Welcome to the Jewish Studies Program
Undergraduate Program
Undergraduates have the opportunity to participate in the Hebrew Language Program as well as major or minor in Jewish Studies!
Funding Opportunities
The Jewish Studies Program provides undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty with various funding opportunities! Check out what is available.
What We Offer
Jewish Studies is an interdisciplinary program that offers courses, a major, and two minors. Courses are offered in the Departments of Anthropology, Communication, History, Literature, Music, Political Science, Philosophy, and Sociology, among others. Undergraduates can participate in a major that allows students to explore Jewish history, language, and culture through time while preparing them for various careers that emphasize clear thought and expression. Undergraduates may also participate in the two different minors this program offers: Jewish Studies and Hebrew Language and Literature. While graduate students cannot apply to be a student of the Jewish Studies program, they can apply to affiliated departments such as History, Anthropology, and Literature and work with core and affiliated faculty of the Jewish Studies program. The Jewish Studies program offers a robust array of courses, mentorship from faculty, events, and funding opportunities to support undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in engaging with the field of Jewish Studies.
2024 National Jewish Book Award Winner
Congratulations to Professor Mira Balberg who received a National Jewish Book Award for Fractured Tablets: Forgetfulness and Fallibility in Late Ancient Rabbinic Culture.
New Book from Lisa Lampert-Weissig
Congratulations to Professor Lisa Lampert-Weissig on publication of Instrument of Memory: Encounters with the Wandering Jew by University of Michigan Press.
New Books from Allan Havis
Congratulations to Professor Allan Havis on publication of Clear Blue Silence with Ktav Publishing House and Maddie Q with Willow Creek Press!
Clear Blue Silence: https://ktav.com/products/clear-blue-silence
Antisemitism Educational Initiative Video
This eleven-minute film viewing is a recommendation from the Program Director on a significant topic of current concern. This film is part of the Antisemitism Educational Initiative on the UC Berkeley campus. The video charts the history of antisemitism from its origins until today.
2021 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award Winner
Congratulations to Professor Amelia Glaser on being the winner of the Jordan Schnitzer Book Award for her book Songs in Dark Times: Yiddish Poetry of Struggle from Scottsboro to Palestine in the category of Jewish Literature and Linguistics!
Prof. Amelia Glaser and Oleksandra Uralova discuss Yiddish writer and Ukrainian readers
Oleksandra Uralova is a translator from Yiddish into Ukrainian, and a Yiddish-language teacher from Ukraine. Here, she speaks in conversation with Prof. Amelia Glaser (UC San Diego, Department of Literature) about the classic Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem and his Ukrainian readers and translators.