Minor in Jewish Studies

With courses in ancient, medieval, early modern, and modern Jewish history, religion, culture, law, literature, and contemporary society, the Jewish Studies minor provides students with a nuanced understanding of the living and historical traditions of Judaism, the Jewish people, and the modern State of Israel. Jewish Studies at Fordham seeks to introduce students to Jewish history and culture within the larger framework of Jews’ interaction with other people, with a focus on Jewish-Christian relations, thereby furthering Fordham’s mission to foster in its students an understanding of different cultures and ways of life so they may be prepared “for an increasingly multicultural and multinational society.”

Courses in Jewish Studies are integrated across Fordham’s curriculum, and across its campuses and departments, among them History, Theology, Sociology, Anthropology, Art History, English, Gender and Women’s Studies, and Fordham Law. Many of the courses are part of Fordham’s Core Curriculum. With a minor in Jewish Studies students will be able to follow a coherent course of study outside their majors and acquire cross-cultural literacy, while fulfilling their Core requirements.

By enrolling in a Jewish Studies minor students will acquire

  • knowledge and understanding of Jewish culture and history across a broad chronological and geographic scope;
  • the ability to question dominant social assumptions by gaining cross-cultural literacy
  • an awareness of interaction and mutual influence among Jews and their Christian, Muslim and other neighbors over the course of history;
  • an awareness of the complexity of social identities, as well as of social divisions and prejudice;
  • the ability to understand how minority cultures live, adapt, and retain their identities among majority cultures;
  • the skills necessary to find and interpret complex sources and apply them to a larger project;
  • the ability to apply methods and theories from several disciplines to their studies.

Requirements for the Minor

Six courses in Jewish Studies are required for the minor; they should come from at least three departments. From the following courses students should choose:

One of the following courses from the History department:

  • HIST 1850 - Jews in the Ancient and Medieval World (UHC)
  • HIST 1851 - Modern Jewish History (UHC)
  • HIST 3810 - Jews in America
  • HIST 3815 - East European Jewish History

One of the following courses from the Theology department

  • THEO 3105 - The Torah
  • THEO 3711 - Sacred Texts of the Middle East
  • THEO 3713 - Classic Jewish Texts

One course covering the pre-modern period (or similar):

  • HIST 1850 - Understanding Historical Change: Jews in the Ancient and Medieval World
  • HIST 3050 - Christians, Muslims, and Jews in Medieval Spain
  • HIST 3272 - The Crusades
  • HIST 4610 - Seminar: Jewish Society and Culture in Eastern Europe
  • MVST 4009 - Medieval Jerusalem

Three electives should include at least one course outside HIST or THEO. At least one course must be an upper level seminar, such as an ICC, or a values seminar. No more than one course may be in Hebrew language. Examples of elective courses in Jewish Studies

  • HIST 3050 - Christians, Muslims, and Jews in Medieval Spain
  • HIST 3570 - Genocide
  • HIST 3622 - Great Trials
  • HIST 3675 - History of Modern Israel
  • HIST 3809 - Jews in the Modern World
  • HIST 3810 - Jews in America
  • HIST 3921 - Jews, Christians, Muslims in China
  • HIST 3925 - The Holocaust
  • HIST 4063 - Catholics and Jews In NYC
  • HIST 4610 - Seminar: Jewish Society and Culture in Eastern Europe
  • HIST 4308 - Antisemitism (a values seminar)
  • HIST 4631 - The United States in the Middle East, 1945-Present
  • MVST 4009 - Medieval Jerusalem
  • MEST 2000 - Introduction to Modern Middle East
  • MEST 3502 - Palestine-Israel Conflict

For more information please contact Professor Magda Teter, [email protected], or [email protected], tel. 347-364-3472.