Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Florida Records

The Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Florida was established in 1973. It was conceived from discussions in years prior to offer courses in the Hebrew language, which would need to be taught as part of a larger program, not in isolation. The idea for the Center came from an English professor who wanted to teach a class on contemporary American Jewish literature. This desire to teach this class led to conversations on the importance of offering courses in Jewish literature, which developed into discussions of other subjects that became known as Jewish Studies. The Center did not offer a major or minor in Jewish studies when it opened in 1973; rather, the Center offered courses as part of its program that could be taken as electives within a student’s program of study. The first major in Jewish Studies was offered for the 1987-88 academic year.

The first Director of the Center for Jewish Studies was Professor Barry Mesch (1973-1983). Other directors were:

Austin Creel (1983-1985) Warren Bargad (1985-1999) Kenneth D. Wald (1999-2004) Jack Kugelmass (2005-2019) Norman J.W. Goda (2019-present)