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The interdisciplinary Taube Center for Jewish Studies at Stanford seeks to provide a comprehensive interpretation of the Jewish experience and the varied expression of Jewish life. As participants in the program, graduate students enjoy the benefits of a rich and lively intellectual community, and they make significant contributions to both scholarship and teaching at Stanford.

Prospective students wishing to pursue a masters or doctoral degree in Jewish Studies at Stanford University should apply for admission through the relevant department (History, Religious Studies, Comparative Literature, etc). 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. Currently, graduate students are engaged in research in subjects from nineteenth century Russian Jewish women to modern Jewish identity; from the American Jewish labor movement to post Holocaust theology.

The Taube Center for Jewish Studies annually sponsors several endowed lectures, conferences and a faculty/graduate student colloquia series that bring leading specialists in all aspects of Judaica. (See Upcoming Events.) Graduate students also serve as teaching assistants in the undergraduate Jewish studies curriculum, where they gain valuable teaching experience.

Funding Opportunities

The Taube Center awards several graduate fellowships each year, but students cannot apply directly for these fellowships: instead, they should apply for admission directly to the relevant department indicating their interest in Jewish Studies, and the department will forward fellowship nominations to Jewish Studies.

Current Stanford graduate students specializing in Jewish Studies are eligible for several forms of supplementary financial support:

1) Language Study Grants. Students needing to learn a language for the purposes of research, and unable to study the language as part of their normal course-load, may apply for financial aid to support summer language study (or tutoring when a formal language program does not
exist). Grants typically range between $1,000-$3,000. Applications should include a 1 page description of the language program or plan of study, how it advances the student's training or scholarly goals, and a budget or description of the cost. Applicants may also be asked for
documentation of their participation in the program and a faculty letter affirming the need to study the language. To be eligible for the summer of 2013, applications must be received no later than May 15.

2) Grants in Aid of Research. Students needing to travel for the purposes of research, or facing some other research-related expense, may apply for a research grant by submitting a 1-2 page application that describes the research or project and explains the expense. The application should also include the name of a faculty member who can be contacted for a reference, and applicants may be asked for a reference and/or documentation of their expense. Applications should be submitted not later than May 15 for research in the summer, but the center will also consider applications for earlier than that on a case by case basis. Grants typically range between $500-$1,500.

3) Conference Participation. Students wishing to submit a paper at a conference, should submit a conference program or letter of invitation, a budget, and cover letter indicating the significance of the conference to your course of study, dates of travel, and method of travel. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis and must be submitted at least six weeks prior to the conference. Awards will be limited to a maximum of $600 for travel within North America and $800 for international travel.

All applications should be submitted to the Taube Center for Jewish Studies via its center manager Linda Huynh at lindamh@stanford.edu. Any Stanford graduate student is eligible for the above categories of funding provided the research for which they are seeking support is related to
Jewish Studies, but strong preference will be given to students with coursework in Jewish Studies and actively involved in the center and its Colloquium on Jews, Judaism, and Jewish Culture. These funds are limited and granted on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Judaica Library

Since its inception, the Taube Center for 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. Collected by the eminent historian Salo Wittmayer Baron, these 25,000 volumes and periodicals document virtually every aspect of Jewish life from its beginnings to present. In addition, the Stanford Judaica Library also includes the Wornick/Braude Collection, a 6,000 volume collection especially rich in the field of Midrash and Aggadah, the Israel Cohen Collection, containing over 20,000 works published in Palestine under the British mandate and in the early decades of the State of Israel, and the Jo and Rabbi Milgrom Collection, containing over 6,300 titles in Biblical and rabbinical literature.

For more information on Stanford's Hebraica and Judaica Collection holdings, go to this link.