Center for Jewish Studies

UC Santa Cruz offers a major and minor in Jewish Studies. focuses on the modern era, and explores the profound impact of modernization on traditional Jewish life and, concomitantly, the critical role played by Jews on the formation of modernity. The courses in our program encompass the range of modern Jewish Studies, including Eastern European Jewish life, modern Jewish thought, contemporary Israel, the Holocaust, American Jewish culture, as well as modern Hebrew and Yiddish language and literature. The program is administered by the Department of History. More information can be found at jewishstudies.ucsc.edu.