The Department of Hebrew Literature at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev:
An Empire of Literary Studies
 
​The Department of Hebrew Literature at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev is the largest of all Israeli universities. It is the home of major researchers, writers, poets, editors, and critics, all of whom together make up a lively and colorful plethora of literary-studies.
 
The Hebrew Literature Dept. at BGU offers thorough studies in Hebrew and Jewish literature from antiquity to the present, including Midrash and Talmudic literature, Medieval narrative and poetry, and the literature of the Modern Era from haskalah (Enlightenment), tehiya (Revival), and hasidic literature, through the old and new yishuv periods, the early State period, and up to the present-day mosaic of multicultural Jewish-Israeli literature.

 
The Hebrew Literature Dept. at BGU is the home of the following units:
 
  • Heksherim Institute for the study of Hebrew and Jewish literature and Culture,
    headed by Prof. Yigal Schwartz. click here for Heksherim website
  • The Moshe David Gaon Center for Ladino Culture,
    headed by Prof. Tamar Alexander.
  • Folklore Studies Program,
    headed by Dr. Yuval Harari.
The Hebrew Literature Dept. and Heksherim Institute jointly hold a variety of academic events, including international, inter-university, and our own graduate-students conferences and symposiums. As of the year of 2000, we publish Mikan [from here] – Journal for Literary Studies, and the Masa Kritit critical books series, both in collaboration with Kineret-Zmora-Bitam Publishers.
 
Staff: Prof. Tamar Alexander, Prof. Haim Be'er, Dr. Amir Benbaji, Prof. Itzhak Ben-Mordechai, Prof. Ori Bernstein, Dr. Yuval Harari, Dr. Anat Weissman, Dr. Nidaa Khury, Dr. Haim Weiss, Dr. Haviva Ishay, Dr. Zehava Caspi, Dr. Peter Lehnardt, Dr. Gidi Nevo, Dr. Hanna Soker-Schwager, Prof. Amos Oz, Prof. Iris Parush, Dr. Hamutal Tsamir, Prof. Nissim Calderon, Prof. Ruth Kerton-Bloom, Prof. Etgar Keret, Prof. Ilana Rosen, Prof. Tova Rosen, Prof. Yigal Schwartz, Dr. Batya Shimony.
click here for details about our academic staff members

 
Scholarships: The Hebrew literature Dept., Heksherim Institute, and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at BGU offer scholarships for outstanding students.