Through its support of research and teaching, the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life seeks to advance research and scholarship in Judaic Studies and provide resources to faculty and students.  Funding initiatives allow the Center to provide support for students and faculty. Please contact the center for more information: judaicstudies@uconn.edu.

The Center for Judaic Studies is proud to provide support to facilitate the publication of the American Jewish Year Book, a reference work published yearly since 1899 that serves as the annual record of the North American Jewish Communities. The Year Book is edited by Professor Arnold Dashefsky, the Center’s founding director, and Professor Ira M. Sheskin of the University of Miami.

For decades, the American Jewish Year Book has been the premier place for leading academics to publish long review chapters on topics of interest to the American Jewish communities. The Year Book serves  as a major resource for academic researchers, researchers at Jewish institutions and organizations, practitioners, the media, educated leaders and lay persons, and libraries, particularly University and Jewish libraries, for up-to-date information about the American and Canadian Jewish communities. 

Student Funding

The Center for Judaic Studies has a number of modest travel awards available to sponsor students who wish to spend time studying and researching abroad. In addition, a variety of student awards for academic achievement in Judaic Studies and Hebrew are conferred in the Spring of each year during the annual awards ceremony hosted by the Department of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages and during our annual Academic Convocation on the Holocaust. Preference is given to Hebrew and Judaic Studies majors and minors.    

The Center also offers support for graduate studies in the form of assistantships (teaching and research).  Students enrolled in the graduate program in Judaic Studies are eligible for these assistantships, which cover tuition and fees and include a stipend for living expenses.  Students who apply for admission to the graduate program in Judaic Studies will automatically be considered for an assistantship.

Postdoctoral fellowship awards are also available for qualified graduate students.

For information about these funding opportunities, please contact Center educational program assistant Armi Rowe at armi.rowe@uconn.edu or Center Director Jessica Cooperman at tcs24003@uconn.edu.

Travel awards available:

• The Winkler Award for Study in Israel
• UConn Judaic Center Israel Travel Endowment (for Jewish Studies but not limited to Israel travel)

Scholarships awarded by the Center are provided by:

• The Harold J. Arkava Scholarship Fund
• The Cohen and Henes Scholarship Fund in Judaic Studies
• The Sylvia and Leo Dashefsky Prize Endowment Fund
• The Frances and Irving Seliger Memorial Endowment Fund