Jewish Studies
The minor in Jewish Studies is concerned with the investigation and understanding of a major cultural tradition, Judaism. This tradition has made seminal contributions to the cultural and religious heritage of Europe, America and the Middle East. It has had a major impact on the literature, art, music, philosophy, science and social science of Western civilization.
The minor, through its sequence of formal courses and independent studies, provides a breadth of inquiry that is interdisciplinary in its overall thrust. It involves faculty from all the divisions of the College. While it is not possible to major in Jewish studies, students can concentrate in Jewish studies through their major programs and/or the General Studies program. Another possibility is to design a Liberal Studies degree with emphasis on Jewish Studies. The Jewish Studies minor is available to all graduating students who complete the program’s requirements.
A wide range of Jewish Studies courses and independent studies is offered under both General Studies and program acronyms. These courses provide both a wide scope for studies in breadth and an opportunity for thorough investigation of specific issues. Courses that are relevant to the program will be offered every year and are open to any student at Stockton. Every formal Jewish Studies course carries 4 credits and (aside from GSS 2240 The Holocaust) is classified as belonging to one of three major categories:
I. Topics in Jewish Language and Culture
II. Topics in Jewish History and Civilization
III. Contemporary Jewish Issues
Requirements for the minor
1. Students interested in completing the Jewish Studies minor will be required to take four courses in Jewish Studies in at least two different content areas. No more than two of these courses may be related to Holocaust Studies.
2. All students wishing to complete the Jewish Studies minor must, in addition, enroll in an independent study or internship project as a capstone to their program. Project topics must be approved by the Jewish Studies coordinator and be supervised by a member of the Jewish Studies faculty (or by another Stockton faculty member upon the request of the Jewish studies coordinator).
Opportunities for related overseas studies are available at Tel Aviv University and other universities in Israel. Stockton, with the other New Jersey State colleges, participates in a semester-long program of study at Tel Aviv University. The courses offered at Tel Aviv are conducted in English and include classes in Judaica and in subjects of a more general nature. Opportunities also exist for students to spend a year at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem or Ben Gurion University in Be’er Sheva. Interested students should contact the coordinator of international education. Stockton students may also undertake study visits to Israel during the summer or winter break and carry out their credit-bearing projects under the auspices of Stockton’s International Education program; scholarships to help defray the cost of study in Israel are often available for this purpose.
Students who are studying for the Jewish Studies minor are eligible to apply to the Stockton Foundation for several special scholarships and book awards. These scholarships and awards are designated for students who are completing the Jewish Studies minor, planning a career in Jewish communal work, have made major contributions to Jewish life on campus, or have made major contributions to multicultural harmony on campus.
Extensive cultural activities of relevance to Jewish studies are offered at Stockton, sponsored by the Jewish Studies faculty and Stockton’s active Jewish Student Union/Hillel. The Stockton Library has a strong collection in Jewish Studies. A regional Holocaust Resource Center housed in the Library was opened at Stockton in 1990. The Center serves as a focal point for the study of the Holocaust and its meaning. It helps to train teachers and also houses artifacts and oral histories of the Holocaust. Students are able to serve internships for academic credit at the Holocaust Center.
The Jewish Studies faculty works closely with the Jewish Federation of Atlantic and Cape May Counties. Students interested in careers in Jewish communal work can serve internships with the Federation or its agencies. Internships in Washington D.C., of relevance to Jewish Studies, may also be available.
Relevant Courses
Each course in the sample course listing below is designated as belonging to one of the three categories. In each case, the student should notify the instructor at the start of the term that the course is being used to satisfy the Jewish Studies minor requirements. Term projects, if any, should be related to Jewish Studies.
