Graduate students who wish to pursue a concentration in Jewish studies enroll in the departments of History, Religious Studies or English. Then under the guidance of a faculty advisor, each student designs a program of study tailored to match his or her specific area of interest. In a special colloquia series, Jewish studies faculty, graduate students and visiting scholars regularly gather twice a month to share papers and discuss their current work. Graduate students also serve as teaching assistants in the undergraduate Jewish studies curriculum, where they gain valuable teaching experience. Every graduate student admitted to the program is guaranteed four years of funding, plus additional funding for two summers of language study.
Students are also eligible to apply for a fifth year of support.
In addition, the Program in Jewish Studies assists advanced graduate students in exploring outside fellowship opportunities. Since its inception, the Program in Jewish Studies at Stanford has remained committed to the acquisition and maintenance of an outstanding research library in Jewish studies. Stanford now has an impressive research base of some 80,000 volumes covering the full expanse of Jewish culture in Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, German, Russian, and many other languages. In the last three years, Stanford's holdings in Jewish studies have tripled. The centerpiece of Stanford's Judaica Library is the Taube-Baron Collection of Jewish History and Culture.