Neither the Holocaust, nor the religion of Judaism, exhausts the wide world of what has come to be called ‘Jewish Studies.’  Literature by and about Jews, films about Jewish life, music and art created  by Jews, the history not just of the religion but of people who identified themselves (or were identified as) Jews: the whole panoply of Jewish history and culture and life, are also central to Jewish Studies

Surveying this broad array of Jewish religion, thought, history, life and culture is the focus of Jewish Studies at the University of Vermont.  Some courses – the gateway course: “Introduction to Jewish Studies,” modern Jewish history, and introductions to the Bible – are taught regularly; others, such as the influence of Yiddish theater on the development of the American stage, or the history of Zionism, are taught occasionally.  Some courses have Judaism or Jews as their sole content; others seek to study Jewish culture and history in the broader context of Western civilization.