Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
Established in 1953, Near Eastern and Judiac Studies (NEJS) is the oldest program of its kind in the United States with the largest instructional staff of any secular university outside of the State of Israel. Its faculty covers the ancient Near East, the modern Middle East, Christian and Islamic studies, and the range of Jewish experience from the Bible and the ancient Near East to present-day world Jewry. The variety of scholarly disciplines represented by members of the Department include history, philology, history of religions, literary criticism, political science, and sociology. The Department's Hebrew Program is the largest in the country. The international scholarly journal, POLIN: A Journal of Polish-Jewish Studies, is edited within the department. The Feminist Sexual Ethics Project focuses on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The University library has one of the best collections of Hebraica and Judaica in the nation. In the NEJS Department students have the opportunity to pursue course work in such specialty areas as Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Jewish History, and the Modern Middle East.
The units that comprise the Philip W. Lown School of Near
Eastern and Judaic Studies, one of the most comprehensive
such centers outside of the State of Israel, offer academic
and professional training in the areas of the ancient and
modern Near East, Jewish Civilization, the study of
religions, language instruction, and research in Jewish life
and literature. The Department of Near Eastern and Judaic
Studies is the primary teaching unit within the Lown School.
In addition, the Lown School encompasses The Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center
for Modern Jewish Studies, The Steinhardt Social Research
Institute, The Fisher-Bernstein Institute for Jewish
Philanthropy and Leadership, The Tauber
Institute for the Study of European Jewry, The Jacob
and Libby Goodman Institute for the Study of Zionism and
Israel, The Bernard G. and Rhoda G. Sarnat Center for the
Study of Anti-Jewishness, The Mandel
Center for Studies in Jewish Education, The Gralla
Fellows Program for Journalists, The Hadassah-Brandeis
Institute, Hornstein: The Jewish
Community Leadership Program @ Brandeis , The Institute
for Informal Jewish Education, The
Brandeis University Summer Institute for Israel Studies
and The Genesis
Program. The National
Center for Jewish Film, an independent organization, is
housed in the Lown building. These units of the Lown School
serve as invaluable resources for students, faculty, and the
wider community.
The Center for
Ethics, Justice and Public Life, an independent unit on
campus complements the course offerings in the NEJS program
by offering important resources, convening significant
conferences and programs, and also by conducting research in
which students are often involved.
Take a look at our NEJS @ 50 exhibit online. Also, see how well you
don on the NEJS @ 50 quiz!