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 the Berkeley campus. It oversees the Designated Emphasis in Jewish Studies for graduate students and the undergraduate minor in Jewish Studies. Additionally, the center is home to UC Berkeley's 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 UC 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 UC 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, enables hands-on learning for students interested in Jewish Studies students, offers a venue for important programming, and provides fellowships 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 the instructional activities of faculty and students in a number of interdisciplinary fields. These fields 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.
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
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 without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2017
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. Students will need to write a 5000-word article to complete the course, using a bibliography that includes Jewish Studies materials. A subject-relevant seminar paper from another course may be used to fulfill this requirement, subject to approval by Jewish Studies faculty. 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
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.
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 without restriction.
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
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
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
Ethan Katz, Associate Professor. Jewish history, modern France, empire, Jewish-Muslim relations, secularism. 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
Francesco Spagnolo, Adjunct Associate Professor.
Ronit Stahl, Assistant Professor.
Lecturers
Rutie Adler, Lecturer.
Yael Chaver, Lecturer.
Visiting Faculty
Tomer Persico, Visiting Assistant Professor.
Stephanie Rotem, 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
Ann Swidler, Professor Emeritus. Religion, culture, Africa, AIDS, political sociology, theory, development, NGOs. Research Profile
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