Religious Studies Major, B.A.–Jewish Studies Concentration
Ruth von Bernuth, Director for Jewish Studies
Barbara Ambros, Chair
David Lambert, Director of Undergraduate Studies
Myra Quick, Student Services Manager, Registrar
The Department of Religious Studies is dedicated to the study of religions as historical and cultural phenomena. It examines the history, texts, artifacts, beliefs, values, and rituals of a variety of religious traditions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Inherently interdisciplinary in its approach, religious studies explores religions in light of related fields in the humanities and social sciences such as anthropology, classics, archaeology, sociology, philosophy, and history.
Department Programs
Majors
Minors
- Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Minor
- Jewish Studies Minor
- Religious Studies Minor
- Study of Christianity and Culture Minor
Graduate Programs
Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the religious studies program, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of at least three religious traditions
- Demonstrate knowledge of influential terms, approaches, and theories in religious studies
- Conduct research in religious studies, including interpreting primary sources, assessing scholarly literature, and constructing original arguments
- Clearly and effectively communicate the results of research
Requirements
In addition to the program requirements, students must
- attain a final cumulative GPA of at least 2.0
- complete a minimum of 45 academic credit hours earned from UNC–Chapel Hill courses
- take at least half of their major course requirements (courses and credit hours) at UNC–Chapel Hill
- earn a minimum of 18 hours of C or better in the major core requirements (some majors require 21 hours).
For more information, please consult the degree requirements section of the catalog.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Requirements | ||
| JWST 100/RELI 123 | Introduction to Jewish Studies | 3 |
| JWST 697 | Capstone Course: Themes and Methodologies in Jewish Studies | 3 |
| One course on the ancient period (see list below) 1 | 3 | |
| One course on the medieval or early modern period (see list below) 1 | 3 | |
| One course on the period from 1750 to the present (see list below) 1 | 3 | |
| At least three courses taught outside the Department of Religious Studies (courses are identified by a footnote in the three lists below) 1 | 9 | |
| Additional Requirements | ||
| Students must take two courses at or above the 400 level 2 | ||
| Two courses on the Hebrew language from: | 6 | |
| Total Hours | 30 | |
| 1 | Courses listed more than once can be counted for only one category. |
| 2 | Exclusive of the capstone seminar (JWST 697). |
Although this concentration of the religious studies major is housed in the Department of Religious Studies, the director of Jewish studies is responsible for advising all students who elect the concentration in Jewish studies.
Ancient Period
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| CLAR/JWST/RELI 110 | The Archaeology of Palestine in the New Testament Period | 3 |
| CLAR/JWST/RELI 512 | Ancient Synagogues | 3 |
| JWST/RELI 103 | Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Literature H | 3 |
| JWST/RELI 106 | Introduction to Early Judaism | 3 |
| JWST/RELI 206 | Prophecy and Divination in Ancient Israel and Judah H | 3 |
| JWST/RELI 211 | Classical Hebrew I: A Linguistic Introduction to the Hebrew Bible | 3 |
| JWST/RELI 212 | Classical Hebrew II: A Linguistic Introduction to the Hebrew Bible | 3 |
| JWST/RELI 503 | Exploring the Dead Sea Scrolls H | 3 |
| JWST/RELI 602 | What Is Scripture? Formations of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Canon | 3 |
| RELI 78 | First-Year Seminar: Reading the Bible: Now and Then | 3 |
| RELI 109 | History and Culture of Ancient Israel H | 3 |
| RELI 201 | Ancient Biblical Interpretation H | 3 |
| RELI 608 | The Messiah and the Apocalypse | 3 |
| H | Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply. |
Medieval or Early Modern Period
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| GSLL/JWST 225 | Popular and Pious: Early Modern Jewish Literature 1 | 3 |
| HIST/JWST 153 | From the Bible to Broadway: Jewish History to Modern Times 1 | 3 |
| HIST/JWST 308 | The Renaissance and the Jews 1 | 3 |
| HIST/JWST 330 | Jesus and the Jews: From the Bible to the Big Screen 1, H | 3 |
| HIST/JWST 451 | 1492: The Expulsion of the Jews from Spain 1 | 3 |
