The Fern and Manfred Steinfeld Program in Judaic Studies
Welcome to the Judaic Studies website. In 1993, an Endowment was established in the Department of Religious Studies to support a scholar of Judaism. This first step resulted in the creation of a Judaic Studies Program just two years later, named for Manfred and Fern Steinfeld, major donors to the program and the university. The Judaic Studies Program offers an interdisciplinary major concentration as well as a minor.
The program also offers an annual lecture series supported by funding from the Knoxville Jewish Alliance, the annual Robinson Family Lecture Series on Modern Israel and a lecture series endowed by Dr. Alan Solomon, The Abraham and Rebecca Solomon and Ida Schwartz Distinguished Lecture Series in Judaic Studies . We produce an annual newsletter, and organize additional major programming, such as Holocaust conferences, Israel celebrations, and exhibitions, often in collaboration with other university entities and outside organizations.
Judaism is an ancient civilization, with a nearly four-thousand-year-old history, culture, and religion. The Jewish people began with Abraham and Sarah, and the Jewish religion with the Exodus and Moses. From Egypt to Israel, from Babylonia to the Maghreb, from China to Spain, Jews have nurtured their religion and their culture, often in the face of serious persecution. The academic study of Judaism is an interdisciplinary enterprise, encompassing the study of Biblical Hebrew and the Modern Hebrew language; ancient biblical literature, Jewish literature and poetry from a variety of diaspora communities as well as Modern Israel; Jewish visual art and music; the religious framework of Judaism in all its diversity, from holidays to life-cycle events, as well as the history of the Jewish people and the politics of the Middle East, especially the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. To the student who is inquisitive, the study of Judaism will surely open a colorful world of familiar and foreign phenomena to engage in dialogue.
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Events Calendar
Contact Information
Gilya Gerda Schmidt, Ph.D.
Chair, Judaic Studies Program
Professor and Head of Department of Religious Studies
501 McClung Tower
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-0450
Phone: 865-974-6985
Fax: 865-974-0965
Email: gschmidt@utk.edu