Jewish Studies in the Small Liberal Arts College

112 SHOFAR into American society and the integration of Jewish Studies into the American academic curriculum. Consecutive waves of Jewish immigrants sought entry into American life by adopting the "melting pot" ethos of a nationally monolithic but religious pluralistic society. They projected, and often unwittingly embraced, a reductionist image of the Jews as just another religious denomination rather than what they really were: a people with a distinct history and culture, or in other words, an ethnic group. In the same vein, early proponents of Jewish Studies on American campuses sought to adapt to the then prevailing academic norms by presenting their fields of inquiry and instruction as the somehow disembodied aspects of Jewish history and culture that were of profound intellectual interest and had great impact on the formation of Western civilization, but had no discernable connection to the daily lives and identities of the millions of America's Jews. This orientation may well have been a tactical necessity at the time, but perpetuating it may cause us to confuse means with ends and to transform tactics into dogma. Changing attitudes towards ethnicity and cultural diversity on American campuses and in American society may require that we recOnsider not only our strategies for advancing the cause of Jewish Studies but also our understanding of the nature and purpose of this cause. This reassessment may well extend beyond the parameters of scholarly inquiry and also include a fresh consideration of educational objectives. I have not seen any studies on the subject, but it is my distinct impression that the vast majority of students enrolling in Jewish Studies courses (as well as most of the professors who teach them) are Jewish, and that they come to these courses in the hope that the knowledge they gain will provide them with a stronger connection to their ethnic heritage and a more coherent sense of their own identity. We may do well to ask ourselves whether these are legitimate and desirable objectives of a liberal education, and whether we need to adapt our curriculum to provide for them. If the time for such a reassessment has indeed arrived, a careful consideration of the relationship between Jewish Studies and Ethnic Studies could be an effective means ofcarrying it out. Jewish Studies in the Small Liberal Arts College Louis E. Newman Carleton College To say that Carleton College has a program in Judaic Studies is already to stretch the usual meaning of that term considerably. There is no interdis- Volume 9, No.4 Summer 1991 '\',~: r' .'.r ,.. . '.' 113 ciplinary network of scholar-teachers working in Judaica at Carleton, no overseas programs in Israel, and so no real'opp