Jewish studies springs into action

FROM RICE NEWS STAFF REPORTS

With an exciting lecture series and five new interdisciplinary courses, the Jewish studies program at Rice University is looking forward to a busy spring semester. And its new Web site, http://jewishstudies.rice.edu, will keep everyone in the loop. The site features an event calendar, announcements about the program and resources for further study. It also has a repository of information about the program’s various courses and faculty members.

Spread across the humanities and social sciences, Jewish studies broadly examines topics including the Hebrew Bible and its history of interpretation, the nature of Jewish identities in religious and secular contexts, aesthetic representation of otherness, the relations of history and memory, religion and art, and philosophical discussions of God. The interdisciplinary program at Rice encompasses the texts, history, languages, philosophy and culture of Jews and Judaism as they have endured over three millennia and throughout the world.