Program: Jewish and Holocaust Studies Minor - Middle Tennessee State University

Apr 06, 2025

2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog

College of Liberal Arts
Director: Elyce Rae Helford, Ph.D., professor of English

The Jewish and Holocaust Studies minor requires 15 hours and offers students the opportunity to study the diasporic culture of the Jews and Judaism as well as the Holocaust in an interdisciplinary program. Students will explore these subjects via studies in history and culture, the arts and social sciences, and the methodologies of Jewish Studies and Holocaust Studies disciplines. Along the way, students will confront such vital topics central to local and global awareness as multiculturalism and the meanings of diversity, religious tolerance and cultural intolerance, and genocide studies.

Interdisciplinary Minors

Interdisciplinary minors require the student to complete a minimum of 15 to 21 hours from a list of specific courses. Unless otherwise noted, a student may take no more than 6 hours of courses from a single department until he or she surpasses the required minimum number of hours necessary for completing the minor. Exceptions to this rule may be found within the discussions of several of the minors. In most cases, a student is also limited to just 3 hours of credit toward the minor in the same department or discipline in which he or she is taking a major. Students must fulfill all departmental prerequisites for any course within an interdisciplinary minor. In some cases, advisors may approve course substitutions within these program requirements.

Required Courses (9 hours)

Students will take the following courses:

JHS 2010 - Jewish Culture and Civilization 3 credit hours
JHS 3020 - The Holocaust 3 credit hours
JHS 4500 - Current Trends in Jewish and Holocaust Studies 3 credit hours OR
JHS 4970 - Independent Research in Jewish and Holocaust Studies 3 credit hours

General Electives (6 hours)

Select 6 hours from the following:

ENGL 2020 - Themes in Literature and Culture 3 credit hours
(Jewish American Literature and Culture or Holocaust Survivor Literature)
ENGL 3440 - The Bible as Literature 3 credit hours
ENGL 4780 - Topics in War and Culture 3 credit hours
(Literature and the Holocaust)
ENGL 4860 - Special Topics in Film Studies 3 credit hours
(Film and Holocaust)
GEOG 4500 - Geography of the Middle East and North Africa 3 credit hours
HEBR 1010 - Elementary Hebrew I 3 credit hours
HEBR 1020 - Elementary Hebrew II 3 credit hours
HIST 3080 - Topics in Modern Middle East History 3 credit hours
(Arab-Israeli Conflict only)
HIST 3090 - Topics in European History 1 to 3 credit hours (3 credit hours)
(Approved topics only)
HIST 3190 - The History of the Holocaust 3 credit hours
HIST 4185 - Twentieth Century Europe 3 credit hours
HIST 4840 - World War II 3 credit hours
HUM 2610 - World Literatures 3 credit hours
(Jewish Literature in Translation)
HUM 3600 - Israeli Cinema 3 credit hours
HUM 4000 - Women of the Middle East: Representations and Perceptions 3 credit hours
JHS 4970 - Independent Research in Jewish and Holocaust Studies 3 credit hours
MES 2100 - Introduction to Middle East Studies 3 credit hours
RS 2030 - Religion and Society 3 credit hours
RS 3010 - The Bible: Its Origin and Content 3 credit hours
RS 3020 - Comparative Religion 3 credit hours
RS 4020 - Jesus of Nazareth 3 credit hours
RS 4050 - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam 3 credit hours
SOC 4150 - Topics in Sociology 3 credit hours
(Hate Crimes)
SOC 4550 - Sociology of Religion 3 credit hours
WGST 4206 - Symposium in Women’s Studies: Women and the Holocaust 3 credit hours