Faculty Guide

Title

Assistant Professor of Jewish Education in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Assistant Academic Director, Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education

Education
Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

Expertise

Philosophy of education. Jewish education. Hermeneutics and the epistemology of the humanities. Scholarship of teaching classical Jewish texts.

Profile

Levisohn studies philosophy of education and philosophy of Jewish education. His particular focus has been on the myriad ways we have of making sense of texts -- both religious texts and secular texts -- especially in the contexts of teaching and learning. He believes that we do not have appropriate language to describe what happens when we teach texts, when we study texts or learn from them, and we do not have sufficiently nuanced theories to explain the phenomenon in its robust diversity. This is not merely an intellectual curiosity, because our lack of understanding undermines our educational efforts. It hampers our ability to articulate compelling educational goals in the humanities; it hinders the preparation of teachers; and it makes it difficult to generate powerful and textured modes of assessing student learning.

In pursuing these questions, Levisohn has directed a project at the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education called the Initiative on Bridging Scholarship and Pedagogy in Jewish Studies. This project has involved educators from a wide range of settings in research seminars and large conferences, and has generated a series of working papers that explore various aspects of the teaching of classical Jewish texts.

Awards and Honors

Mandel Leadership Institute Visiting Fellowship (2008)

G.J. Lieberman Fellowship (2001)

Spencer Foundation Research Training Grant (2001)

Stanford Presidential Graduate Fellowship (hon.) (1997)

Wexner Foundation Graduate Fellowship (1997)

Beit Midrash Fellowship, Shalom Hartman Institute (1993)

Inter-University Fellowship in Jewish Studies (1993)

Courses Taught

ED	159b	Philosophy of Education
NEJS	170a	Studying Sacred Texts
NEJS	235b	Philosophy of Jewish Education
PHIL	148b	Philosophy of the Humanities

Scholarship

Levisohn, Jon A. "A Menu of Orientations Towards the Teaching of Rabbinic Literature." Journal of Jewish Education 75. (2009). (forthcoming)

Levisohn, Jon A. "How Can We Enact Our Responsibility to the Historical Referent?." Philosophy of Education (2009). (forthcoming)

Levisohn, Jon A. "Teaching Vision: Cultivating a Philosophical Disposition among Educational Practitioners." Jerusalem: Mandel Leadership Institute, 2009 (forthcoming)

Levisohn, Jon A. "Building Bridges to Overcome Breaches: School and Academy, Content and Pedagogy, Scholarship and Teaching." South Atlantic Philosophy of Education Society (SAPES) Yearbook (2008). (forthcoming)

Levisohn, Jon A. "Community as a Means and an End in Jewish Education." Jewish Day Schools, Jewish Communities: A Reconsideration. Ed. A. Pomson and H. Dietcher. London: Littman Library, 2009

Levisohn, Jon A. "Experience Has Ways of Boiling Over: Pursuing a Pragmatic Pedagogy of Bible." Journal of Jewish Education 75. 3 (2009).

Levisohn, Jon A. "From the Integration of Curricula to the Pedagogy of Integrity." Journal of Jewish Education 74:3. (2009).

Levisohn, Jon A. "Introducing the Contextual Orientation to Bible: A Comparative Study." Journal of Jewish Education 73. 3 (2008).

Levisohn, Jon A. "Jewish Education in Pursuit of Virtue." Teaching Toward Tomorrow: Setting an Agenda for Modern Orthodox Education. Ed. Yoel Finkelman. Jerusalem: ATID, 2008

Levisohn, Jon A. "Richard Rorty and the Ethics of Anti-foundationalism." The Space of Love and Garbage and Other Essays from the Harvard Review of Philosophy.. Ed. S. Phineas Upham. Chicago: Open Court, 2008

Levisohn, Jon A. "Strengthening Research on the Pedagogy of Jewish Studies." Journal of Jewish Education 73. 3 (2008).

Levisohn, Jon A. "Extending the Conversation on Visions of Jewish Education." Journal of Jewish Education (2006).

Levisohn, Jon A. "What is Bridging Scholarship and Pedagogy?." (2006): <http://www.brandeis.edu/mandel/projects/bridginginitiative_docs.html>.

Levisohn, Jon A. "How to do philosophy of religious education." Religious Education (2005): 90-101.

Levisohn, Jon A. "Ideas and Ideals in Jewish Education: Initiating a Conversation on Visions in Jewish Education." Journal of Jewish Education (2005).

Levisohn, Jon A. "Patriotism and Parochialism: Why Teach American Jewish History, and How?." Journal of Jewish Education (2005).

Levisohn, Jon A., Jewish Educational Leadership. "A Plea for Purposes." Jewish Educational Leadership (2005).

Levisohn, Jon A. "Probing Pragmatism: Rorty, Reforms, and Responsibility." Philosophy of Education (2004).

Levisohn, Jon A. "Religious Experience as a Jewish Educational Ideal." Journal of Jewish Education (2004).

Levisohn, Jon A., Philosophy of Education. "Young Patriots or Junior Historians?." Philosophy of Education (2003).

Levisohn, Jon A. "Stories about Stories about History." Philosophy of Education (2002).

Levisohn, Jon A. "The Interpretive Virtues in Historiography and History Education." Diss. Stanford University, 2002.

Levisohn, Jon A. "Openness and Commitment: Hans-Georg Gadamer and the Teaching of Jewish Texts." Journal of Jewish Education 67. (2001).

Levisohn, Jon A.. "Inclusion and Objectivity: Helen Longino's Feminist Theory of Scientific Inquiry." Philosophy of Education (2001).