Yale’s Program in Jewish Studies

Yale’s distinguished history of rabbinic and biblical studies dates to Ezra Stiles’ research on these subjects in the eighteenth century. Founded in 1979, the Program in Jewish Studies at Yale has since grown to be one of the world’s leading centers for the interdisciplinary study of Jews, Judaism, and Jewish history and culture.

Today, the Program in Jewish Studies offers an undergraduate major and opportunities for doctoral study. A large faculty in many disciplines and with areas of expertise that range from antiquity to the present teach about classic texts, material and visual culture, literature and film, history and philosophy, and more. The Program also supports robust offerings in the study of Hebrew and Yiddish and benefits from a vast Judaica library collection and expert librarians.

The Program emphasizes the ways in which Jews and Judaism have intersected with multiple peoples, polities, religions, cultures, philosophies, languages, and literatures across numerous continents over millennia. The Program in Jewish Studies is quintessentially inclusive and comparative, transnational and international. 

Each year, the Program hosts an array of events - from public lectures and research workshops to student seminars and international conferences - that bring together students, faculty, postdocs, librarians, and others from across the university community and around the world to study Jewish history, cultures, and texts together in a collaborative environment.