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Launched in 2005 under Professors Dwayne Carpenter and Maxim Shrayer, the program made headlines as one of the first Jewish Studies programs at a Jesuit University. In the summer of 2023, the Jewish Studies faculty relaunched the program with an eye towards growth and diversity. In less than a year, Jewish Studies evolved to a thriving interdisciplinary minor with over a dozen students from a wide range of backgrounds.

Under the leadership of Co-Directors Professor Matt Sienkiewicz and Professor Don Fishman, Boston College鈥檚 Jewish Studies program incorporates classes from across the university鈥檚 curriculum. In selecting their six courses to complete the minor, students now choose among disciplines ranging from Communication to Theology to Eastern, Slavic and German Studies聽 and beyond. Our new required course, Introduction to Jewish Cultures and Civilization provides students with crucial background knowledge about Jewish texts, the principles of Judaism, and the history of Jewish life in Israel and throughout the diaspora. We have also expanded our Hebrew program, encouraging minors to study Modern or Biblical Hebrew in order to fulfill their university language requirement.

Importantly, the Jewish Studies minor helps students navigate Boston College鈥檚 Jesuit mission, which calls upon students to integrate their intellectual, social, and spiritual lives. For both Jewish and non-Jewish students, a minor in Jewish Studies offers an additional perspective on the major moral, philosophical, and historical questions that Boston College encourages all students to grapple with. Classes such as Judaism and Christianity in Dialogue fulfill the theology core requirement and Modern Jewish Thought the cultural diversity core requirement. An important area of study on its own, Jewish Studies enhances and expands Boston College鈥檚 general curriculum in important ways.

The perspective of Jewish Studies is of particular necessity during our current cultural moment. Boston College Jewish Studies encourages students to learn from faculty who contextualize contemporary debates and controversies from the perspectives of Jewish history, philosophy, and theology. Furthermore, as antisemitism remains a concern on every campus in America, students need the opportunity to confront this prejudice with knowledgeable and sensitive instructors. A strong Jewish Studies program is the best way to ensure every student at Boston College has these opportunities. We look forward to continuing and expanding the presence of Jewish Studies on The Heights.