Director: Dr. Jessica Cooperman, Assistant Professor of Religion Studies
Assistant Professor: Nash
The Jewish Studies Program at Muhlenberg College offers students an opportunity to explore the history, literature, languages, traditions, and cultures that have comprised Jewish civilization from its Ancient Near Eastern origins to the present day. Our approach to the study of Jewish experience is inherently interdisciplinary. Our majors and minors take classes with faculty from the Departments of Religion Studies, History, Political Science, Theatre and Dance, Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, as well as many others across the College. Our program stresses the diversity within and among Jewish communities, the interaction between Jewish cultures and those of the surrounding world, and the dynamism that characterizes the historical development of both modern and pre-modern Judaism. Our courses introduce students to crucial debates within the field of Jewish Studies, and to the critical study of classical and contemporary Jewish texts. Our students gain broad expertise in the areas of Jewish religion, literature, thought, language, and experience. Above all, they are challenged to grow as readers, thinkers, and writers, and learn to develop and pursue their own intellectual interests, through both thoughtful teaching and opportunities for independent research.
Special Programs
Jewish Studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York
Muhlenberg students have the unique opportunity to spend a spring semester studying at List College, the undergraduate program at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) in New York. Students will be accommodated in the JTS student housing, situated in the heart of the Upper West Side of Manhattan. This program offers a wide range of courses in all areas of Jewish studies, including the opportunity for more advanced offerings in Hebrew language and text study.
Jewish Studies Abroad
Up to three courses completed during a study abroad experience or through courses offered through the Philip and Muriel Berman Center for Jewish Studies at Lehigh University or Lafayette College may be applied toward program requirements.
Opportunities to explore Jewish studies abroad are available through programs with four major Israeli universities (Ben Gurion University, Haifa University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University) as well as the CET Jewish Studies program in Prague. Individual courses taken with any of the colleges’ other study abroad programs may also be approved by the program director.
