Judaic Studies Program gaining momentum

Portland State University’s new Judaic Studies Program has grown substantially since receiving a $1.2 million donation last May from the Schnitzer family of Portland.

The donation helped create the Harold A. Schnitzer Family Judaic Studies Program, with the goal of adding another component to the diversity on the PSU campus.

“The only way to rid our selves of intolerance and hatred is through understanding,” Jordan Schnitzer said to the Oregonian (May 4, 2002).

The program focuses on the history of Judaism, as well as how Jewish traditions have helped shape Western society.

“We’re not a religious program,” said professor Robert Liebman, acting director of the Judaic Studies Program. “One way to think about Judaic Studies is how, just like we have African-American Studies and Women’s Studies, it’s a way to connect courses from different disciplines that offer a perspective on history and society, which is really what we’re about.”

One of the program goals is to provide perspective on the plurality that exists today.

“It will provide a way to explore the complex intersection of religion, morality and community in the modern world,” the program statement says. “Through the integrated study of history and language, religion and culture, the program will further understanding of Judaism and Jewish history as part of Western and world history.”

Liebman said the Judaic studies classes at PSU are going to examine Judaism from a number of angles.

“We’re more interested in how Judaism has multiple forms, including religion, lineage, ethnic groups and cultural heritage,” he said.

At its core, PSU’s Judaic Studies Program has five concerns that it intends to address: religious pluralism; religion and science; diaspora, citizenship and cultural survival; community and identity; and modernity and culture. The themes originated from a faculty committee, which tried to determine what would interest students at PSU.

Currently, the program is offering classes within other departments, such as humanities and sociology, as well as hosting lectures on campus. Though it does not yet have a certificate or minor program, it is a goal for the future.

One characteristic of the Judaic Studies Program is to allow for community involvement and experiential learning, and some PSU students are participating in a Senior Capstone through the program, working in collaboration with the Cedar Sinai Park Jewish Elderly Center. More Senior Capstones may be available in years to come.

Later this year, the program will collaborate with the Latino/Chicano Studies Program, Miracle Theatre Group, and the Mittleman Jewish Community Center on a project called “Unveiled Spirits.” Highlighting the underground Jewish movement within Latino culture, the project will take place in May, and include a performance, lectures, talkbacks and a course at PSU in which community members can learn more about the history of the movement.

In addition to the spring project, the Oregon School of Judaic Studies at Portland State University will be held for a third time this summer. Offering six short courses in the history, religion and culture of Judaism, the school is taught by visiting faculty from a variety of backgrounds.

Topics of the classes range from environmental ethics and Judaism, to Jewish music. The OSJS program caters to college students, teachers, adult learners and high school students from various religions and cultures.

Students already involved in the program enjoy the opportunity to study religion in an educational setting. Joshua Bass, a first-year graduate student and sociology major at PSU, explained that he enjoys studying the sociology of religion.

“When you study in a church, mosque or synagogue, you hear the insider’s view, but studying in school, you get an outsider perspective,” Bass said. “You’re not studying what’s right, you’re studying what people think is right.”

Bass feels that it’s important for people to have exposure to the topics discussed within the Judaic Studies Program.

“It’s such a huge part of human life,” he said. “If we didn’t study it, we’d be leaving something out.”

The Web site for the PSU Judaic Studies Program is www.judaic.pdx.edu. Liebman can be reached at [email protected].