The University of Oklahoma offers the following programs (click for requirements/checksheet):
- Bachelor of Arts in Judaic Studies
- Bachelor of Arts in History
(Judaic/Israel History Thematic Field) - Minor in Judaic and Israel Studies
- Minor in Hebrew
Judaic Studies explores the history and culture of the Jewish people over a period of four millennia in the Land of Israel and in the Diaspora (Dispersion) through the tools of the humanities and the social sciences. The field began as an academic discipline in Europe during the nineteenth century and developed within universities and research centers the world over during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Israel Studies is a much more recent field dedicated to interpreting the culture, politics and society of the modern State of Israel.
The University of Oklahoma offers the following programs (click for requirements/checksheet):
The University of Oklahoma offers the following:
MA History | Judaic/Israel History Major Field
Exemplary applicants to the MA program may be offered funding from the Schusterman Center
Information on MA History Degree Program
*Graduate program applications are due December 15.
Doctoral level work in Judaic and Israel Studies may be pursued through the PhD program in History, in collaboration with Schusterman Center faculty.
Please contact Director Alan Levenson (alevenson@ou.edu) for inquiries about doctoral study.
The Schusterman Center Graduate Fellowship in Judaic/Israel History selects incoming MA students with a declared major field in Judaic/Israel History for fellowship awards on a competitive basis. Fellows serve as teaching or research assistants for Schusterman Center core faculty.
Benefits include:
Through OU's Study Abroad programs, we send several students every year to study in Israel. Want to learn Hebrew in an immersive environment, then why not go to Ulpan at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem? Or if you prefer the beach, why not take summer courses at Tel Aviv University? Want to uncover history? Then go on one of our summer archaeological digs!
Students interested in studying at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev should contact Rhona Seidelman (rds@ou.edu).
Students interested in studying at the University of Haifa should contact Shmuel Shepkaru (shepkaru@ou.edu).
Best of all, the Schusterman Center offers several scholarships for students wanting to spend a summer, a semester, or even a year in Israel!
Testimonials
"I graduated in May 2018 with my Ph.D. in Instructional Lead-ership and Academic Curriculum. My dissertation, under the direction of Professor Lawrence Baines in the Jeannine Rain-bolt College of Education, was entitled "Not Upgraded Tour-ism: A Case Study of the Effects of a Short-Term Study Abroad Experience in Israel." I explored the experiences of study abroad participants in Jerusalem and the perspective transformation they underwent during their sojourns, in the hope of providing insights for international curriculum develop-ment. I have accepted an assistant professor position at Duke Kunshan University in Kunshan, China, where I will be teach-ing applied linguistics and culture in the new liberal arts pro-gram. On the research side, I am currently working on an arti-cle based on my dissertation on the effects of curricula in in-ternational education and I am presently collecting more data, still with students studying in Israel. Thank you, again, for this amazing opportunity in Jerusalem. I learned so much that I encouraged my friend Merima Hadzic to apply to the same program through the institute and she is currently at Rothberg School."
- Emmanuelle Chiocca (2017-2018)
"My recent trip to Israel was one of the most profound experiences of my life… I am left with only two seemingly trite little words to describe my trip and the opportunity this scholarship represents, Awesome and Amazing! And a scant one more to express the deep and profound gratitude for the opportunity to have had this experience and the continuing difficulty of trying to understand and express all the ways it has affected the way I know the world, שלום."
- Rebecca Eden (2015)
"In my year in Israel, I gained new skills, made professional contacts, expanded my knowledge, and experienced Judaism in a way I never had before, all while having an excellent time. I will never forget my lifechanging experiences in Israel, and these never would have happened without the help of the Bezalel Foundation and the OU Schusterman Center for Judaic and Israel Studies."
- Jacob Lackner (2013-2014)
"My five weeks in Jerusalem made for an invaluable experience that I will not soon forget. For anyone who has studied Jewish history, the opportunity to learn the Hebrew language only blocks from where Eliezer ben Yehuda helped resurrect it offers an intoxicating sense of being a part of that history. To even approach an understanding of Jewish past or present requires, I think, an acquaintance with the land of Israel."
- Walker Robins (2011)
A broad variety of competitive awards and scholarships are available to University of Oklahoma students pursuing the fields of Judaic and Israel Studies. Please click below to exand each particular item.
For further information, please contact us!
Established in 2016 in honor of the Schusterman Center's founding director, the Norman Stillman Prize for Excellence in Judaic Studies is awarded annually to an outstanding undergraduate or graduate student scholar at the University of Oklahoma. Prospective winners are nominated by our faculty and the awardees selected by committee.
