The Center for Jewish Studies
The Eastern Michigan University Center for Jewish Studies was formally introduced at a ceremony involving Senator Carl Levin on February 23, 2012. Since that time, the Center has grown and developed significantly. The Center for Jewish Studies provides exceptional curricular and travel opportunities for EMU students and offers accessible and engaging programming to enrich both the EMU and Southeast Michigan communities. The center operates with a combination of university and community support.
For EMU Students, the Center for Jewish Studies provides excellent educational opportunities including travel courses with excellent faculty to places like New York, Poland, and Israel; high quality programming that brings the richness of Jewish cultural, intellectual, and religious life to campus and the community; and a Jewish Studies minor.
The EMU Center for Jewish Studies brings a range of excellent programming—some cultural like musical acts or comedians, and others more academic—to the Southeast Michigan Community. All our programs, which are free and open to the public, aspire to be timely and relevant to contemporary discussions as well as accessible and engaging for non-academic audiences.
For EMU Students, the Center for Jewish Studies provides excellent educational opportunities including travel courses with excellent faculty to places like New York, Poland, and Israel; high quality programming that brings the richness of Jewish cultural, intellectual, and religious life to campus and the community; and a Jewish Studies minor.
The EMU Center for Jewish Studies brings a range of excellent programming—some cultural like musical acts or comedians, and others more academic—to the Southeast Michigan Community. All our programs, which are free and open to the public, aspire to be timely and relevant to contemporary discussions as well as accessible and engaging for non-academic audiences.
About the Director Expand dropdownRobert Erlewine is Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of History & Philosophy and Director for the Eastern Michigan University Center for Jewish Studies. Erlewine is a scholar of German Jewish thought and its afterlives in North America and beyond with a particular interest in Jewish responses to such issues as religious diversity and climate change. 
Director's Scholarship Expand dropdownRobert Erlewine is the author of Monotheism and Tolerance: Recovering a Religion of Reason (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2010) and Judaism and the West: From Hermann Cohen to Joseph Soloveitchik (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2016), and the editor of Thunder in the Soul: To Be Known by God: Abraham Joshua Heschel (Walden, NY: Plough Publishing House, 2021). Erlewine has published essays in a variety of peer-reviewed Journals including Journal of Religion, Association for Jewish Studies Review, Harvard Theological Review, Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy, and Modern Judaism.
Books:
Thunder in the Soul: To be Known by God, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Spiritual Lives, Walden, NY: Plough Press, 2021.
Judaism and the West: From Hermann Cohen to Joseph Soloveitchik, Bloomington, Indiana
University Press, 2016.
Monotheism and Tolerance: Recovering a Religion of Reason, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010.
Select Articles:
“Beyond Transcendence and Immanence: The Moral Theology of Mordecai Kaplan and Hermann Cohen”Journal of Religion 102, no.2 (April 2022): 159-183.
“Samuel Hirsch, Hegel, and the Legacy of Ethical Monotheism,”Harvard Theological Review 113, no. 1 (January 2020): 89-110.
“Resolving Contradictions: Samuel Hirsch and the Stakes of Modern Jewish Thought,”
Association for Jewish Studies Review 44, no. 2 (November, 2020): 317-344.Founding Director Expand dropdownProfessor Emeritus Martin Shichtman was the founding director of the Center for Jewish Studies, leading it from its inception in 2012 until his retirement in August 2022. Since August 2022, Professor Robert Erlewine serves in the role of director for the Center. Scholarship Opportunities Expand dropdownDonna Winkelman & Thomas Easthope Endowed Scholarship in Jewish Studies
The Center for Jewish Studies offers scholarships from $250 to $1000 for students participating in EMU travel courses (domestic or international) related to Jewish Studies. This is eligible for both graduate and undergraduate students.
Applications for study/travel courses over the winter term will be due November 15th. Applications for summer term study/travel courses will be March 20th.
Eligibility and Award Criteria
Both graduate and undergraduate students participating in an EMU travel course related to Jewish Studies are eligible to apply.
To apply:
Candidates must be have a minimum GPA of 3.0 overall.
Please send applications to [email protected]
The parts of this application are:
1. Application Essay: Students must write an essay, 1-2 pages in length explaining how this study abroad opportunity will broaden your understanding of Jewish Studies.
2. An Unofficial Copy of your Academic Transcript which should list all of your courses and grades to-date must be submitted along with your application.
3. One Letter of Recommendation sent directly from a faculty member. Allow reasonable time for faculty to write letters for you. Ask your referees to send the letters directly to Dr. Robert Erlewine ([email protected]).
