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EnglishWhat is the Department of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University?
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The Department of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University is an academic department that takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Jewish life. Its website, jewishstudies.rutgers.edu, serves as the department's home for information on undergraduate and graduate programs, course offerings, faculty, and student resources. It is the right starting point if you want to understand what the department teaches, who teaches it, and how to study Jewish history, language, or culture at Rutgers.
What the department covers
According to the department's homepage, its courses address the historical, social, cultural, religious, linguistic, and political life of the Jewish people from antiquity to the present. They also examine the interactions of Jews with other peoples. This is what "interdisciplinary" means in practice: the department draws on history, religion, language, and cultural studies rather than treating Jewish life through a single lens.
The homepage also notes a statement on addressing antisemitism, describing courses such as Antisemitism; History of the Holocaust; Between Nazism and Communism; Jews, Heretics, and the Inquisition; Holocaust Memory; Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Spain; and Modern Jewish History. The department states that its faculty work to create a safe intellectual environment for all Rutgers students to learn about these subjects.
Programs and languages
The site's own description points to:
- Undergraduate programs in Jewish studies
- Master's graduate programs
- Hebrew language study
- Yiddish language study
- Jewish history as a central area of coursework
If you are a prospective student, the "Undergraduate Academics" and "Current Course Offerings" sections are the places to check what is actually being taught in a given term. The homepage also lists a "Transfer Credits" link, which matters if you are bringing coursework from another institution.
Who teaches and supports the department
The department describes its teaching capacity as:
| Category | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Core faculty members | Seven | Department homepage |
| Affiliated faculty | Twelve, from eight other departments | Department homepage |
| Visiting faculty | Sponsored by the Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life | Department homepage |
The Bildner Center connection is worth noting because it indicates that the department's offerings extend beyond its own core faculty through visiting scholars and cross-departmental appointments.
What else you can find on the site
The homepage highlights several recurring sections and features:
- Student Awards, including a group photo from 2022
- Faculty bookshelf, showcasing books written and edited by faculty
- New and Noteworthy, a running list of faculty publications, lectures, and media appearances
- Study abroad imagery, such as a Spain 2022 photo, suggesting overseas study opportunities
The "New and Noteworthy" items on the homepage include a faculty article in Nashim: The Journal of Jewish Women's Studies and Gender Issues, a faculty book named among the top ten medieval studies books of 2023, the 2023 Ian Karten Memorial Lecture, and faculty commentary published in NBC News.
When this site is useful to you
- You are considering Rutgers and want to know whether Jewish studies is offered as a major, minor, or graduate field.
- You want to see current course titles before registering.
- You need to check how transfer credits are handled.
- You are looking for faculty expertise in a specific area, such as Yiddish, Holocaust history, or medieval Jewish life.
- You want to find public lectures and events connected to the department.
For course schedules, application requirements, and deadlines, use the links under "Undergraduate Academics" and "Current Course Offerings" rather than relying on the homepage summary, since those details change by term.