{"id":11097,"date":"2020-04-01T09:43:42","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T13:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/jewishstudies\/?page_id=11097"},"modified":"2026-03-25T14:56:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T18:56:54","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/jewishstudies\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About the Elie Wiesel Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies is an interdisciplinary academic center of BU\u2019s College of Arts and Sciences with currently thirty-one core and affiliated faculty.<\/span><\/p>\n

We offer interdisciplinary programs in Jewish studies on the undergraduate and graduate levels.\u00a0<\/span>Undergraduate students<\/a>\u00a0can<\/span>\u00a0pursue minors in Jewish studies and Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Studies, take our courses to satisfy HUB requirements or elective credit. We work with the\u00a0<\/span>Graduate Program in Religion<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in offering a PhD specialization in Jewish Studies. Graduate students in other departments can\u00a0<\/span>affiliate<\/span><\/a>\u00a0with the Center and take advantage of our resources, provided they work in a field related to Jewish studies, Israel studies, or Holocaust history.<\/span><\/p>\n

With faculty from across BU, we offer courses in literature, history, religion, language, film, anthropology, archaeology, philosophy, bioethics, and more. We also host an array of academic conferences, co-curricular events, and public lectures.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>Jewish Cultural Endowment<\/a>\u00a0offers<\/span>\u00a0assistance to other campus agents interested in enriching the Jewish experience at BU. This is an independent funding program that seeks to support diverse events related to Jewish culture for students and faculty.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Named for Elie Wiesel, the 1986 Nobel Laureate for Peace and a member of the BU faculty for nearly forty years, we strive to maintain his excellent teaching and scholarship legacy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Arts and Culture<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"Our building at 147 Bay State Road serves as a cultural hub on campus, where we host public lectures, workshops, salon events, and artistic productions.<\/p>\n

Boston University has a distinguished history in Jewish studies. Visiting and resident faculty included such luminaries as Gershom Sholem, Nahum N. Glatzer, Marvin Fox, Everett Fox, and Michael Fishbane. From Elie Wiesel and the late Saul Bellow to current creative writing faculty Leslie Epstein and Robert Pinsky, Jewish authors have long been at home on campus.<\/p>\n

The Elie Wiesel Center is housed at 147 Bay State Road, in one of BU\u2019s most elegant historical buildings. Constructed in 1899, the former Weld family mansion is now the\u00a0<\/span>Bet Shlomo v\u2019 Sarah Wiesel,\u00a0<\/span><\/em>named in honor of Elie Wiesel\u2019s parents.<\/p>\n

Academic progr<\/strong>ams<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"Undergraduate Studies<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Undergraduate students from across the colleges\u00a0<\/span>of Boston University may choose to minor in\u00a0<\/span>Jewish Studies<\/a>, minor in Israel Studies<\/a>, or major and minor in\u00a0<\/span>Holocaust, Genocide & Human Rights Studies<\/a>. These programs offer classes that are open to all students, giving them the opportunity to explore Jewish and Israeli culture, traditions, and religions; historical and contemporary forms of antisemitism and bias; and the many different facets of human rights work and genocide prevention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Graduate Program\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies partners with the Graduate program in religion for\u00a0<\/span>a Ph.D. specialization in Jewish Studies<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>The Center also offers a\u00a0<\/span>Graduate Certificate in Holocaust, Genocide & Human rights Studies<\/a>.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0The certificate provides students the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the causes and consequences of past acts of genocide and consider human rights law to be a means of violence prevention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Research and Publications<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We support academic research projects directed by core and affiliated faculty through funding and the organization of lectures, seminars, and conferences.\u00a0The center also supports faculty-authored publications.<\/p>\n

\"\"Community Support<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Thanks to our donors\u2019 generosity, we can offer scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students, including opportunities for study in Israel. Your support also allows us to keep our lectures, seminars, and cultural events free and open to the public.\u00a0To learn how you can support Jewish studies at BU, please contact us at +1 (617) 353-8096 or ewcjs@bu.edu.<\/p>\n

History<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Named for Elie Wiesel, the 1986 Nobel Laureate for peace and a member of the BU faculty for nearly forty years, our Center fosters excellence in teaching and scholarship, as well as meaningful public engagement. The Elie Wiesel Center is located at 147 Bay State road, a former patrician building that once also served as BU president John Silber\u2019s office. At its dedication in 2005, the building was renamed in honor of Elie Wiesel\u2019s parents Shlomoh and Sarah Wiesel. The building was renovated with Ira and Ingeborg Rennert\u2019s generous support, who also provided the Center\u2019s founding endowment.<\/p>\n

\"\"
10\/18\/11 – Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies Building
Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies Building- interior and exterior details are photographed.
Photo by Kalman Zabarsky for Boston University Photography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies The Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies is an interdisciplinary academic center of BU\u2019s College of Arts and Sciences with currently thirty-one core and affiliated faculty. We offer interdisciplinary programs in Jewish studies on the undergraduate and graduate levels.\u00a0Undergraduate students\u00a0can\u00a0pursue minors in Jewish studies and Holocaust, Genocide, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":42,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/landing.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/jewishstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11097"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/jewishstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/jewishstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/jewishstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/jewishstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11097"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/jewishstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15725,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/jewishstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11097\/revisions\/15725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/jewishstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}