Jewish Studies Center

Academic Programs

Students are offered interdisciplinary courses that explore the role of New York and American Jewry in national and global culture and politics, while taking advantage of baruch's rich academic environment in the humanities, arts and sciences, business, and public affairs. These courses also examine American Jewish history and culture, beginning with the first wave of large-scale Jewish immigration from Europe in the 19th century. Student now have the option to declare a minor in Jewish Studies.

The inaugural course for Jewish Studies, which is also the minor's capstone course, is titled "New York and the Jewish Experience." This course explores the varying responses of Jews as they adapted to American life, constructed American-Jewish identities, and participated in the culture of the United States and, more specifically, New York, from the turn of the 19th-century onwards. Students examine key issues at the heart of the New York Jewish experience: immigration; community; religion; race; language; Zionism; urban life; the labor movement; the Holocaust; and food. Class meetings take advantage of Baruch’s location with museum visits, a tour of the lower East Side, and by hosting a number of speakers who will share their intimate knowledge of New York Jewish community life.

THE JEWISH STUDIES MINOR (AIII:10.3a)

Required Course (Also the capstone course)
JWS 4900 - Topics in Jewish Studies: New York and the Jewish Experience
                 
Electives
Choose two of the following courses:

ANT 3153 - Urban Anthropology

ANT/SOC 3085 - Special Topics in Anthropology/Sociology *

ANT/SOC/REL 4050 - Religious Worlds of New York

ENG 3032 - Ethnic Literature *

ENG 3940 - Topics in Film *

ENG 4550 - Jewish-American Literature

HEB 3311 - History (Ancient) of the Jewish People as Reflected in Literature

HEB 3312 - History (Medieval/Modern) of the Jewish People as Reflected in Literature

HIS/POL/REL 3008 - Religion and Politics in the United States

HIS 3460 - Topics in American History *

HIS 3472 - American Urban History

HIS 3550 - The Immigrant in American History

HIS 3551 - History of the People of the City of New York

HIS 3560 - History of the Jewish People in America

REL 3002 - The Traditions of Judaism

REL 3525 - The Hebrew Bible

REL 3220 - Modern Jewish Thought

* Students may use this course if the topic is relevant to the minor. Please consult the Director of the Jewish Studies Program for permission.