The Meaning of a Jewish Studies Major

When I came to IU as a student early last year, I was quite literally petrified of everything here in Bloomington, mainly because Fee Lane (the street where my dorm is), or the Villas wasn't the same thing as 8 Agron St. (where I lived in Jerusalem) or Kibbutz Ein Tzurim. I didn't even know what I was going to do in school. I was going to become a prospective applicant to the Kelly School of Business, but it wasn't really something that I wanted at all. With that I was an exploratory student for the majority of my first year at Indiana. Throughout the year, when I became more involved in Hillel, I realized that a lot of my friends that I spent time with during the year, were taking many of the Jewish Studies classes that the University had to offer. I felt that not only was it a great social setting for me, but a great educational setting as well, as I would love become a part of the Jewish professional world after I graduate, whether that be working in Jewish communities and organizations, or pursuing the Rabbinate or Cantorial school, it is a field that has been apart of my life for a long time, and it has given so much to me, and I would love to work in it and give whatever I can back to the Jewish world for helping me shape who I am today.
When I was talking about Jewish Studies Programs with my fellow students in class, one importnat topic that has been brought up for discussion of a meaning of a Jewish Studies Major is the legitamacy of Jewish Studies as a cultural experience as much as one of religion. I strongly believe that this type of major must have a cultural class experience within itself, because-let's face it-Judaism wouldn't really be Judaism without it's homeland. When I think a lot about Judaism's studies in school, I cannot go without incorporating Israel into it because that's where a lot of Judaism's cultural origins come from in every sense of it's historical sense. Jews and Judaism wouldn't be what it is today without it.