Jewish Studies B.A.

Information and Policies

Introduction

The interdisciplinary program in Jewish studies introduces students to the study of classical, medieval, and modern Jewish cultures and to the range of disciplines that bear upon the field.

The Jewish studies major and minor offer students the chance to study Jewish communities and cultures across the world, with special reference (though not limited) to modern issues. The major and minor will help them prepare to move successfully into graduate programs in a variety of disciplines, especially in humanities, social sciences, and pre-professional programs, and will provide students with a grounding in materials fundamental to a liberal arts education. This program connects with a range of disciplines and programs on the UC Santa Cruz campus that explore the meanings of modernity; at the same time, this program will help students develop analytical tools, methodological versatility, and critical literacy.

Note that modernity here is not defined as unfolding solely in Europe or North America; the Jewish studies program intends to speak to modernity as a global phenomenon, dealing with sites where Jews lived. In the 19th and 20th centuries Jews were widely spread across the globe and often played active and influential roles in their communities. These include such places as China, India, Latin America, North Africa, the Middle East, as well as Europe and North America.

Academic Advising for the Program

The Jewish studies program is administered by the Department of History. Students in this program receive advising support from the history undergraduate program coordinator.

Transfer students are encouraged to consult the "Transfer Information and Policy" information included below.

Program Learning Outcomes

Jewish History and Culture

Identify and interpret major events, figures, and topics in Jewish history and culture.

Holocaust

Demonstrate thorough knowledge of the Holocaust as a historical phenomenon.
Develop a nuanced understanding of the cultural dimensions of the Holocaust through an analysis of literature, films, art, and/or music.

Jewish Languages

Develop basic competency in Hebrew (modern or Biblical) or Yiddish.

Critical Analysis

Distinguish between primary and secondary sources.
Evaluate competing interpretations and multiple narratives of the past.
Analyze Jewish cultural sources, including literary texts, films, and music within a broader, cross-cultural context.

Effective Communication

Present clear and compelling arguments, based on critical analysis of diverse literary, historical, film, and/or musical sources, and effectively communicate interpretations in written essays and/or other media.

Scope

Classical Period.
Modern Period.

Major Qualification Policy and Declaration Process

Major Qualification

Undeclared students may declare the Jewish studies major at any time. While specific courses are not required in order to declare, students will have ideally completed some or all of the lower-division requirements.

How to Declare a Major

Fill out a Jewish Studies Major Planning Worksheet. Include Jewish studies courses you've completed, are currently taking, and plan on taking in the future.
Meet with a Jewish studies faculty advisor to review and discuss your proposed plan of study. Obtain their signature on your worksheet.
Submit your approved Jewish Studies Major Planning Worksheet and a completed Petition for Major/Minor Declaration to the history undergraduate program coordinator for processing.

Transfer Information and Policy

Transfer Admission Screening Policy

Students planning to apply in this major are not required to complete specific major preparation courses for consideration of admission to UC Santa Cruz.

Transfer students entering at the junior level can readily finish all of the Jewish Studies major requirements within two years, even if they haven’t completed any preparatory coursework prior to transferring. Some background in history and in literary analysis and interpretation is desirable, but not essential. Since this is an interdisciplinary major, preparatory work in art history, philosophy, or politics, depending on the student’s interests, may also be useful.

Transfer students are encouraged to complete the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) or UC Santa Cruz general education requirements in preparation for transfer to UC Santa Cruz.

Getting Started at UCSC as a Transfer Student

Transfer students are advised to complete the lower-division Jewish studies course requirements, including the language requirement, by the end of their first year. The upper-division courses required for this major may be taken simultaneously with the required lower-division courses. Please refer to the sample academic plan provided below.

Transfer students may declare the Jewish studies major during their first quarter of enrollment at UC Santa Cruz.

Letter Grade Policy

Students are allowed to complete up to two of their Jewish studies major or minor requirements for Pass/No Pass, with the exception of their comprehensive requirement.

Course Substitution Policy

Jewish studies majors must take a minimum of five regularly scheduled Jewish studies courses plus the comprehensive/disciplinary communications (DC) requirement from members of the UC Santa Cruz Jewish studies faculty. Subject to the limits indicated, courses from the following categories may be applied to the Jewish studies major:

Courses transfer from a California Community College or other domestic university (limit of three)
Education Abroad Program (limit of three)
Related courses not currently on the pre-approved Jewish studies course list (limit of two)
Independent and field studies (limit of one)

Study Abroad

The program in Jewish studies encourages students to take advantage of the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP). The University of California has developed educational opportunities abroad in conjunction with the Jerusalem Study Center at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Subject to the limitations described in the "Course Substitution Policy" section, up to three courses from EAP may be applied toward the Jewish studies major requirements.

