About The Graduate School

Students from diverse backgrounds, religions, and communities come to The Graduate School of The Jewish Theological Seminary to explore their interests in a world-renowned institution noted for its academic excellence.

Our dedicated faculty represent the full range of Jewish expertise and scholarship, providing unparalled opportunities for students to broaden their scope of knowledge and understanding. Graduates leave with a degree, and the skills and ability to become leaders in their fields.

Our Community


The JTS community attracts top students to learn, live, study, and work together.

Our campus, in the heart of Morningside Heights, is located within a vibrant academic center of the city, with Columbia University, Barnard College, Union Theological Seminary, and The Manhattan School of Music just steps away.

A wide range of dynamic and ongoing academic, social, and cultural opportunites are available at JTS. New York City, with its many cultural offerings, is at your doorstep.



Applying to The Graduate School.

The Library

The Library is recognized as the greatest collection of Judaica in the Western Hemisphere, with over 400,000 volumes on hand in open stacks. Our students may also obtain borrowing privileges from neighboring libraries.

The Rare Book Room affords the opportunity to examine significant and historic Judaica that will enrich the extensive curriculum and contribute to your original research.

Learn more about The Library.

A Message From The Dean

I am pleased to welcome you to one small corner of The Graduate School, "From the Dean's Desk." This space will be a rotating miscellany of items from and about The Graduate School. The contents will vary periodically, so be sure to come back to this site from time to time.

First, meet the people who will be in The Graduate School Office this year and who will be pleased to help you. We start by welcoming a new staff member:

Ms. Liza Schwartz, executive assistant in The Graduate School, comes to JTS from Tel Aviv where she spent some time writing for the English-language website of Haaretz. Before that she had been working in book publishing, but realized that just because someone enjoys reading books doesn't mean she'll enjoy editing them. Five months in Israel solidified her interest in working in the Jewish world. From summers at Ramah to Judaic Studies courses at Binghamton University, that interest had never been too far from the surface. Liza is very happy to be at JTS and looks forward to working with faculty, students, and staff.

Dr. Bruce Nielsen has served as assistant dean since 1996. He is also director of JTS's Summer Sessions and an adjunct assistant professor of Ancient Judaism. After receiving his BA from Midland Lutheran College and a master's of divinity from Union Theological Seminary, Dr. Nielsen earned his MA in Talmud and his PhD in Ancient Judaism from The Graduate School of JTS. His current research interests include Greek papyrology and Daniel Bomberg, an influential sixteenth-century printer of Hebrew books. Dr. Nielsen works with the advisers to doctoral and MA students, is the adviser to non-matriculated students (i.e., students taking courses but not working toward a degree), and is involved in strengthening our Excellence in Teaching Program.

And I am Dr. Stephen Garfinkel who, in addition to serving as dean of The Graduate School, has been on the faculty of JTS in the Department of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages for more than twenty-five years. I also serve as dean of Academic Affairs for all five schools of JTS. After receiving my BA from the University of Pennsylvania (shortly after its founding by Ben Franklin), and rabbinic ordination from JTS, I received my PhD from Columbia University.

About this webpage:

Here, you'll be able to learn what our extraordinary students are saying and doing; at other times you may read about an upcoming conference or new project. On occasion you'll be able to share your thoughts in response to a survey question, peek into issues The Graduate School Faculty Committee is debating, or read about an event planned by the Graduate Student Organization (GSO). This space will also provide a link to resources of interest to graduate students and, at other times, will explore the activities of one academic department or program within The Graduate School.

During the year you will be exposed to students, faculty, members of The Graduate School administration, The Graduate School Advisory Council, and academic colleagues from other institutions. You will read about, hear, and see The Graduate School in action, and I hope you will contribute to our vibrant academic community as well.

For now, I want to share one piece of information and raise one question.

1. The generic email address for The Graduate School is now Gradschool@jtsa.edu and our Admissions Office email address is now GSAdmissions@jtsa.edu. I hope you will use the first whenever you need it and the second to refer your friends as potential graduate students.

2. We are considering a possible new tagline: The Graduate School of JTS: Where Scholarship Matters. I'd like to hear your reactions to the phrase and what you think it means.

Taken together, the many components you will find in this space during the year will give you a sense of a school that is multifaceted and focused, rigorous, and enjoyable. I hope you will help shape the page and contribute to the vibrancy of The Graduate School.

Sincerely,

Dr. Stephen Garfinkel
Walter and Sarah Schlesinger Dean, The Graduate School of The Jewish Theological Seminary

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