Programs
Brandeis has a variety of academic programs and departments that address religious and spiritual issues. Some departments and programs focus on one religion while others are more comparative.
Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department
NEJS is an acronym for the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department. Courses focus on Judaism as well as Arabic, Islamic and Christian civilizations. Many courses also cover the politics, history and literature of the Ancient Near East. This department was established in 1953 to offer courses about cultures in the Ancient Near East. At the time of its founding, the focus was on Judaism. This focus has expanded since that time and today offers the largest number of religion-focused courses at Brandeis.
For more information
Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Program
IMES is an acronym for the Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies program. The program focuses on providing students with a specialized curriculum on Islam while also providing courses about different institutions in the Middle East. Students are expected to learn about both the classical and modern eras of the Middle East and also a Middle Eastern language.
IMES was first listed as a program in the 1981-82 academic year and, at first, was just a mixture of Arabic courses and NEJS courses. As time passed, the IMES department created its own courses and started to create a more organized and concrete program that focused on Islam. Now the IMES program mixes language courses, NEJS courses and its own courses to offer a broader curriculum.
For more information
Religious Studies
The Religious Studies program offers a minor for undergraduates at Brandeis. Unlike the NEJS department and IMES program, the Religious Studies program offers few of its own courses. Instead, it allows students to take courses on religion related topics in departments including NEJS, IMES, sociology and anthropology. The Religious Studies program is the youngest religion-focused program at Brandeis.
For more information
Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program
The Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership program is a graduate program at Brandeis. It provides courses and training interested in becoming Jewish leaders. Courses focus both on the history of Judaism and contemporary Jewish affairs to prepare students for careers in Jewish leadership. Students also meet and interact with current Jewish leaders. This program was opened in 1969 and named after donor Benjamin S. Hornstein. First intended to train Jewish students who wanted to join the field of Jewish communal service, the program has expanded since that time.
For your information
Humanities and Social Sciences
Although these departments are not specifically focused on religion, they offer courses on related topics of interest to students interested in the academic study of religion. Some of these courses can be taken to fulfill major and minor requirements for religion-focused programs. In the case of the Religious Studies minor, students can find various courses in religion in these other departments to build a curriculum with their advisors.
For more information
To find these courses, search these departments/programs:
- American Studies
- Anthropology
- Art History
- Classical Studies
- Comparative Humanities
- Comparative Literature and Culture
- East Asian Studies
- European Cultural Studies
- Fine Arts
- German Studies
- Global Studies
- Hispanic Studies
- History
- History of Ideas
- Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership
- International and Global Studies
- Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
- Medieval and Renaissance Studies
- Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
- Peace, Conflict and Coexistence Studies
- Philosophy
- Religious Studies
- Sociology
- South Asian Studies