2024 Winner: Caleb Farris
2023 Winner: Jude Botwin
2022 Winner: Jacob Jeffery
2021 Winner: Jonah Roberson
2020 Winner: G.S. Aryeh Wall
2019 Winner: Kanaan Goldstein
2018 Winner: Jesse Weinberg
2017 Winner: Jacob Lackner
2016 Winner: Tryce Hyman
Scholarships of $10,000 each are offered for semester-long study abroad programs in Israel; in addition we have $5,000 scholarships for those wishing to study in Israel during the summer. Scholarships are open to University of Oklahoma undergraduate and graduate students who have completed a minimum of 15 hours of college coursework by the time of the application deadline. Students from all majors and minors are eligible; priority will be given to graduate students concentrating in Jewish History and undergraduate students who have officially declared a major or a minor in Judaic Studies or a minor in Hebrew. Applicants must have maintained a 2.5 GPA overall, and/or a 3.0 GPA in any Jewish History, Judaic Studies or Hebrew courses taken.
Deadline: December 1, 2024 by midnight for Summer 2025.*
*Note: Reach out to Aaron Britton (abritton@ou.edu) immediately if you plan to apply for a scholarship. Education Abroad has their own requirements and deadlines!
This scholarship is open to any individual who, having completed at least 30 credit hours of college coursework, is a full-time, regularly enrolled student of the University of Oklahoma during the period in which application is made, and who has officially declared a major or minor in Judaic Studies and/or a minor in Hebrew.
Applicants must have maintained a 3.0 grade average on a scale of 4.0 in Judaic Studies/Hebrew courses. The number of completed hours in the major or minors will also be taken into consideration by the selection committee. Any eligible, deserving undergraduate student is qualified for either an initial award or a subsequent award if, in the opinion of the selection committee, the student is making satisfactory progress toward graduation and the student needs supplemental financial assistance. Applicants will be chosen chiefly on college performance with financial need assuming a secondary role.
This scholarship is open to any individual who is a full-time, regularly enrolled student of the University of Oklahoma majoring in Judaic Studies.
Applicants must have maintained a 2.8 grade point average on a scale of 4.0. The overall grade point average may also be taken into consideration by the selection committee as well as the number of completed hours in the major. Any eligible, deserving undergraduate or graduate student is qualified for either an initial award or a subsequent award if, in the opinion of the selection committee, the student is making satisfactory progress toward graduation.
This scholarship is open to any individual who, having completed at least three Judaic Studies and/or Hebrew courses, is a full-time, regularly enrolled undergraduate or graduate student of the University of Oklahoma during the period in which application is made. Preference will be given to declared majors or minors in Judaic Studies or minors in Hebrew.
Applicants must have maintained a 3.0 grade point average in the minor on a scale of 4.0. The overall grade point average may also be taken into consideration by the selection committee as well as the number of completed hours in the major and/or minors. Any eligible, deserving undergraduate or graduate student is qualified for either an initial award or a subsequent award if, in the opinion of the selection committee, the student is making satisfactory progress toward graduation.
A number of internship and scholarship opportunities, including the Ben Shanker Family Foundation Scholarship and the Carrie Jacobi Scholarship, are availagble via Oklahoma Hillels. Click link below for more information.
The Presidential International Travel Fellowship or "PITF" is a scholarship created by former OU President David L. Boren to support international travel for study abroad. Student awards will be given on a competitive basis to qualified students whose financial needs are not being met by other channels.
Judaic/Israel Studies is only for Jews. Our biggest stumbling-block! Not only are most of our students not Jewish, many of our faculty are not either. Our field is an academic one: if the subject interests you, that’s good enough. (Jewish life at OU happens to be warm & friendly and there’s an active Hillel for all who wish to get involved).
Judaic/Israel Studies requires Hebrew. We encourage students to take Hebrew, but the overwhelming majority of our students do not. No language requirements, unless you want to Major/Minor.
Judaic/Israel Studies is too old. Yes, Jewry is an ancient civilization. But the computer chips that you use in your cellphone were developed in today’s Israel and quite a few of the movies you like (especially the comedies) were made by American Jewish writers or directors.
Judaic/Israel Studies is too narrow. Schusterman Center scholarships are open to a broad array of OU students. Go on an archaeological dig, learn fashion design, study music composition, explore security studies, take university classes in mysticism. We’ve funded all these interests and more.
Judaic/ Israel Studies classes sound hard. Like any good Humanities or Social Science unit, we are rigorous. After all, you want a degree that prepares you for the working world by cultivating your reading, speaking and writing skills. But our teachers are committed and caring, our classes are small, usually capped at 40, and you will get to know us – and we’ll get to know you too.