JEWISH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
ANTH 2237 Jewish Culture
GAH 1052 Jewish Stories and Storytellers
GAH 1320 The Bible, Art and Literature
GAH 1362 Jewish Culture and Western Civilization
GAH 1365 Jewish Civilization
GAH 1369 Jewish Dramatic Literature
GAH 2171 World’s Major Religions
GAH 2174 Israeli Literature
GAH 2176 Jewish Spirituality
GAH 2305 Basic Judaism
GSS 2246 Introduction to Middle East
LANG 1255 Beginning Hebrew I
LANG 1256 Beginning Hebrew II
LANG 1257 Intermediate Hebrew I
LANG 1258 Intermediate Hebrew II
LITT 3213 Literature of the Bible
PHIL 2120 Religion and Society
PHIL 2401 Jews, Christians, Moslems
JEWISH HISTORY AND CIVILIZATION
GAH 1044 Women in the Bible
GAH 1355 The American Jewish Experience
GAH 1368 Heritage: Civilization and the Jews
GAH 2112 Art, Politics and the Nazi Era
GAH 2118 Christian, Jews, Muslims
GAH 2144 Women in the Bible
GAH 2239 Old Testament and Film
GAH 2248 Phophets and Political Change
GIS 3230 Jewish Women
GIS 3601 Seminar on the Holocaust
GIS 3660 The Impact of the Holocaust
GIS 3666 Holocaust in Film and Literature
GSS 3240 Holocaust and Genocide Education
HIST/PHIL 1310 Early Christianity
HIST 2117 Modern Germany
HIST 2127 Ottoman History
HIST 2131 Islam and Eastern Christianity
CONTEMPORARY JEWISH ISSUES
ANTH 3740 Ethnicity
GAH 1367 Current Issues in Judaism
GAH 2149 Biblical Ethics, Modern Times
GAH 2187 Jewish Mysticism and Kabbalah
GAH 2302 American Jewish Literature
GAH 3634 Ethnicity through Film
GIS 3600 Holocaust and Genocide
GSS 2237 Contemporary Jewish Life
GSS 2436 The Arab-Israeli Conflict
GSS 2195 Blacks and Jews: Future Hope
GSS 3946 Holocaust Center Internship
Additional courses are being developed on a regular basis in response to the needs of the program. Courses not on this list may be acceptable toward the minor upon approval by the coordinator of Jewish Studies.
Interested students should inform their preceptors about their interest in Jewish Studies and should contact the Jewish Studies coordinator, Marcia Fiedler, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona, NJ 08240-0195, Phone: (609) 748-6087. To declare a minor, use this form.
The Faculty
Marilyn R. Berkowitz
M.P.A. (Rutgers, The State University), Assistant to the Dean of Professional Studies: Jewish education.
Ronald L. Caplan
Ph.D. (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), Associate Professor of Public Health: comparative health systems, international health care reforms.
G. Jan Colijn
Ph.D. (Temple University), Dean of General Studies and Professor of Political Science: Holocaust Resource Center internships.
Marcia Fiedler
M.A. (New York University), Instructor in Jewish Studies: Biblical studies, Hebrew, Jewish education.
Michael Hayse
Ph.D. (University of North Carolina), Associate Professor of History: modern European history, German history, Eastern European history, history of the Holocaust.
Carra Leah Hood
Ph.D. (Yale University), Assistant Professor of Writing: writing and rhetoric, particularly as pertains to the genres of nonfiction, documentary and autobiography, pedagogy, interdisciplinary studies of culture, traditional/new media, race and gender, biomedicine.
Murray J. Kohn
D.J.L. (People’s University, Herzlia Jewish Teachers Seminary), D.D. (Jewish Theological Seminary), Professor of Holocaust Studies: Holocaust studies, Jewish literature.
Evonne J. Kruger
Ph.D. (Temple University), Associate Professor of Business Studies: Jewish spirituality, Jewish mysticism, organization of the Jewish community in the United States.
Elinor Lerner
Ph.D. (University of California, Berkeley), Associate Professor of Sociology: Jewish American history, American Jewish women, antisemitism in America.
Paul Lyons
Ph.D. (Bryn Mawr College), Professor of Social Work: Jewish-American radicalism.
Kate Nearpass Ogden
Ph.D. (Columbia University), Associate Professor of Art History: Jewish art.
Tom Papademtriou
Ph.D. (Princeton University), Assistant Professor of Historical Studies: Middle East, Balkans, and Hellenism.
Israel Posner
Ph.D. (Temple University), Executive Director, Management Development and Professional Services: Jewish contributions to psychology, the Holocaust and its impact.
Carol Rittner
D.Ed. (The Pennsylvania State University), Distinguished Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies: the Holocaust, women and genocide, Jewish-Christian relations, Catholic church during the Holocaust, rescue during the Holocaust, genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda.
Gail Rosenthal
B.A. (Temple University), Director of the Holocaust Resource Center: Holocaust Center Internships.
Joseph Rubenstein
Ph.D. (New School for Social Research), Professor of Anthropology: Jewish culture, Jewish ethnicity.
Yitzhak Y. Sharon
Ph.D. (Princeton University), Professor of Physics: the State of Israel, internships, independent study projects in Israel, the Hebrew language.
PROFESSORS EMERITI
Fred Mench
Ph.D. (Yale University), Professor Emeritus of Classics: Jews in the ancient world.
Marcia Steinbock
J.D. (Rutgers University School of Law, Camden), Professor Emerita of Criminal Justice: women in Judaism.
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