Student Work
Noah Mullin came to the UO undecided about his major, but soon heard about the Judaic Studies Program’s reputation and found his place. Mullin cites Israelis and Palestinians as his favorite class. “It’s fantastic; Diane Baxter taught it. You basically role-play—the class stops and you go into negotiations. It was a lot of fun. It’s a lot of people’s favorite class.” Mullin is currently working on his honors thesis, which focuses on Jewish influences on American pop culture, especially in music. He calls Eugene “the perfect place to study something like this,” and says “the people here are very open to accepting ideas.” Beyond the classroom, Mullin is assistant editor for Judith Baskin’s Jewish Cambridge Dictionary Project.
When Kaci Willet came the UO she decided she wanted to get a background in the history of Christianity. “I liked the structure and focus of the Judaic studies major,” she says. Willet, a Judaic studies major and an honors college student, plans to focus her honors thesis on the Jews for Jesus movement and the dynamics of their relationship with Judaism. In the future, she wants to pursue a graduate degree in religious studies and maybe teach religion at the high school level. Since Hebrew is her favorite class in the program, Willet says she would also love the opportunity to teach the language.
Selected Faculty Work
Religious Studies Assistant Professor Deborah Green’s current research,“investigates the connection between early (first through fourth centuries CE) rabbinic cultural experience of perfume and incense with the metaphorical images created by the rabbis in their midrashim,” says Green. She has also published papers on the use of perfume in Jewish burials and has several forthcoming articles. One of the courses she teaches in the Judaic Studies program is Biblical Hebrew, which she calls one of the most satisfying and fun aspects of her job at the UO. “Undergraduates at Oregon are a joy to teach because they are open to learning new ideas and are able to grasp complex concepts. As a professor, one of my goals is to teach my students the necessary skills to keep learning throughout their lives,” she says.
Daniel Falk is an associate professor
in the Religious Studies Department.
Professor Falk’s interests lie in the history and literature of ancient Judaism and the beginnings of Christianity, “The focus of my research,” says Falk, “has been on Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls, which provide us with the most
colorful glimpse of a particular community of Jews in antiquity. I have been involved in publishing some of the fragments as a member of the International Team of Editors
of the Dead Sea Scrolls.” Falk teaches courses in early Judaism, a Dead Sea Scrolls seminar, introduction
to the Bible, and prophecy and apocalyptic. “The aspect of teaching I find most fascinating is helping students step outside of their assumed
world views for a while to seek to understand other ways of viewing the world,” he says.
Career Prospects
The Judaic Studies Program provides an excellent foundation in the humanities. “We require a lot of humanities courses that are not related to Judaic studies, so it is an excellent humanities degree from which a student can really go on in any direction,” says Baskin.
Majors have pursued careers in Jewish education, academic Judaic studies, and social work—some majors have even become cantors or rabbis.