Bridging Scholarship and Pedagogy in Jewish Studies
Conference Videos
In January 2005, the Bridging Initiative held a conference entitled Teaching Bible: Bridging Scholarship and Pedagogy. Selected videos from that conference and the Bridging Initiative as a whole are available below.
• Click here to be notified when new papers and videos are available, and to receive updates about the Bridging Initiative and the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education.
• Return to Bridging Initiative main page.
View a short video about our Teaching Bible conference.
Teaching Bible: Bridging Scholarship and Pedagogy
January 30-31, 2005
Introduction to Conference: Jon A. Levisohn
There aren't enough opportunities to take seriously the ideas behind teaching practices in Jewish studies at all levels—an important aspect of “bridging scholarship and pedagogy.”
Opening Remarks: Sharon Feiman-Nemser
Our research agenda for Jewish education needs to be deepened and expanded to include serious investigation into the practice of teaching, by academic researchers as well as teachers themselves.
The Critical Study of Bible in Jewish Educational Contexts
• Presenter: Susie Tanchel
It is not only defensible but desirable to teach the documentary hypothesis to senior students in pluralistic Jewish high schools; an analysis of student interviews and written work tells us why.
Respondents:
• Wes Gardenswartz
Does biblical criticism scratch the itch of the Jew in the pew? We need to offer people not only an understanding of where the Torah comes from, but also a vision of where we might go with it.
• Dov Lerea
We need to consistently ask sophisticated questions about the teaching of Bible, including: “Which methods of textual interpretation can most authentically foster religious identity?”
• Susie Tanchel
Our objective as Jewish educators should be to move students from simple approaches to faith towards more complex, multivocal, even contradictory approaches.
• Q & A
A Pragmatic Pedagogy of Bible
• Presenter: Edward L. Greenstein
Those who analyze and interpret the Bible should first determine the types of meaning they are seeking, and then choose the methodologies that will best lead them there.
Respondents:
• Barry W. Holtz
A teacher’s use of multiple approaches to the Bible emphasizes the incomplete nature of any single reading, and maximizes the possibility that different students will each find a connection to the text and its interpretation.
• Jon A. Levisohn
An awareness of the diverse types of meanings should not blind us to the existence of better and worse interpretations, or to the question of what claims the biblical text makes on us beyond the meanings we seek in it.
• Q & A
A Missing Paradigm? Strengthening Research on the Pedagogy of Jewish Studies
Plenary session at the NRJE (Network for Research in Jewish Education) annual conference
June 5, 2005
• Jon A. Levisohn
What is the state of research on the pedagogy of Jewish studies, and which research directions should we pursue?
• Susie Tanchel
Exploration of the documentary hypothesis can be an important part of the religious development of twelfth-graders in a pluralistic Jewish high school.
• Alex Sinclair
Bridging scholarship and pedagogy should include research into teaching and learning practices at all age levels, as well as visions of education emerging from biblical scholarship.
• Marc Brettler
Teachers of Bible at the college level should undertake serious investigation of their own teaching practices, including how they decide which approaches to take and in what proportion, despite the obstacles.
• Q & A
• Sharon Feiman-Nemser
We need to expand what we mean when we say “pedagogy,” what we think of as “teaching,” and who we think is qualified to do “research.”