The Jewish Studies Program and The Jewish Studies Minor

Maura Hametz, PhD, Academic Director (mhametz@odu.edu)

Program Description:
The Jewish Studies Program offers students the opportunity to take sponsored courses in their fields of minor or major studies or to pursue an interdisciplinary minor in Jewish Studies. Sponsored courses encourage the study of the multiplicity of Jewish experiences and voices and the interaction of Jewish individuals and communities in civilizations worldwide from the ancient period to the present.

Minor In Jewish Studies:

The minor in Jewish studies at Old Dominion University is an interdisciplinary undergraduate program that requires 12 credit hours of study including the following:

JST 350 / PHIL 350: Judaism (3 hours)

Two Jewish Studies electives (6 hours) at the 300-level or above.

JST 497: Research Project in Jewish Studies (3 hours) (Prerequisite: junior standing and 6 hours of coursework in Jewish Studies including PHIL 350.) Independent reading and study of a topic to be selected under the direction of an instructor in consultation with the academic director of the Institute for Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding. A research proposal, regular conferences, and the completion of a major project are required. Intended as a capstone research project, registration requires approval of the academic director of Jewish Studies.

Jewish Studies minors are encouraged to take HEBREW to fulfill their foreign language requirements.
HEBR 111 Beginning Hebrew (6 hours)
HEBR 212 Intermediate Hebrew (6 hours)

Recent Course Offerings Have Included:
ENGL 462/562 Sacred Texts as Literature.
ENGL 495/595 Jewish-American Literature
GEOG 455/555 Geography of the Middle East
FL 495-496 War and Memory in French Literature
FL 495-496 Fascism in Film
HIST 393 Jews in Europe in the Nineteenth Century
HIST 393 Jews in the Roman and Early Modern Eras in Europe
POLS 466/566 Politics of the Middle East
REL 311 The Hebrew Bible