A Comprehensive Approach to Jewish Studies

Gifts of any size to the Jewish Studies Program Fund allow the program to respond to emerging needs and priorities.

Gifts of any size to the Director’s Fund allow the Center to respond to emerging needs and priorities. Recent examples include initiatives to support scholars in Ukraine and to build a network with Jewish studies scholars in Islamic countries.

The Katz Center’s award-winning building on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall places the Center in the symbolic center of the history of the country, but because it is located beyond the Penn campus, the Center is entirely responsible for the maintenance of its own space and infrastructure. As it heads into its fourth decade, the Katz Center seeks not just to maintain the building but to adapt and improve it in ways that will better support 21st-century scholarship, allowing the Center to expand how we share Jewish studies scholarship with the broader public and enlist technology as a scholarly tool. A gift of $100,000 or more would endow a fund that supports these vital enhancements.

First established in England in 1889, the Jewish Quarterly Review is the oldest English-language journal in the field of Jewish studies. JQR preserves the attention to textual detail so characteristic of the journal’s early years, while encouraging scholarship in a wide range of fields and time periods. In each issue, the ancient stands alongside the modern, the historical alongside the literary, and the textual alongside the contextual. Endowing the editorship of JQR with a gift of $2 million will ensure that the journal can recruit and retain the best editorial staff, as well as move to the forefront in the use of digital technology to present research in new ways for new audiences.

Endowing a professorship in perpetuity ensures that, for generations to come, a succession of academic pioneers will hold this named position, advance knowledge in their fields, and leave their marks on the most pressing issues of their times.

A gift of $100,000 would endow a fund that supports the priority needs of the Program. Such discretionary funds would allow the program director to respond to emerging needs and support opportunities for research and learning.

A gift of $150,000 would endow an annual event, speaker or program chosen by the faculty and leadership featuring speakers or topics impactful in the field, relevant to current events, or highlighting important research, open to students, faculty, and the community.

A gift of $500,000 would endow an annual conference featuring high-profile speakers, chosen by faculty in the Jewish Studies Program for their contributions to the field. This one-day event would include classroom visits or other small-group interactions with students, a public lecture, and a reception for the speakers and attendees.

Named fellowships allow the Center to attract the best in their fields. Term gifts of $150,000 or $300,000 fund single-semester or year-long fellowships for five years; an endowed gift of $600,000 or $1.2 million can fund semester- and year-long fellowships in perpetuity. Since fellowships support scholars at various stages of their career, they are transformative for early career scholars and provide an invaluable opportunity for more senior scholars to focus on their research.

Endowed funds and fellowships allow the Jewish Studies Program to support scholars committed to expanding knowledge and pioneering discovery. A gift of $100,000 would endow a fund to ensure graduate students are able to travel for conferences and research opportunities as they prepare for careers in academia. A gift of $350,000 would endow a dissertation fellowship, allowing students to undertake fieldwork, primary research, and experimental work, and attend and present at academic conferences. A gift of $700,000 would endow a 12-month fellowship for one exceptional graduate student focusing their studies in Jewish Studies-related topics. And a gift of $1,500,000 supports one fellow per year in perpetuity. This individual will pursue their own research, as well as support undergraduate and graduate student work, collaborate with faculty, and help to organize Jewish Studies events.

Offering need-blind, all-grant financial aid means that all of our exceptional students can graduate without burdening themselves with debt.

Penn is committed to meeting the increasing needs of talented students, for whom an Ivy-League education would not be possible without financial aid. Matching funds promote more giving opportunities and expand the impact of our donors who share in this commitment. A gift of $250,000 would establish a named, endowed undergraduate scholarship. Scholarship gifts of higher levels would qualify for matching funds.