group of students in a small group presentation

Study Jewish Culture at Illinois

Jewish Studies events

View all events

Jewish Culture & Society News

Dan Shapiro Event Flyer
An Evening with Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro
On the evening of January 26th, the Program in Jewish Culture & Society and Illini Hillel welcomed Dan Shapiro to campus as part of the Israel Studies Program, with additional support from the Jewish United Fund. Shapiro, a graduate of Uni High School in Urbana and son of Michael Shapiro, one...
Dick Abrams Fellowship
Funding opportunities for undergraduate students
The Program in Jewish Culture & Society announces a call for applications for the Dick Abrams Scholarship, which provides two $1,300 stipends. The scholarship will be awarded to full-time, degree-seeking undergraduate students in good academic standing enrolled at the...
Funding Opportunities for Graduate Students
The Program in Jewish Culture & Society announces a call for applications for the Gendell/Shiner Family Fellowship and the Dara Goldman Memorial Scholarship.
Applicants must be degree-seeking graduate students in good academic standing enrolled at the University of Illinois. The Gendell/Shiner Family Fellowship provides a stipend of $14,000 and a waiver of tuition and some fees. Preference will be given to students at the ABD level in either Jewish...
Elana Jakel

Alumni spotlight: Elana Jakel

Elana Jakel is Program Manager of the Initiative for the Study of Ukrainian Jewry at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). She received her doctorate in Russian and Soviet History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with a dissertation entitled “‘Ukraine without Jews’? Nationality and Belonging in Soviet Ukraine, 1943-1948.” The Program in Jewish Culture and Society was her second home during graduate school. She has received a U.S. Student Fulbright Grant, the ...

Featured Courses: Fall 2026
HIST 400

Making of the Jewish Nation

"Making of the Jewish Nation" traces the development of different forms of Jewish nationalism (diaspora nationalism, Zionism, territorialism, etc.) and the origins of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
JS 399

American Jewish History: The Case of Central Illinois

The course offers an opportunity to learn the nuances of archival work using the collections available locally—the University of Illinois Library!
GER 261

The Holocaust in Context

Examines cultural representations of the Holocaust in literature, film, and critical essays.