Individually Designed Major in Jewish Studies
The Individually Designed Major in Jewish Studies permits interested students to focus their attention on the broad field of Jewish Studies and, at the same time, to expand their knowledge of one or another related fields.
Each major should complete at least 75 units, all in courses at or above the 100 level (or their equivalent). A maximum of 15 of these 75 units may be taken on a credit/no credit basis. A maximum of 5 of these 75 units may be taken in individual study or directed reading.
Students must present evidence that demonstrates their ability to do independent work and have at least three full quarters of undergraduate work remaining at Stanford after the date on which the proposal is approved by the committee. Each major must obtain sponsorship from three faculty members, one of whom is the student's primary adviser, and from one of the Directors of the Taube Center for Jewish Studies.
The application deadline for IDM proposals is the fifth week of Spring Quarter of the sophomore year. Applications are reviewed only once a year.
Details about the written procedures and documents necessary for application for an individually designed major in Jewish Studies can be obtained at the Taube Center for Jewish Studies, Bldg. 360, Main Quad, (650) 725-2789. See also the "Individually Design Majors in Humanities and Sciences" section of this bulletin.
REQUIREMENTS
The faculty members in Jewish Studies have designed the following structure for the individually designed major:
History and Society:
Students must take one course in each of the three periods: biblical and ancient, medieval and modern, and contemporary |
20 units |
Religion:
Biblical, rabbinic, medieval, modern |
20 units |
Literature:
Hebrew, Holocaust, American Jewish, Yiddish, German Jewish, Russian Jewish |
15 units |
Hebrew Language (second year or beyond):
Students who demonstrate by examination that they have completed the equivalent of at least two years of university-level modern Hebrew may apply the 12 units required in this category to more work in another category, with the approval of their primary adviser |
12 units |
Ancillary Courses:
Ancient history, medieval history, modern European history, history of philosophy, Islam, Christianity |
8-10 units |
Total number of units required |
75-77 units |
Students planning an Individually Designed Major in Jewish Studies are also urged to write an honors thesis. Students interested in declaring an Individually Designed Major in Jewish Studies should discuss this with their adviser(s) when discussing the major itself. Up to 10 honors thesis units may be included in the major.
No course proposed for the major may be counted as fulfilling more than one required category in the proposed major. Transfer credits from other universities must be approved by the appropriate Stanford authorities.
COURSES
Students interested in pursuing an Individually Designed Major in Jewish Studies are advised to consult the following list of courses in preparing their program.
- JEWISHST 102/AMELANG 127. Land and Literature
- JEWISHST 101A/AMELANG 128A. Beginning Hebrew, First Quarter
- JEWISHST 101BAMELANG 128B. Beginning Hebrew, Second Quarter
- JEWISHST 101C/AMELANG 128C. Beginning Hebrew, Third Quarter
- JEWISHST 102A/AMELANG 129A. Intermediate Hebrew, First Quarter
- JEWISHST 102B/AMELANG 129B. Intermediate Hebrew, Second Quarter
- JEWISHST 102C/AMELANG 129C. Intermediate Hebrew, Third Quarter
- JEWISHST 103A/AMELANG 130A. Advanced Hebrew, First Quarter
- JEWISHST 104A/AMELANG 140A. Beginning Yiddish, First Quarter
- JEWISHST 104B/AMELANG 140B. Beginning Yiddish, Second Quarter
- JEWISHST 104C/AMELANG 140C. Beginning Yiddish, Third Quarter
- JEWISHST 107A/AMELANG 170A. Biblical Hebrew, First Quarter
- JEWISHST 107B/AMELANG 170B. Biblical Hebrew, Second Quarter
- JEWISHST 107C/AMELANG 170C. Biblical Hebrew, Third Quarter
- JEWISHST 140/COMPLIT 140. Introduction to Hebrew Literature
- JEWISHST 346/COMPLIT 346. Modern Hebrew Literature: Prose
- JEWISHST 150A/ENGLISH 140A. Creative Resistance and the Holocaust
- JEWISHST 153C/ENGLISH 183C/AMSTUD 183C. Feminism and American Literature
- JEWISHST 250G/ENGLISH 260G/AMSTUD 260G. Century's End: Race, Gender, and Ethnicity at the Turn of the Century
- JEWISHST 183,283/HISTORY 137,337. The Holocaust
- JEWISHST 185/HISTORY 185B. Jews in the Modern World
- JEWISHST 186D/HISTORY186D. Jews, Citizenship, and Europe's Others
- JEWISHST 187D/HISTORY 187D. Zionism and Its Critics
- JEWISHST 182C/POLISCI 224H/HISTORY 202C. Heretics to Headscarves
- JEWISHST 285F/HISTORY 285F. Jewish Women in History, Religion, and Literature, 17th Century to the Present
- JEWISHST 286E,386 E/HISTORY 286E,386E. Jews in France from the Dreyfus Affair to World War II
- JEWISHST 287S,481/HISTORY 287S,481. Research Seminar on the Modern Middle East
- JEWISHST 287D,387D/HISTORY 287D,387D. Tel-Aviv: Site, Symbol, City
- JEWISHST 287E,387E/HISTORY 287E,387E. Understanding the Age of Extremes: Intellectual Responses to the Holocaust and Totalitarianism
- JEWISHST 287G,387G/HISTORY 287G,387G. Jews in Colonial North Africa
- JEWISHST 287K,387K/HISTORY 287K,387K. Gentlemen and Jews: History of the Jews of England
- JEWISHST 288,388/HISTORY 288,388. Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
- JEWISHST 486A/HISTORY 486A. Graduate Research Seminar in Jewish History
- JEWISHST 15N/RELIGST 15N. Travels Through the Afterlife
- JEWISHST 16SI/RELIGST 16SI. Religion and Spirituality: LGBT Perspectives
- JEWISHST 95/RELIGST 95. How to Read the Bible
- JEWISHST 120/RELIGST 130. Genesis and Gender: Male and Female in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
- JEWISHST 221C,321C/RELIGST 221C,321C. Aramaic Jewish Texts
- JEWISHST 226B,326B/RELIGST 226B,326B/ Judaism and Christianity in the Mediterranean World; Contact, Competition, and Conflict
- JEWISHST 226C,326C/RELIGST 226C,326C. Mystics and Merrymakers: Innovations in Modern Judaism
- JEWISHST 225,325/RELIGST 265,365. Research Methods and Resources in Jewish Studies
- JEWISHST 228,328/RELIGST 282,382. King Solomon and the Search for Wisdom