About

Jewish Studies

The Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies provides a multi-disciplinary curriculum for students at the University of Texas and an innovative crossroads for research on the study of Jewish life in the Americas, its place in Jewish history, and its contemporary and future relationship to the State of Israel. Close to half of the world’s Jews live in the Western Hemisphere and have developed important and distinctive communities over a period of 500 years. Such a research and programmatic emphasis, in combination with multi-dimensional consideration of Israeli culture and politics and the complex two-way relationship that has developed between Israel and the communities of the New World, reflects the exciting future of Jewish life in the new century. Scholars and students draw upon the University’s matchless resources for Latin America, the extraordinary manuscript collections in Jewish-American literature at the Harry Ransom Center, as well as photographic, media, and journalism archives at the Ransom Center and the Center for American History. The Center also enjoys a mutually enriching relationship to vital Jewish communities on campus and in Austin, and to the broader public of the region.