integrative course for doctoral students pursuing the Designated Emphasis in Jewish Studies. It is open to other doctoral students by permission of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-3 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Jewish Studies/Graduate
Grading: Letter grade.
Instructor: Efron
Modern Jewish Scholarship: History and Practice: Read Less [-]
JEWISH 296 Jewish Studies DE Dissertation Research and Writing Credit 1 - 12 Units
Terms offered: Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010
The course is offered to graduate students in the Designated Emphasis (DE) in Jewish studies to provide course credit for conducting dissertation research and dissertation writing, only after the student has successfully advanced to candidacy.
Jewish Studies DE Dissertation Research and Writing Credit: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Advancement to doctoral candidacy
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-12 hours of independent study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Jewish Studies/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Instructor: Kronfeld
Jewish Studies DE Dissertation Research and Writing Credit: Read Less [-]
JEWISH 299 Individual Study and Research - Jewish Studies 1 - 5 Units
Terms offered: Spring 2014, Fall 2012, Fall 2011
Topics and instructors will vary depending upon area of study. Special individual study for qualified graduate students only. Individual study and research, including fieldwork, in consultation with instructor on subject matter not covered in scheduled course offerings.
Individual Study and Research - Jewish Studies: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing and consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-5 hours of independent study per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 1.5-9 hours of independent study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Jewish Studies/Graduate
Grading: Letter grade.
Individual Study and Research - Jewish Studies: Read Less [-]
JEWISH 602 Jewish Studies DE Exam Preparation 1 - 8 Units
Terms offered: Fall 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011
The course is offered to graduate students in the Designated Emphasis (DE) in Jewish studies to provide opportunities for directed qualifying exam preparation prior to advancement to candidacy.
Jewish Studies DE Exam Preparation: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Advancement to doctoral candidacy
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-12 hours of independent study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Jewish Studies/Graduate examination preparation
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Faculty and Instructors
Faculty
Kenneth A. Bamberger, Professor.
Benjamin Brinner, Professor. Indonesia, Java, Bali, Israel, musical memory, situated musical cognition, musical interaction, improvisation, gamelan, music and oral narrative.
Research Profile
John M. Efron, Professor. Cultural and social history of German Jewry.
Research Profile
Ronald Hendel, Professor. Textual criticism, Hebrew bible, ancient Near Eastern religion and mythology, Northwest Semitic linguistics.
Research Profile
Chana Kronfeld, Professor. Comparative literature, modernism, Hebrew, Yiddish, modern poetry, minor literatures, politics of literary history, feminist stylistics, intertextuality, translation studies.
Research Profile
Jill H. Stoner, Professor. Architecture, architecture as fiction, derivation of spatial words, Jewish ghettos in Italy.
Research Profile
Ann Swidler, Professor. Religion, culture, Africa, AIDS, political sociology, theory, development, NGOs.
Research Profile
Lecturers
Rutie Adler, Lecturer.
Yael Chaver, Lecturer.
Visiting Faculty
Andrea A. Sinn, Visiting Assistant Professor.
Emeritus Faculty
Robert B. Alter, Professor Emeritus. Comparative literature, Near Eastern studies, 19th-century European and American novel, modernism, literary aspects of the bible, modern and biblical Hebrew literature.
Research Profile
Joan Bieder, Senior Lecturer SOE Emeritus. History of Jewish communities in South East Asia.
Research Profile
Claude S. Fischer, Professor Emeritus. Social networks, American social history, technology, urban sociology, sociology.
Research Profile
Contact Information
Center for Jewish Studies
4401 Dwinelle Hall
Phone: 510-664-4154
Faculty Director, Center for Jewish Studies
Benjamin Brinner, PhD (Department of Music)
4401 Dwinelle Hall