| RELI 108 | Classic Jewish Texts: From Bible and Dead Sea Scrolls to Kabbalah and Hassidism | 3 |
| RELI 565 | Medieval Jews and the Bible | 3 |
| RELI 566 | Islamic and Jewish Legal Literature | 3 |
| RELI/WGST 450 | Sexuality in Jewish Tradition and History | 3 |
| H | Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply. |
| 1 | Courses taught outside the Department of Religious Studies. |
Period from 1750 to the Present
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| AMST 360 | The Jewish Writer in American Life 1 | 3 |
| AMST/JWST 486 | Shalom Y'all: The Jewish Experience in the American South 1 | 3 |
| AMST/JWST/WGST 253 | A Social History of Jewish Women in America 1 | 3 |
| ASIA/HIST/PWAD 277 | The Conflict over Israel/Palestine 1 | 3 |
| ASIA/JWST 60 | First-Year Seminar: Israeli Culture and Society: Collective Memories and Fragmented Identities 1 | 3 |
| ASIA/JWST 436 | Language, Exile, and Homeland in Zionist Thought and Practice | 3 |
| ASIA/JWST 357/PWAD 362 | The Arab-Jews: Culture, Community, and Coexistence 1 | 3 |
| ASIA/JWST/PWAD 235 | Israeli Cinema: Gender, Nation, and Ethnicity 1, H | 3 |
| ASIA/JWST/PWAD 425 | Beyond Hostilities: Israeli-Palestinian Exchanges and Partnerships in Film, Literature, and Music 1 | 3 |
| CMPL/GSLL 270/JWST 239/RELI 239 | German Culture and the Jewish Question 1 | 3 |
| ENGL/JWST 289 | Jewish American Literature and Culture of the 20th Century 1 | 3 |
| FOLK/JWST 380 | Traditions in Transition: Jewish Folklore and Ethnography | 3 |
| FOLK/JWST 481 | Jewish Belongings: Material Culture of the Jewish Experience 1 | 3 |
| HEBR/JWST 305 | Advanced Composition and Conversation: Immigration, Ethnicities, and Religious Traditions 1 | 3 |
| HEBR/JWST 306 | Advanced Composition and Conversation: Zionism and the Hebrew Language 1 | 3 |
| HIST/JWST 485 | From Fiddler on the Roof to the Holocaust: East European and Soviet Jewish History 1 | 3 |
| HIST/JWST/PWAD 262 | History of the Holocaust: The Destruction of the European Jews 1 | 3 |
| JWST/PLSH 412 | From Communism to Capitalism: 20th- and 21st-Century Polish Literature and Culture 1 | 3 |
| JWST/GSLL/PWAD 465 | Literature of Atrocity: The Gulag and the Holocaust in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe 1 | 3 |
| JWST/RELI 107 | Introduction to Modern Judaism | 3 |
| JWST/RELI 143 | Judaism in Our Time | 3 |
| JWST/RELI 224 | Modern Jewish Thought H | 3 |
| JWST/RELI 243 | Introduction to American Judaism | 3 |
| JWST/RELI 343 | Religion in Modern Israel | 3 |
| JWST/RELI 444 | Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Judaism | 3 |
| JWST/SLAV 464 | Imagined Jews: Jewish Themes in Polish and Russian Literature 1 | 3 |
| JWST/SLAV 469 | Coming to America: The Slavic Immigrant Experience in Literature 1 | 3 |
| RELI 446 | Christian-Jewish Relations throughout the Ages | 3 |
| RELI 501 | The History of the Bible in Modern Study | 3 |
| SPAN 252 | Argentine Jewish Culture 1 | 3 |
| SPAN 253 | Argentine Jewish Film 1 | 3 |
| H | Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply. |
| 1 | Courses taught outside the Department of Religious Studies. |
Special Opportunities in Religious Studies
Honors in Religious Studies
Students majoring in religious studies (including double majors) with a grade point average of 3.5 or above in department courses and 3.3 grade point average overall and who will have successfully completed at least one course numbered 400 or above on a topic in religious studies that is related to the proposed thesis may choose to write an honors thesis. Candidates for graduation with honors in religious studies are to be enrolled in RELI 691H in the fall and RELI 692H in the spring semester of their senior year. RELI 691H and RELI 692H count toward the major as courses fulfilling subfield requirements. Students should submit applications for the honors program to the department’s director of undergraduate studies by the end of February during their junior year. Consult the department’s director of undergraduate studies for details.
Study Abroad
Professor Jodi Magness directs archaeological excavations in Israel during the summer. Students are welcome to participate. Other courses through the Study Abroad Office can count towards the major and minor in religious studies as well.
Undergraduate Awards and Honors
The department presents three awards at the end of each academic year: the Bernard Boyd Fellowship, the Bernard Boyd Memorial Prize, and the Halperin-Schültz Undergraduate Essay Award.
The department also inducts qualified majors into the Religious Studies National Honor Society, Theta Alpha Kappa.
