In addition to Judaism as a religion, Jewish Studies explores the texts, histories, cultures, sociologies, languages, and fine arts of the Jewish people from biblical times to the present, locating these within the context of the many western and non-western civilizations in which Jews have lived. It also examines Jewish interactions with non-Jews over the ages, both cooperative and conflictual, elements of cultural symbiosis, evolving attitudes towards and images of Jews within various non-Jewish cultures, and the history of antisemitism, including the Holocaust. All the while, Jewish Studies explores the Jewish experience with a view to understanding the human situation in its diversity and complexity.
The Undergraduate Program in Jewish Studies is an interdisciplinary program house in the Department of Humanities. It brings together course and members of York’s faculties whose focus is the exceptionally diverse subject areas that Jewish Studies encompasses as an academic discipline. To learn more, please visit the Jewish Studies program page and follow this link for a list of courses offered in 2024-2025.