AR45 'Make Yourself a Teacher' : Jewish Pedagogy

In this course we will consider how the teacher-student relationship sustains and constantly renews the Jewish tradition, especially during troubled times. What is it that teachers do when they teach? How do knowledge, spirituality, and education relate? What might Jewish models of study and commentary say about how we teach and learn today? These are the kinds of questions that will be raised in this course. Textually, we will focus on three dramatic stories about the talmudic sage Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus. And we will read these stories in light of various texts, old and new, from medieval Jewish commentary, modern literary theory, and Jewish thought and philosophy.

• Course Specifications
• Type: Elective
• Lesson type: Lecture
• Hours: 28 (5 credits)
• Category: RABBINICS
• Requirement: Informal personal writing and one formal essay.
• Instructor: Prof. SUSAN A. HANDELMAN
• Status: The course will be available in the future.

• Course Readings 1
• Susan Handelman, Make Yourself a Teacher: Rabbinic Tales of Mentors and Disciples (Washington, 2011)