The Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies at Portland State University contributes to the intellectual dynamism of this metropolitan campus through interdisciplinary courses and research. We engage students of all backgrounds through a rich and flexible curriculum and our Minor degree program.  We also serve the greater Portland area through a range of community partnerships.  The program offers a variety of courses during the academic year and the summer, as well as lectures and research symposia, scholarly conferences and cultural events.

As a multi-departmental program, Judaic Studies at PSU offers a variety of courses each quarter, taught by faculty in Judaic Studies, History, Foreign Languages and Literatures, English, Sociology, International Studies, and other departments. We frequently host visiting faculty who teach additional courses. We also collaborate with the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures to offer a range of courses and programming in Modern Hebrew.  Advanced undergraduate students and Judaic Studies minors of academic distinction may set up special tutorials, internships, research projects, and by-arrangement courses, with the permission of a qualified instructor.PSU currently offers three years of modern Hebrew, as well as an intensive first-year summer course. Students may use Hebrew to fulfill their general language requirement, and the language requirement for International Studies as well. Thanks to the generosity of the Aspen Mitzvah Fund, we offer scholarships to qualified students taking second- or third-year Hebrew.

The summer courses offered through the Oregon School of Judaic Studies include daytime and evening courses by local and visiting scholars, as well as the Boker Tov/Good Morning Hebrew intensive program, in which introductory Hebrew is taught in a concentrated nine-week sequence.