Jewish Studies

Jewish Studies: Introduction

Lead Faculty of the Collaborative Specialization

Arts and Science

Participating Degree Programs

Anthropology — MA, PhD
Art History — MA, PhD
Classics — MA, PhD
Comparative Literature — MA, PhD
Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies — MA, PhD
English — MA, PhD
European and Russian Affairs — MA
Geography — PhD
Germanic Languages and Literatures — MA
Germanic Literature, Culture and Theory — PhD
History — MA, PhD
InformationPhD
Law — LLM, MSL, SJD
Linguistics — PhD
Medieval Studies — MA, PhD
Museum Studies — MMSt
Music — MA, PhD
Music Performance — DMA
Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations — MA, PhD
Philosophy — MA, PhD
Political Science — MA, PhD
Religion — MA, PhD
Slavic Languages and LiteraturesMA, PhD
Sociology — MA, PhD
Women and Gender Studies — MA

Overview

The Collaborative Specialization in Jewish Studies offers both broad and intensive exposure to the constituent fields within Jewish Studies. Because of Jewish civilization's vast chronological and geographical range, as well as its constant interaction and cross-fertilization with other cultures, graduate work within Jewish Studies demands intensive exposure to a wide variety of languages, textual traditions, and scholarly disciplines.

The collaborative specialization involves the graduate master's and doctoral programs listed above. Upon successful completion of the degree requirements of the participating home graduate unit and the collaborative specialization, students will receive the notation "Completed Collaborative Specialization in Jewish Studies" on their transcript.

Contact and Address

Web: www.jewishstudies.utoronto.ca
Email: cjs.director@utoronto.ca
Telephone: (416) 978-1624
Fax: (416) 946-7719

Collaborative Specialization in Jewish Studies
Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies
University of Toronto
170 St. George Street, Suite 218
Toronto, Ontario M5R 3M8
Canada

Jewish Studies: Master's Level

Admission Requirements

  • In addition to the admission requirements of the home graduate unit, sufficient linguistic knowledge, textual training, and familiarity with relevant scholarship in order to carry out graduate work in Jewish Studies within the chosen field are required.

Specialization Requirements

  • Completion of CJS1000H, the core methods seminar in Jewish Studies. This seminar will introduce students to the different disciplines, methods, and approaches within Jewish Studies.

  • 0.5 full-course equivalent (FCE) in Jewish Studies taken within the student's home graduate unit or in another unit (may count towards the course requirements of the student's home unit).

  • A comprehensive exam in Jewish Studies, supervised by a faculty member chosen from Jewish Studies and in consultation with the graduate chair from the student's home unit, in which the student will be asked to show knowledge of areas of Jewish Studies relevant to his or her disciplinary focus.

  • If the student's home program requires a major research paper or thesis, the focus of the paper must pertain to Jewish Studies, and the topic must be approved by the collaborative specialization director.

Jewish Studies: Doctoral Level

Admission Requirements

  • In addition to the admission requirements of the home graduate unit, sufficient linguistic knowledge, textual training, and familiarity with relevant scholarship in order to carry out graduate work in Jewish Studies within the chosen field are required.

Specialization Requirements

  • Completion of CJS2000H (Credit/No Credit), the core research colloquium in Jewish Studies that runs biweekly throughout the year.

  • Two half courses (1.0 full-course equivalent [FCE]), one within and one outside of the student's home unit, taught by a member of the CJS faculty (may count towards the course requirements of the student's home unit).

  • A doctoral dissertation that deals substantively with topics in Jewish Studies and is supervised or co-supervised by a Jewish Studies graduate faculty member.

  • Students will be required to give one presentation at the Jewish Studies graduate student conference over the course of their doctoral program. The conference will be held each year in the spring. The paper presentation must be completed before the completion of the doctoral program.

Jewish Studies: Courses

Not all courses are offered every year. Please consult the graduate unit for information about course availability. Courses marked with # are taught by Jewish Studies faculty members and incorporate themes within and outside of Jewish Studies. Major research and writing assignments for such courses must focus on topics in Jewish Studies.

Core Courses

Course Code Course Title
CJS1000H
Jewish Studies Master's Seminar
CJS2000H
Jewish Studies Doctoral Seminar (Credit/No Credit)

Elective Courses

Reading Course

Course Code Course Title
CJS1012H Jewish Studies Directed Reading Course
CJS2010H
Jewish Studies Directed Reading Course

History

Course Code Course Title
HIS1279H
World War II in East Central Europe
HIS1287H
Polish Jews Since the Partitions of Poland

Medieval Studies

Course Code Course Title
MST3225H#
Jews and Christians in Medieval and Renaissance Europe

Music

Course Code Course Title
CJS1010H Representations of Jews and Jewishness in Opera

Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations

Course Code Course Title
NMC1100Y#
Introduction to Aramaic
NMC1101Y#
Early Syriac Texts
NMC1102Y
Western Aramaic — Jerusalem Talmud
NMC1105Y#
Syriac Historical Texts
NMC1106Y#
Syriac Exegetical Texts
NMC1111Y#
Eastern Aramaic — Babylonian Talmud
NMC1306H
Scribes, Manuscripts, and Translations of the Hebrew Bible
NMC1308H#
Readings in Hebrew Bible
NMC1318H
Midreshei Halakha: Purity and Cultic Texts
NMC1608Y
Life Cycle and Personal Status in Judaism: Reproductive Technology and Jewish Law

Philosophy

Various courses, depending upon their content in a given year. Consult the collaborative specialization director.

Course Code Course Title
PHL2084H#
Seminar in Nineteenth-Century Continental Philosophy
PHL2089H#
Seminar in Twentieth-Century Continental Philosophy
PHL2090H
Hermeneutics

Religion

Course Code Course Title
RLG3621H
Modern Jewish Thought
RLG3622H
Maimonides and His Modern Interpreters
RLG3634H#
Worship and Scripture at Qumran
RLG3641H
Interpretations of Jewish Tradition
RLG3645Y
The Jewish Legal Tradition
RLG3647H
Early Rabbinic Judaism

Slavic Languages and Literatures

Course Code Course Title
SLA1207H
The Imaginary Jew