I teach Jewish studies and religious studies at the undergraduate level: in public universities, private research universities, and liberal arts colleges.

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Teaching interests

My classes examine topics in Jewish religious texts, practices, and literatures, with special emphasis on the modern period.  See below a sample of my introductory, intermediate, and upper-level courses.  All of my classes emphasize engagement with primary sources, critical thinking and writing, discussion, and collaborative learning. I welcome students from all academic and personal backgrounds, and strive to create inclusive, supportive spaces for rigorous as well as creative learning.

Courses

  • Introduction to Judaism

  • Introduction to Religion

  • OMG: God and her Critics, from the Bible to Ecological Crisis

  • Women and Gender in Judaism

  • Citizens and Subjects: Jews in the Modern World

  • Eat This Book: A Cross-Cultural Introduction to Sacred Text

  • The Sabbath

  • Children and Childhood in Religion

  • Reading the Hebrew Bible

  • Jewish Modernities

  • Torah, Midrash, Gospel: The Bible between Judaism and Christianity

  • Theology and Sexuality

  • Interpreting Sacred Texts



Image at top: Bertha Pappenheim in the costume of her ancestor, Glikl of Hameln. Photo by Leopold Pilichowski. Source: WikimediaCommons.

Photograph: Laura Shea