• Jewish Culture

    Jewish Culture

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    Office of Admission

    Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts
    79 Fifth Avenue, 5th floor 
    New York, NY 10003 
    Phone: 212.229.5150 or 
    800.292.3040
    Fax: 212.229.5355
    [email protected]

    Program Contact
    Val Vinokur
    Program Director, Jewish Culture
    Associate Professor, Literary Studies
    [email protected] 

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  • Study classic Jewish texts, both sacred (the Hebrew Bible and Talmud) and secular, and examine Jewish history from biblical times to the present. The Jewish Culture minor considers Jews and Judaism as rich case studies for questioning the meaning and origin of concepts like nation, state, religion, ethnicity, exile, and diaspora.

    • Study Options Minor

    Drawing on courses from across the university, Lang takes an interdisciplinary approach to the subject of Jewish Culture. The program builds on The New School's historic role as a haven for leading European Jewish intellectuals in the 1930s and 1940s. Some of them (Hannah Arendt and Leo Strauss, for example) have become major figures in modern Jewish culture. Like them, we see the study of Jewish culture not as a means of affirming identity but as a way of understanding the world at large.

    Individual Jewish Culture courses can be taken as electives to supplement any major or incorporated into the self-designed Liberal Arts major. Those majoring in Liberal Arts can explore Jewish Culture as a guided area of study; all others may elect to minor in Jewish Culture. Those majoring in Liberal Arts may also complete an optional senior capstone project guided by a Jewish Culture advisor.

    Minor requirements

    Connecting to New York City

    While it offers the atmosphere and intimacy of a small college, Eugene Lang College is part of The New School, a major progressive university in New York City. Jewish Culture students access the city's rich local Jewish life and institutions, including courses and field trips related to the historic Museum at Eldridge Street and to the Second Cemetery of Congregation Shearith Israel, the oldest Jewish congregation in North America. Students can enrich their studies and pursue internships at organizations such as YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, Center for Jewish History, Lower East Side Tenement Museum, and Museum of Jewish Heritage. 

    Career Paths

    The interdisciplinary minor in Jewish Culture provides an academic foundation for career paths including nonprofit agencies, NGOs, and writing, and for graduate study in fields such as religion, international relations, law, history, literature, social work, social science, and education. Consult our 4-Year Lang Career Pathways Map (PDF) for helpful steps and resources to link your academic journey to your future plans.

    Outcomes at Lang

  • Courses

    Explore a selection of courses available to you in this program.

    • LHIS 3001

      Uses of the Past

      This course focuses on public history and social memory, the ways society engages the past collectively, through political discourse, oral traditions, monuments, mass culture (journalism, movies, music), art, literature, and iconography. Recently scholars have acknowledged the role of memory in orga...

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    • The Hebrew Bible is a diverse collection of writings produced during the first millennium BCE. This course is designed to familiarize students with this wide range of biblical literature and the literary culture that produced them. How do genres like biblical erotica, ritual, poetry, and prophecy ...

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    • ?Dying is easy, comedy is hard?, says the swashbuckling character Alan Swaan, portrayed by Peter O?Toole in the film My Favorite Year, written by Norman Steinberg and Dennis Palumbo. The course Funny Ha-Ha: The Art of Comedy, is a deep dive into the risky business of being funny and how great comedi...

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  • Jewish Culture draws on courses across the university. Learn from and work with faculty mentors who are leading scholars and thinkers in the area of culture.

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Undergraduates

To apply to any of our undergraduate programs (except the Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs) complete and submit the Common App online.

Undergraduate Adult Learners

To apply to any of our Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.

Graduates

To apply to any of our Master's, Doctoral, Professional Studies Diploma, and Graduate Certificate programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.

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