About Us
The Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies (EWCJS) is an academic program unit of the College of Arts and Sciences. The Center serves as Boston University’s hub for co-curricular and public events related to Jewish history, religion, and culture.
With currently fifteen core and sixteen affiliated faculty members, we offer a content-rich, interdisciplinary range of courses and events in Jewish studies and related fields. The Center promotes Jewish histories, cultures, societies, ideas, languages, and religion and supports faculty and students through research and travel grants, scholarships, fellowships, and merit awards. Our lectures and events provide the campus community and the Boston-area public with opportunities to learn, exchange ideas, and encounter contemporary forms of Jewish intellectual life and artistic creativity.
Named for Elie Wiesel, the 1986 Nobel Laureate for peace and a member of the BU faculty for nearly forty years, our Center fosters excellence in teaching and scholarship, as well as meaningful public engagement. The Elie Wiesel Center is located at 147 Bay State road, a former patrician building that once also served as the office of BU president John Silber. At its dedication in 2005, the building was renamed in honor of Elie Wiesel’s parents Shlomoh and Sarah Wiesel. It was renovated with the generous support of Ira and Ingeborg Rennert who also provided the founding endowment of the Center.
