Jewish Studies Minor

The Jewish Studies Program offers an interdisciplinary approach to the academic study of Jewish culture, history, sociology, literature, art, film and religion. While the focus of Baruch’s Jewish Studies program highlights the American, and more specifically, the New York Jewish experience, all courses that center on Jewish-related subjects fulfill the requirements for the minor. These courses are offered often cross-listed with other departments and are open to all students; they address the historical, social, cultural, religious and political life of American and world Jewry.

Requirements for the Minor

Students are expected to complete the minor requirements in place at the time they are officially accepted into their programs. Please review the College Bulletin for the relevant academic year.

Fall 2026 Jewish Studies Course Offerings:

JWS 4900 ETA – Mapping the Jewish Experience – Capstone Course

TOPIC: TBA

Hybrid Asynchronous – Tu 2:30PM-3:45PM

Class Number: 39861

Instructor: Sarah Valente

How did Sephardic Jews fare in the New World? This course follows the trajectory of Sephardic Jewish migration to the New World through the centuries. Starting with the expulsion from Spain in 1492 and Portugal in 1497, students will explore the historical, political, and religious plight of this community as it traveled from place to place trying to establish a Jewish community. Students will follow the treacherous journey of Sephardic Jews from Recife, Brazil, where they had created the first synagogue of the New World in 1636, to their arrival in New Amsterdam in 1654, where they established the first congregation in the U.S. Students will learn about the significant cultural contributions of Sephardic Jewish writers such as fifth-generation American Emma Lazarus and their relationship to New York City. The course will include tours to New York sights related to this remarkable history. As a capstone course, a large component of the course will be a research project, which each student will work on throughout the course of the semester, culminating with a final paper and capstone presentation.

JWS 3950 BTRA- Special Topics in Jewish Studies

TOPIC: Israeli Theatre 

In Person – TuTh 9:05AM – 10:20AM

Class Number: 39867

Instructor: Jerome Chanes

The course traces the history of theatre in Israel from its beginnings in Eastern and Central Europe in the early years of the twentieth century, through its development in pre-state Palestine and the early decades of Israel (1950s-60s), to the present. The thesis of the course is that theatre in Israel?both Hebrew and Arabic?is ?political? theatre; almost all the drama written and produced over the past 120 years is a sharp comment on what is going on the society?politics, religion, societal fault-lines (Palestinian Arabs, Jews from Arab lands, Western- and Eastern-European Jews, native-born Israelis), the Holocaust, the army and the wars, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Zionism?indeed, identity itself. Theatre is the prism through which Israeli society is refracted? history, politics, Arab-Israeli (and other) conflict, religion.

JWS 3950 ERA- Special Topics in Jewish Studies

TOPIC: Twenty-First Century Jewish Short Stories

In Person – Tu 2:30PM-3:45PM

Class Number: 39902

Instructor: Erika Dreifus

This course focuses on contemporary Jewish short stories, emphasizing work published since 2000. The course investigates how Jewish experience is portrayed by fiction writers in North America, Israel, and across the Jewish diaspora. Connections to?as well as departures from?subjects and forms from earlier eras will be examined.

Contact

For more information about the Jewish Studies minor, please contact:

Dr. Sarah Valente
Sarah.Valente@baruch.cuny.edu