Teaching Rabbinic Literature in the Undergraduate Liberal Arts Classroom

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

Historically, the study of rabbinic literature has been reserved for rabbinical schools and yeshivas. In recent years, however, classes on Talmud, midrash, and other rabbinic literature have sprouted up in unlikely places—secular undergraduate classrooms at liberal arts colleges. This phenomenon offers pedagogical opportunities and challenges for students and instructors in these classes. Kanarek and Lehman (2011) wonder if the goals of liberal education—to "raise reflective citizens who possess the capacity for critical examination of one’s self, one’s traditions, and the traditions of others”—are even compatible with traditional Jewish study, the goal of which is to “cultivate a sense of embeddedness in an ancient and ongoing tradition.”
This roundtable conversation brings together instructors of rabbinic literature in undergraduate liberal arts classrooms from a wide variety of institutional settings--public and private, large and small, coastal and midwest. It will address the following questions:
1. What are some challenges you have encountered in your teaching of rabbinic literature in the undergraduate liberal arts classroom?
2. In what ways have you been successful teaching this topic?
3. What wisdom or experience have you gained from teaching in this setting that you would like to pass along?
4. What do you see as the value of teaching rabbinic literature in this setting?
The discussants will represent the following perspectives:
Sari Fein, moderator, has taught midrash in the context of Late Antique Jewish history, biblical reception, and gender and women’s studies.
Erez DeGolan will discuss the use of rabbinic texts in a liberal arts context as a pedagogical tool of defamiliarization that prompts students to reconsider taken-for-granted categories, such as religion, literature, and culture.
Matthew Hass will discuss the opportunities and challenges of teaching Talmud to STEM majors with little or no background in the academic study of religion, alongside religion and Judaic studies majors.
Krista Dalton will discuss teaching rabbinic literature through thematic topics that appeal to broad student interest in order to bring students into the world of the rabbis.
Madeline Wyse will discuss her course that examines how the more challenging shared stories of the Bible and Quran get reworked, exploring how to read midrash and juxtaposing it with various Islamic genres.
We hope that our conversation will serve to demystify the teaching of rabbinic literature in these non-traditional settings and encourage others to bring this challenging yet important material to their own institutions.

Sub Unit

• Rabbinic Literature and Culture

Moderator

• Sari Fein, Smith College

Discussants

• Madeline Wyse, University of California - Berkeley

• Krista Dalton, Kenyon College

• Erez DeGolan, Wellesley College

• Matthew Hass, Tufts University - Department of International Literary & Cultural

Zoom Host

• Zoom Host 10