Honors

All students who announce candidacy during the academic year are reviewed for honors or highest honors in the major. The Jewish studies faculty advisors determine honors based upon courses applied toward the Jewish studies major. Performance in courses taken elsewhere and being transferred toward the major will be considered when applicable. The minimum standard applied is excellence in most courses for honors, and excellence in all courses for highest honors. Summer, fall, and winter graduates will be reviewed at the end of each of their respective quarters. Spring graduates will be reviewed as of the spring announcement of candidacy deadline.

Requirements and Planners

Course Requirements

The Jewish studies major requires a minimum of 11 courses, including the comprehensive requirement, and an additional three language courses (or equivalent).

In consultation with a faculty advisor, students will plan a program of study to fulfill the following distribution of courses:

Lower-Division Courses

Language Requirement

Three quarters of lower-division instruction (or equivalent) in a Jewish language in any combination of the student’s choosing:

HEBR 1	First-Year Hebrew	5
HEBR 2	First-Year Hebrew	5
HEBR 3	First-Year Hebrew	5
HEBR 4	Second-Year Hebrew	5
HEBR 80	Introduction to Biblical Hebrew	5
YIDD 1	First-Year Yiddish	5
YIDD 2	First-Year Yiddish	5
YIDD 3	First-Year Yiddish	5

Students with prior knowledge of Hebrew or Yiddish are advised to complete a language placement exam to determine if they have satisfied any of the elementary language course requirements. Instructions for the placement exam can be found on the Languages and Applied Linguistics website.

Lower-Division Core Courses

Choose one of the following courses:

HIS 74	Introduction to Jewish History and Cultures	5
HIS 74A	Introduction to Middle Eastern and North African Jewish History: Ancient to Early Modern	5
HIS 74B	Introduction to Middle Eastern and North African Jewish History, 1500-2000	5
LIT 61J	Introduction to Jewish Literature and Culture	5

Plus one of the following courses:

HIS 75	Film and the Holocaust	5
HIS 76	The Holocaust: A Global Perspective	5

Upper-Division Courses

Four upper-division Jewish studies core courses:

HIS 155	History of Modern Israel	5
HIS 163B	Genesis: A History	5
HIS 172A	German History	5
HIS 172B	German Film, 1919-1945	5
HIS 178E	Modern Jewish Intellectual History	5
HIS 185C	Communism, Nationalism, and Zionism: Comparative Radical Jewish Politics	5
HIS 185I	Latin American Jewish History in the Modern Period	5
HIS 185J	The Modern Jewish Experience	5
HIS 185K	Jewish Life in Eastern Mediterranean Port Cities	5
HIS 185L	Where Civilizations Met--Jews, Judaism, and the Iberian Peninsula	5
HIS 185M	Zionism: An Intellectual History	5
HIS 185O	The Holocaust and the Arab World	5
HAVC 135E	Jewish Identity and Visual Representation	5
JWST 185N /HIS 185N	The Holocaust in a Digital World	5
LGST 114	Jews, Anti-Semitism, and the American Legal System	5
LGST 115	Law and the Holocaust	5
LIT 118A	Hebrew Bible	5
LIT 164A	Jewish Travel Narratives	5
LIT 164B	Hebrew Poetry	5
LIT 164C	Global Jewish Writing	5
LIT 164D	Jewish Diaspora, Ethnicity, and Urban Life	5
LIT 164G	Literature and the Holocaust	5
LIT 164H	Jewish Writers and the European City	5
LIT 164J	Jewish Writers and the American City	5
LIT 181A	Biblical Hebrew, Part 1	5
LIT 181B	Biblical Hebrew, Part 2	5
PHIL 148	The Holocaust and Philosophy	5

Electives

Four additional Jewish studies courses of the student's choice, three of which must be upper-division.

The following courses are electives only. Students may satisfy their Jewish studies elective requirements by taking additional language, lower-division core, and upper-division core courses from the Jewish studies curriculum.

