The Jewish Studies Program at Penn reflects the full range and diverse dimensions of the Jewish experience as well as different approaches to studying Jewish life and culture. At noted on the department's website, "We welcome students of all backgrounds to take our courses and participate in our programs. Our introductory courses are ideal for students with little or no background in Jewish Studies and we also offer intermediate and advanced classes. Jewish Studies courses offer students the opportunity to explore Jewish history, literature, texts, and traditions and the ways that they have evolved in the context of various civilizations. Take our courses as electives in order to deepen your understanding and investigate your interests, or become a major or minor (in any one of four different Jewish Studies tracks) and acquire a thorough knowledge of your field of Jewish interest.
The Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania is the only institution in the world devoted exclusively to post-doctoral research on Jewish civilization in all its historical and cultural manifestations. Located in its award-winning building on Philadelphia's Independence Mall, the Katz Center was created in the fall of 1993 by the merger of the Annenberg Research Institute and the University of Pennsylvania. The combining of the Katz Center's distinguished scholars and superb library holdings with Penn's outstanding and substantial faculty and library resources in Judaic Studies has established the University of Pennsylvania as one of the world's major centers for the study of Jewish civilization.
