The certificate in Jewish studies is available to students
enrolled in master's-level and doctoral-level programs at Rutgers University.
These include degree candidates in professional programs such as library and
information science (L.I.S.), education, and social work, along with those
seeking master of arts (M.A.) and doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in the
humanities and social sciences.
The certificate in Jewish studies requires four courses in
relevant subjects. Courses taken at the 400-level must be taught by
professorial-level department faculty, with the expectation that additional
work will be required in order to receive graduate credit.
In addition to courses offered in Jewish studies, certain
courses taught in other departments or graduate programs (e.g., German,
history) may count towards the certificate. These will be listed at the Jewish
studies website, along with the Jewish studies courses offered each semester.
Special note about
social work students
By special arrangement with the School of Social Work, master
of social work (M.S.W.) students will need to take only three courses in Jewish
studies at the graduate level. In lieu of the fourth course, their yearlong
second-year field placement will take place in a Jewish organization or agency.
Special note about
education students
There are two routes to the master of education (Ed.M.) degree:
1) Students enroll in the five-year teacher education program, in which case they
graduate from Rutgers with both a B.A. and an Ed.M.
2) The Ed.M.
postbaccalaureate program, which earns the students the master's degree only
(obviously these students enter the program with a bachelor's degree).
Regardless of which route, Jewish studies works almost
solely with students seeking the Ed.M. degree leading to certification in
social studies education K-12. Students in the first track have no electives in
the graduate component of their program, so they would need to take the Jewish
studies graduate courses either in their fourth year at Rutgers or as
additional courses in their fifth year at Rutgers. Students in the second
track, on the other hand, have three electives built into their program, which
could be fulfilled through Jewish studies, and then they would need to take
only one additional course to fulfill both their Ed.M. requirements and the
Jewish studies Jewish studies certificate.
