Jewish Gender and Women’s Studies

The program in Jewish Gender and Women’s Studies (JGWS) at JTS offers students the opportunity to examine Jewish history, literature, and culture through the critical lens of gender. Current course offerings focus on Jewish women’s history and women and gender in rabbinic literature and Halakhah, in the Bible, and in Jewish ethical thought. Many students bring a strong queer studies, women’s studies, or sexuality studies background with them to JTS; other students simply bring a curiosity and openness to exploring Jewish tradition.

Students in our BA and MA programs ordinarily focus on one historical period or discipline while choosing courses from among the many areas of study taught at JTS. They may also take complementary courses in women’s, feminist, or queer studies at neighboring institutions including Columbia University or Barnard College.

The Program in Jewish Gender and Women’s Studies is a place where students join faculty who are committed to the feminist analysis of traditional Jewish texts and institutions and to the restoration of lost and muted voices.  We encourage students to bring their creativity into their work and aim to teach and promote a gendered understanding of all areas of Judaic studies. Student learning and life is supported by the many feminist, queer, and gender-focused activities and organizations associated with the larger nearby colleges and universities of New York City.

Core Faculty

  • Amy Kalmanofsky, Professor of Bible
  • Marjorie Lehman, Professor of Rabbinic Literatures and Cultures
  • Stefanie Siegmund, Associate Professor of Jewish History, Women’s League Chair in Jewish Gender and Women’s Studies
  • Sarah Wolf, Assistant Professor of Rabbinic Literatures and Cultures

Associated Instructors

  • Shira Billet, Assistant Professor of Jewish Thought and Ethics
  • David Kraemer, Professor of Rabbinic Literatures and Cultures

Bachelor of Arts

Undergraduate Learning Outcomes

By graduation, students will be able to…

  1. Use (in writing and discussion) a gender-studies lexicon that is precise and nuanced and appropriate to each subfield or discipline of Jewish Studies.
  2. Differentiate between the constructedness and performance of gender in Jewish texts, on the one hand (e.g., Biblical, legal, mystical, literary, and images found in popular myth and culture); and the real historical status, activities, and experiences of Jewish women, on the other.
  3. Explain how Jewish Studies scholars have reworked known sources and found new sources, texts, and cultural spaces in the history of the Jewish people that allow us to learn about the experience of women and gender-nonconforming minorities.

 

BA Major Requirements

30 credits chosen in consultation with the program advisor, distributed as follows:

  • Seven courses (21 credits) in Jewish gender and women’s studies, chosen from at least three different fields or disciplines (e.g., Jewish history, Jewish literature, Rabbinic Literatures and Cultures, Jewish Ethics, Bible).
    • Courses that do not have a “JGW” prefix may sometimes, with prior approval of the instructor and the advisor, be adapted for credit toward the major.
  • Two additional courses (6 credits) in feminist, gender, queer, or women’s studies, to be taken at Columbia University or Barnard College, chosen in consultation with the advisor.
  • List College Senior Seminar, honors thesis, or advanced elective course in the major field (3 credits)

Note: Credit is not given for courses taken outside JTS when a similar course is offered at JTS.

Master of Arts

Students who pursue the MA in Jewish Gender and Women’s Studies see the Jewish tradition critically as feminists, and sometimes with ambivalence, and come to JTS explore it deeply, seriously, and creatively. You will take graduate courses in bible, Jewish ethics, rabbinic literature, and history that make the constructedness of gender central to the analysis of texts, and the lived experience of women central to the exploration of history. The MA thesis or creative project, which you complete in your second year, can help launch your career (related to gender equity, education, or in the Jewish professional world) or it could prepare you for doctoral studies or future work in the creative arts.

The MA is designed to take one to two years of full-time study to complete. Students may be eligible for advanced standing or other degree completion timelines in consultation with the advisor.

MA Learning Outcomes

Students completing the MA will meet all outcomes of the BA at a more advanced level, as well as be able to…

  1. Recognize passages from Jewish texts that have been considered formative in creating or validating a historically androcentric rabbinic culture and explain the way that gender is constructed in those texts.
  2. Independently analyze Jewish texts with a gender analysis or from a queered or feminist point of view.
  3. Produce new work (academic or creative) based on original analysis of sources using feminist, queer, or other critical lenses

MA Admission Requirements

Students interested in the MA in JGWS are expected to meet the general admissions requirements for all Kekst students.

MA Degree Requirements

Courses

In addition to language courses required of all students in the Gershon Kekst Graduate School, 30 graduate credits (5000 level and above) are required:

  • MDS 5102: Classics of the Jewish Tradition (3 credits)
  • One course in feminist or queer theory (3 credits) to be taken at any of the graduate schools in the New York Theological Consortium Program and chosen in consultation with the advisor.
  • Five elective courses (15 credits) in Jewish Gender and Women’s Studies at JTS.
  • Three additional courses (9 credits), selected in consultation with the advisor.
    • This requirement may be met in part by taking Bible 5011 and/or RLC 5025 (for students who have not been exempted);
    • Three credits of this requirement may be met with a second gender-studies class from a cooperating institution.

Note: A course that does not have a JGW cross-listing may, under certain circumstances, be taken to fulfill elective courses when the instructor considers it possible to adapt the materials and/or assessments, and with approval, in advance, of the Program Chair.

Master’s Thesis or Capstone Project

Students must complete a master’s thesis, a work of original research of about 40 pages. Students work closely with a JTS faculty member who agrees to serve as advisor; the chair of the Program will serve as co-advisor. The paper should fall within one of the disciplinary areas currently taught at JTS. Writing done for another course may inform this project, but a paper written previously will not fulfill the requirement. Prior to beginning the thesis, at the end of their second semester students propose their topic, design a research plan and schedule, and identify their primary advisor. Work on the thesis must be completed before graduation, usually in the fourth term.

An alternative project may be possible for creative artists who design a project (e.g., creative writing, or visual, musical, or performance arts) and can be mentored by an appropriate JTS faculty member.

Such projects require substantial planning on the part of the student to ensure the availability of appropriate advisement and the evaluation of the student’s work by qualified faculty. Students interested in pursuing an alternative MA project should consult with the Program Director as soon as possible to begin this process.