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The Jewish Studies Program at the University of Delaware, established in the Fall of 1990, is an interdisciplinary program within the College of Arts and Sciences. Jewish Studies is a secular, academic discipline that covers Jewish civilization from its ancient Near Eastern origins through its contemporary history and culture in the United States, in Israel and in communities around the world. The history and literature, religion and philosophy, poetry, law, art, and general culture of the Jewish people is one of the richest complexes within the whole of Western culture. A small people numerically, and dispersed throughout much of their history in dozens of different lands and civilizations, the Jews created a cultural legacy out of all proportion with their physical circumstances.

The program relies heavily for its teaching component on other departments within the University. It is an integral part of the intellectual and teaching mission of the University and prides itself in being able to add a Jewish perspective to the diversity and multicultural environment of American society. As an academic program, Jewish Studies does not advocate a particular belief system and does not require experience with Jewish religious practice.

The program focuses on teaching and research on Jewish history, literature, culture and philosophy, building its strength from the interdisciplinary nature of the intellectual offerings The program draws on faculty teaching in constituent departments, such as Anthropology, English, Foreign Languages and Literatures, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology and Women's Studies. In addition visiting faculty also teach in the program. The program offers a variety of courses leading to a minor in Jewish Studies and sponsors academic speakers and cultural events.

The program also reaches out to off-campus communities who are interested in the Jewish tradition. The Jewish Studies Program operates under the aegis of the Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences.

1. INTERDISCIPLINARY FOCUS:
   • To work with departments in their efforts to provide courses on the many interconnected facets of Jewish civilization, culture and thought, including history, literature, philosophy, sociology, religion, politics, and languages.
   • To study Jewish thought and history is to better understand the underpinnings of both Jewish and Western cultures, as well as the mutual influences that helped shape each.

   Jewish intellectual development has had a profound impact on the evolution of Western philosophy, literature, and political and social thought. The influence of contemporary American Jewish writers on the shape of modern writing is a notable example. Jewish Studies has significantly contributed to grappling with the implications for Western civilization of the Holocaust and its aftermath.

2. MULTICULTURAL FOCUS:
   • To further the university's goal of a multicultural education:
     The geographic and intellectual history of Jews in the world addresses the way the outsider coexists (and often struggles) with the insider, to maintain both physical and cultural survival.
3. COMMUNITY FOCUS:
   • To interact with the off-campus community by providing activities that communicate the intellectual resources in Jewish Studies available at the University:
     Colloquia and other cultural activities are open to the University and to the wider community and are in some cases co-sponsored with other units in the University. The Jewish Studies program on campus is the only one in the State and is able to attract students from a wide geographic area. The program is small enough not to need large additional resources, yet makes use of the facilities it does have to support faculty in other departments in their teaching and research endeavors.