Student Learning Outcomes

Identify and interpret major events, figures, and topics in Jewish history and culture and situate them within the larger context of Jewish history and culture. 

Develop a critical awareness of the complexity of Jewish societies and cultures over the ages and geographic spaces, including in the US and modern Israel. 

Identify and interpret major Jewish philosophies, religious practices, mysticisms, and thoughts. 

Develop critical awareness and appreciation for diverse worldviews and value systems of the Jewish religion and interactions with other religions, including in the US and modern Israel.

Examine daily practices through the prism of ethical principles based on Jewish traditions in the context of competing or similar ethical principles and world history.

Develop proficiency in reading, writing, understanding, and conversing in modern Hebrew or another approved Jewish language.

Recognize and analyze a variety of Jewish primary sources, both pre-modern and modern.

 Critically and independently evaluate and reflect on secondary sources that interpret Jewish primary texts. 

Effectively communicate ideas and interpret arguments in writing and other media on a topic of Jewish Studies.

Develop an ability to engage in constructive dialogues with others, orally or through other media on a topic of Jewish Studies.

Develop effective leadership or research skills by drawing upon Jewish scholarship, classical texts, and best practices, including through service-learning and internship opportunities.

Integrate the skills and knowledge acquired in Jewish Studies into a discipline-specific research project which reflects the circumstances and motives shaping Jewish life in the past and in contemporary times.