HIS 2A	The World to 1500	5
HIS 2B	The World Since 1500	5
HIS 70A	Modern European History, 1500-1815	5
HIS 70B	Modern European History, 1815-present	5
HIS 78	Modern Authoritarianism in Europe and Beyond	5
HIS 167A	The First World War	5
HIS 167B	The Second World War in Europe	5
HIS 172C	History of German Film, 1945 to Present	5
HIS 176	Eastern Europe, 1848-2000	5
HIS 178A	European Intellectual History: The Enlightenment	5
HIS 178B	European Intellectual History: The 19th Century	5
HIS 178C	European Intellectual History, 1870-1970	5
HIS 184B	Racism and Antiracism in Europe: From 1870 to the Present	5
JWST 199	Tutorial	5
LIT 112I	Kafka in Translation	5
MUSC 80I	Music of Modern Israel	5
MUSC 80T	Mizrach: Jewish Music in the Lands of Islam	5
MUSC 80Y	Music, Anti-Semitism, and the Holocaust	5
MUSC 81P	History of Jewish Music	5

Disciplinary Communication (DC) Requirement

Students of every major must satisfy that major's upper-division disciplinary communication (DC) requirement. The DC requirement in Jewish studies is satisfied by completing an exit seminar or thesis:

Choose an exit seminar

One quarter; choose one of the following courses:

HIS 194L	Exile, Diaspora, and Displacement: Jewish Lives from North Africa to the Middle East	5
HIS 194V	Fascism and Anti-Fascism: The Global Spanish Civil War	5
HIS 196G	Topics in Modern Germany and Europe	5
HIS 196M	Shtetl: Eastern European Jewish Life	5
HIS 196N	Eastern European Jewish Social History	5
LIT 190Y	Topics in Jewish Literature and Culture	5

Or a thesis

Two quarters; all-of-the-following-courses:

JWST 195A	Thesis Research	5
JWST 195B	Thesis Writing	5

Comprehensive Requirement

Students may satisfy the Jewish studies comprehensive exit requirement by completing an approved exit seminar or senior thesis:

Choose an exit seminar

One quarter; choose one of the following courses:

HIS 194L	Exile, Diaspora, and Displacement: Jewish Lives from North Africa to the Middle East	5
HIS 194V	Fascism and Anti-Fascism: The Global Spanish Civil War	5
HIS 196G	Topics in Modern Germany and Europe	5
HIS 196M	Shtetl: Eastern European Jewish Life	5
HIS 196N	Eastern European Jewish Social History	5
LIT 190Y	Topics in Jewish Literature and Culture	5

Or a thesis

Two quarters; all of the following courses:

JWST 195A	Thesis Research	5
JWST 195B	Thesis Writing	5

Classical Chronological Distribution Requirement

One course from the following:

HEBR 80	Introduction to Biblical Hebrew	5
HIS 74	Introduction to Jewish History and Cultures	5
HIS 74A	Introduction to Middle Eastern and North African Jewish History: Ancient to Early Modern	5
HIS 163B	Genesis: A History	5
LIT 61J	Introduction to Jewish Literature and Culture	5
LIT 118A	Hebrew Bible	5
LIT 181A	Biblical Hebrew, Part 1	5
LIT 181B	Biblical Hebrew, Part 2	5

Planners

Sample Four Year Plan

	Fall	Winter	Spring
1st (frosh)	Language 1	Language 2	Language 3
	HIS 74 or HIS 74A or HIS 74B or LIT 61J		HIS 75 or HIS 76

2nd (soph)	Upper-division core course 1	Upper-division core course 2	Upper-division core course 3


3rd (junior)	Upper-division core course 4	Additional core or elective 1 (classical requirement)	Upper-division additional core or elective 2


4th (senior)	Upper division additional core or elective 3	Upper division additional core or elective 4	Exit seminar or thesis (DC)

In addition to the specific courses shown in these planners, a student must complete courses satisfying all of UC Santa Cruz's general education requirements. Individual student plans will vary, and some general education requirements may be satisfied by Jewish studies major requirements depending on each student's individual course selection.

Sample Transfer Plan

	Fall	Winter	Spring
1st (junior)	Language 1	Language 2	Language 3
	HIS 74 or HIS 74A or HIS 74B or LIT 61J	Upper-division core course	HIS 75 or HIS 76
		Additional core or elective 1 (classical requirement)	Upper-division core course 2
2nd (senior)	Upper-division core course 3	Upper-division core course 4	Upper-division additional core or elective 4
	Upper-division additional core or elective 2	Upper-division additional core or elective 3	Exit seminar or thesis (DC)

This planner assumes that a student has completed most of their general education requirements before coming to UC Santa Cruz. Students from California community colleges are advised to complete the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) in preparation for transfer to UC Santa Cruz.

These are sample plans. Actual student plans will vary according to annual course offerings and student's unique academic goals. Editable versions of these plans are available on the Jewish Studies website.