JEWSH-BA - Jewish Studies (BA)
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Program Overview
The Interdepartmental Program in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE) explores how race and ethnicity shape global history, undergird our social systems, and touch every aspect of our lives. Our courses empower students with the tools to assess and build inclusivity, equity, diversity, accessibility, and justice. CCSRE programs—encompassing Asian American Studies, Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies, Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, Jewish Studies, and Native American Studies—take an interdisciplinary approach to considering how gender, sexuality, ability, capital, technology, education, politics, and the environment structure our bodies, experiences, and communities. Students have the option to focus on particular racial and ethnic groups and on issues that move across peoples and places.
The interdisciplinary nature of the academic programs empowers students to enroll in a wide variety of courses. CCSRE listings can be found in Anthropology, Art and Art History, Education, History, Linguistics, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, Sociology, Theater and Performance Studies, and more. Majors and minors in CCSRE engage with various perspectives and methodologies and grapple with pivotal themes, including decolonization, indigeneity, intersectionality, movement-building, resistance, solidarity, and wellness. By analyzing interlocking structures of identity and difference, CCSRE students interrogate the role of power, reimagine the world, and reclaim the future.
The Jewish Studies major provides students with an overview of Jewish history, languages, literature, religion, thought, and politics. Drawing from the Humanities, the Social Sciences, and from courses offered by affiliated faculty in the School of Education, the Jewish Studies major seeks to help students understand Jewish identities, thought, and self-expression within larger historical and social contexts and to develop their ability to analyze human experience from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Students can explore the multiplicity of racial, ethnic, and religious meanings claimed by or assigned to Jews historically and today.
In addition to the undergraduate major and minor offered through the Interdepartmental Program in CSRE, the Taube Center for Jewish Studies offers a full range of guest lectures, conferences, and symposia.
Visit the Jewish Studies website and the Taube Center for Jewish Studies for more information about the program and how to declare the major.
Minimum Units in the Program
Minimum University Units
All Jewish Studies majors must take the CCSRE core curriculum, including Introduction to Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE 100), one comparative core course (CSRE 101A, 101B, and 101C), a major core course (JEWISHST 77, JEWISHST 115, or JEWISHST 117), and a capstone seminar taken in autumn quarter of the final year of study (CSRE 200X or 201X). Students must complete CSRE 100 or JEWISHST 77, JEWISHST 115, or JEWISHST 117 before declaring the major.
Jewish Studies majors may count a limited number of Department of African and African American Studies (DAAAS), Asian American Studies (ASNAMST), Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies (CHILATST), Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE), and/or Native American Studies (NATIVEAM) courses toward their degree in Jewish Studies. However, the course(s) outside of JEWISHST may only account for up to one quarter of the total number of elective units in the major, and they may not be used to satisfy core requirements.
Methodology courses should be selected based on their potential to support the student's projected capstone project.
Methodology courses must be taken for 3-5 units and a letter grade.
Note that Methodology courses may not be offered every year. For an up-to-date list of this academic year's Methodology courses, visit the Core Coursework page on the CCSRE website.
CCSRE students must complete at least one Community-Engaged Learning (CEL) course or co-curricular experience that centers issues of race, ethnicity, and inequality. This requirement may be fulfilled by enrolling in a Cardinal Course, completing a CCSRE Undergraduate Fellowship, or participating in an Alternative Spring Break. The CEL requirement may be fulfilled by courses that also fulfill other Jewish Studies degree requirements (e.g., a Methodology course may also count toward the CEL requirement).
See the Community-Engaged Learning course list on the Core Coursework page on the CCSRE website for this year's curricular offerings.
No more than 15 units of petitioned courses may be applied to electives in the Jewish Studies major. Students who wish to petition a course must fill out and submit a course petition form for the CCSRE Academic Programs team to review within one month of completing their annual degree audit meeting with the CCSRE Student Services Officer.
A minimum grade of C- is required for a student to count a class towards the Core Curriculum, including the Gateway, Comparative Core, Major Core, Methodology, WIM, and Capstone requirements. Additional units toward the major require a passing grade of D- or above.
Note that the same five-unit course fulfills the WIM and Capstone requirements.
CCSRE students must plan to complete 200X or 201X in person on Stanford campus in autumn of their final year of study.
Students interested in pursuing Interdisciplinary Honors in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE) should review the program program page.
Prospective Honors students must apply with a complete proposal approved by a CCSRE faculty advisor in the spring preceding their final year of study. Honors students must continuously enroll at Stanford in autumn, winter, and spring. For more information about the Honors program and the application process, visit the Honors page on the CCSRE website.