The Department of Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University was founded in 1959 By Prof. Zvi Werblowsky and Prof. David Flusser (RIP) as an advanced studies department in the Faculty of Humanities. Since its foundation the department has been blessed with distinguished teachers and researchers, amongst whom are Israel Prize winners and members of the National Academy of Sciences. For over fifty years advanced courses for second and third degrees were at the center of the department's teaching, together with a division of Christianity History for BA students. In 2008 a rich BA study program was opened in the department, which concentrates on the different branches of Comparative Religion: theoretical and comparative studies alongside possibilities of specializing in Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Asian Religions. Today, the Department of Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University is the only department in Israel which offers a wide and versatile study program in Comparative Religion for BA and MA students.