Jewish Studies and Social Work

专业详情

The Jewish Professional Leadership program is the umbrella for the dual-degree program through the Gershon Kekst Graduate School of JTS and Columbia University’s School of Social Work (CSSW). This dual-degree program prepares students for professional leadership careers in the Jewish community. Students are admitted to both schools and attend them concurrently. Upon completion of the program, students receive both an MA in Jewish Studies from JTS and an MS in Social Work from Columbia.

Students participate in an integration seminar that allows them to explore the intersection of their two master’s degrees as well as other relevant issues in the Jewish community. Some examples of previous topics covered in the seminar are the role of the professional in the Jewish community, issues of diversity in the Jewish community, and community building.

Visionary faculty and Jewish communal professionals created the program more than 30 years ago with a goal still important today: to provide future Jewish communal professional leaders with the essential knowledge, skills, and experience to meet the challenge of building Jewish community in an increasingly complex world.

The curriculum at the Gershon Kekst Graduate School emphasizes an academic approach to Jewish studies. Students study Jewish history, tradition, and culture with JTS’s esteemed faculty. Through elective courses, students can take advantage of the full spectrum of study available at JTS.

Students are required to take a minimum of 72 credits in total.

At JTS, a minimum of 27 credits are taken, to which 6 credits are transferred from Columbia University’s School of Social Work (CSSW). In order to fulfill the Kekst Graduate School and program requirements, a student may also need to take additional prerequisite Hebrew-language courses.

At CSSW, a minimum of 45 credits must be completed—depending on the method of concentration. Field work is an integral part of the total educational experience at CSSW, providing students opportunities to use the theoretical content learned in courses.

The program can be completed in as little as two years, but may take up to three years. The length of time depends on the student’s requirements at JTS (often based on the level of Hebrew proficiency upon enrolling) and method of concentration at CSSW.