The Duke-Carolina Institute for Jewish Studies is a joint endeavor by which Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Carolina Center for Jewish Studies) make available to students at all levels the unique resources that exist between the combined faculties and libraries at both institutions. Each university has a Center for Jewish Studies with its own institutional integrity and unique features. Cooperation between the institutions exists on many levels and in a variety of subjects; and Jewish Studies faculty have cooperated since the mid 1970's to bring Jewish history, culture, and the languages and literatures associated with them to the attention of both undergraduates and graduate students as well as faculty and interested members of the Durham-Chapel Hill community.
In creating the Duke-Carolina Institute for Jewish Studies the two Universities continue to foster learning in the area of Jewish Studies at both institutions, to promote the individual strengths of each institution in specific areas and to complement each others’ strengths. The Institute promotes cooperation in several ways:
- The Institute jointly funds the Duke-UNC Jewish Studies Seminar, a monthly gathering of regional scholars, both faculty and graduate students, to discuss the recent work of visitors and members
- The Institute jointly brings in speakers each year, to lecture on each campus and/or to give a paper at the Duke-UNC Jewish Studies Seminar
- The Institute sponsors an annual event, where faculty can meet, mix, exchange ideas, and discuss future joint events