The Jewish Studies Program at Purdue was founded in 1981 with the educational goal of promoting and understanding of all aspects of Jewish culture, language, literature, religion, philosophy, and history. As a multidisciplinary program, it is composed of faculty members from six academic departments: English, Foreign Languages and Literatures, History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Sociology/Anthropology. In 1989, the Jewish Studies Program co-founded the Midwest Jewish Studies Association, a scholarly organization established to promote Jewish Studies at other colleges and universities in the Midwest.

        The Purdue Jewish Studies program:

• offers an undergraduate major and minor in Jewish Studies
• sponsors a noon discussion series and an evening lecture series. All lectures are free to the public.
• publishes a semi-annual newsletter
• edits Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies. Shofar, published quarterly, is the official journal of the Midwest Jewish Studies Association. Shofar publishes original, scholarly work for a general university audience, reviews a wide range of recent books in Judaica, and emphasizes pedagogical aspects of Jewish Studies at the college and university levels.
• awards annually the Edward Simon B'nail B'rith Barzillai Lodge 111 Prize in Jewish Studies, a prize for the outstanding undergraduate essay or project on a theme related to Jewish Studies.