Abstract
This article is based on data from our national study of Jewish Life on the American college campus. Recent years have seen a burgeoning of Jewish studies programs. Our research shows that significant numbers of Jewish students take one or more Jewish studies courses during their undergraduate careers and that these courses manage to reach students who are otherwise untouched by formal Jewish life on campus. The courses, however, are part of the university’s academic mission and, as such, are mainly concerned with scholarship and not with identity building. Reprinted with permission from Contact, the Journal of Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation, Winter 2005. Read the full issue at: http://www.jewishlife.org/pdf/winter_2005.pdf.