Description
Master Program in Jewish Studies is the first degree in Jewish Studies program in Ukraine. It was launched by the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy together with the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine in 2012 in order to develop academic Jewish Studies in Ukraine. Since August 2015, this two-year Master Program is under the co-management of the Ukrainian Association for Jewish Studies.
The MA in Jewish Studies Program aims to:
- train high-skill professionals in Jewish studies for various spheres: academic and educational institutions and projects, analytic centers, Jewish community life, Ukrainian libraries and archives etc. The latter ones store thousands of the Jewish documents which are still not included in common scholar use and research;
- revive and develop Judaic and Jewish studies in Ukraine;
- improve Ukrainian-Jewish academic and public cooperation;
- establish a fruitful cooperation with leading Jewish academic and public institutions around the world.
The curriculum of the two-year program consists of general methodological seminars in history and humanities, as well as special courses in Jewish Studies and Jewish languages (mandatory courses in Hebrew and Yiddish and Aramaic as an optional course). Graduates of the program receive Ukrainian-English diploma (Master in History and Jewish Studies).
The faculty of the program uses modern educational approaches, encourages and assists students in applying to various academic internships and Jewish Studies events abroad. The faculty includes the full and part time NaUKMA’s History Department lecturers and professors. The program also invites visiting professors from Ukrainian universities and abroad. The leading scholars and experts in Jewish Studies from Israel, the USA, the UK, Canada, the EU are invited as visiting professors to give mini courses in order to provide the students with the most up-to-date research methodology and approaches in academic Jewish Studies.
The program has among its most important and first priority goals the academic cooperation with the best world Jewish Studies institutions, such as the Hebrew University in Jerusalem that considered as one of the world’s top 100 universities. Moreover, the program has the cooperation with the University of Montreal, the University College of London, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, etc.
Each summer, students and professors (selected on a competitive basis) visit Israel for a month internship. This take place in the framework of the mentioned cooperation with the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Participants of the internship have a possibility to work on their research topics in libraries and archives, as well as communicate and discuss their topics with Israeli scholars.
In addition, students participate in the three-week practicum at archives, museums, and libraries where they directly study Jewish cultural heritage of Ukraine and get practical skills of research work with special documents, books, and artifacts.
Permanent faculty of the program
Ms. Tetyana Batanova (Yiddish)
Prof. Oleg Bubenok (History of Jews in the Muslim Orient; History of Khazars and the Khazar kingdom)
Prof. Vitaly Chernoivanenko (Introduction to Jewish Studies; History of Judaism; Jewish-Christian relations; History of Zionism and the State of Israel)
Dr. Serhiy Hirik (History of the Jews in Ukraine; Ukrainian-Jewish relations in the 20th century; History of Antisemitism and the Holocaust)
Prof. Oleksiy Khamray (Jewish paleography; Biblical criticism)
Dr. Kateryna Malakhova (Hasidism: History and beliefs)
Prof. Iryna Serheyeva (Material culture of the Jews in Eastern Europe)
Dr. Taissa Sydorchuk (History of Jewish art; Archival, museum, and library practicum)
Prof. Dmytro Tsolin (Aramaic)
Ms. Olga Yakovleva (Hebrew)
