Recommendation:

That the Faculty recommend to the Dean approval of the request from the FLL Department, Center for Jewish Studies, and AP&CC to change the name of the Hebrew Studies major to Jewish Studies.

Rationale:

The new name, Jewish Studies, more accurately reflects the broader range of topics that have developed under the Hebrew studies major in recent years. The existing Hebrew studies major has as its primary emphasis Hebrew language, Biblical, study, and Israeli culture, but more recently, students in the major have been enrolling in a broader range of courses with Jewish cultural studies content that have been offered in the Hebrew studies curricular area. Under the current structure, students interested in the broader area of Jewish studies have been unable to take advantage of courses in Jewish studies outside of the Hebrew studies curricular area. Because we have not had a separate curricular area and option in Jewish Studies to serve students interested in modern Jewish culture, broadly defined, we have had to introduce courses into the Hebrew studies curricular area that do not fit neatly with the Hebrew studies emphasis on Hebrew language, Biblical study, and Israeli culture. Therefore, a program change proposal in process will create a new option that addresses this issue. The current Hebrew studies major will continue as an option with its traditional focus. The new option, called Jewish Cultural Studies, will bring together existing courses, spur the creation of new courses, and emphasize the richness and vibrancy of Jewish culture by providing an interdisciplinary plan of study that will span multiple departments. This option will expand opportunities for students to study Jewish culture in terms of its historical roots, artistic creations, socio-economic-political dimensions, cultural contributions, and so on. In addition, it will expose students to a variety of perspectives on issues of enduring importance and vital global concern. With support of the Bader Foundation, the area of Jewish cultural studies at UWM is being expanded. A new curricular area in Jewish studies has been established, and additional new courses have been and are being developed. This proposal requests a change in the name of the major to Jewish studies, which is a more inclusive term and which, therefore, better represents the content of the revised major.