Jewish Studies Graduate Certificate

The Graduate Certificate in Jewish Studies is offered by the School of Religion in USC Dornsife College. It is designed to give students pursuing research in areas related to Jewish Studies (including Judaism as a religion, the history of Jews, Jewish thought, etc.) a solid grounding in the field, as well as mentorship from Jewish Studies faculty.

Students interested in pursuing the program should meet with the adviser to apply for the program and plan a course of study. In addition to taking relevant course work, candidates must include research on a topic related to Jewish Studies in their PhD dissertation projects (generally the PhD dissertation, though potentially an MA thesis depending on the program); or take a concluding qualifying oral exam based on three seminar or research papers written in conjunction with their Jewish Studies course work.

Completion of the certificate requires 16 units of course work, including REL 560  Colloquium in Jewish Studies and three additional courses that may be pre-approved courses or courses requiring prior approval from the adviser. After consultation and with prior approval, additional appropriate courses taught at USC and HUC-JIR may count toward the certificate. All certificate courses must be at the 500-level or above, and at least 50 percent of their content must focus on Jewish Studies. Students may apply no more than 4 units of 590 Directed Research.