Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies

Exploring Jewish Learning and Culture


 

Jewish Studies Links

Contact

Phone 312.322.1794
Jewishstudies@spertus.edu

A variety of classes and public programs take place in the evening and on Sunday. See our calendar of events for more details.

Jewish Studies Degree Programs

Spertus College offers students a number of degrees at the Masters and Doctoral levels

Doctor of Jewish Studies

The Louis Susman Program in Jewish Communal Studies

In the late 1980s, Spertus perceived the need to develop a high-level degree program for in-service Jewish professionals with extensive backgrounds in Jewish Studies. The DJS program has been developed to fill that perceived need, but it has been designed so as neither to duplicate nor to compete with other existing doctoral-level programs, e.g., Ph.D. programs in Jewish Studies and D.Min. (Doctor of Ministry) programs. Unlike Ph.D. programs, the DJS program does not aim at training individuals to pursue a career in "scientific" scholarly research and writing in a particular sub-area of Jewish Studies. Unlike many D.Min. programs, the DJS program is not "clinically" oriented.

The virtue of the DJS program is not in what it excludes, but in what it includes, i.e., its focus on high-level Jewish Studies coupled with opportunities to apply academic learning to professional activities and goals. Indeed, it is the balance and integration of the academic and applied, the scholarly and the professional components of the program that constitute its non-duplicative, unique design.

The DJS program has been especially designed primarily for in-service Jewish clergy, educators and communal service workers who are interested in and committed to building upon and enhancing already acquired Judaica knowledge and professional skills, and who desire to make a "cutting edge" contribution to their respective field.

The DJS is a coveted credential for individuals seeking career enhancement, career change and personal edification. DJS is a "non-traditional" professional degree program. This means that unlike "traditional" degree programs, each individual in the program undertakes a very individuated process of learning, within certain parameters.

Due to the nature of the program, admission is highly selective. Applicants must meet certain rigorous prerequisites and must demonstrate to the Admissions Committee their commitment and ability to complete the program successfully. Success in the DJS program largely depends upon the learner's ability to organize his or her time, knowledge and abilities to do effective and productive faculty guided independent study, research and writing.

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Program Components

Academic depth, professional direction, flexible scheduling, accessibility to coursework and a nurturing learning environment characterize the DJS program. The DJS program is comprised of three required integrated components. These are:

  1. Reading Courses in Jewish Spirituality
  2. Intensive Study Seminars
  3. The Project Demonstrating Excellence (PDE)

Because each learner's program is individualized, and because each learner may work at his or her own pace (considering other personal and professional responsibilities), the anticipated time from admittance to degree completion will differ from person to person. Furthermore, while it is advised that each learner simultaneously work on the three components of the program Reading Courses, Intensive Seminars and the PDE, some will opt not to do so. Since all program participants are anticipated to be "part-time," few can be expected to complete the program in less than three years. It is anticipated that the average participant can complete the program within five years of admission.

Eighteen courses or 54 quarter-hours of credit are required for degree completion. Courses must be completed with a minimum cumulative average of "B," i.e., 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Of these eighteen courses, seven relate to Reading Courses, seven relate to Intensive Seminars or Independent Study courses related to the PDE, and, four relate to the composition of the PDE.

Reading Courses

To enable learners to attain a substantive level of "cultural literacy" in Jewish spirituality, and to help learners acquire research and writing skills as well as content competence necessary for the composition of the Project Demonstrating Excellence (PDE), a series of Reading Courses and Intensive Seminars has been designed. Each of the seven Reading Courses should focus upon one of the following areas:

  1. Basic Background reading in Jewish Spirituality
  2. Jewish Theology
  3. Ethics, Pietica (Musar)
  4. Jewish Mysticism (Kabbalah)
  5. Jewish Law (Halakhah)
  6. Prayer and Liturgy
  7. Additional works specifically related to the PDE
Intensive Seminars

All requirements for Reading Courses, most requirements for completing the PDE, and some requirements for the Intensive Seminars may be done through home-study. However, formal classroom learning is a critical feature of one componen of the DJS program — Intensive Seminars. These seminars take place at Spertus Institute in Chicago at least once annually. Seminars that meet during the academic year (September through June) are usually of 2-3 days each in duration. The summer seminar is usually six days in duration.

Sample of course modules offered in intensive seminars

  1. The Theological, Liturgical and Halakhic Development of Teshuvah
  2. Jewish-Catholic Relations
  3. The Bible as a Resource for Pastoral Counseling
  4. Kabbalistic Prayer: New Perspectives
  5. Jewish Ethics: Problems and Methodologies
  6. Ta'amei Ha-Mitzvot in Classical Jewish Literature
  7. Classical and Contemporary Methodologies of Halakhic Decision-Making
  8. The Golem Legend: Origins and Implications
  9. Comparative Jurisprudential Methodologies in Ashkenazic and Sephardic Responsa
  10. Conversion and Apostasy: Theological and Halakhic Perspectives
Project Demonstrating Excellence

The PDE sustains a cohesive focus for the DJS program. It also serves as that which individuates the learning process of each participant in the program. In the PDE, the outcomes of the DJS program are summarized, synthesized and applied. In the PDE, the academic and the applied, the scholarly and the pragmatic features of the program coalesce in a particular product.

Examples of PDE topics:

  1. Principles of the Jewish Faith: A Curriculum for Confirmands and Their Parents
  2. Models of Jewish Lay and Religious Leadership: Training Manuals for American Jewish Leadership
  3. The Spiritual Legacy of Polish Jewry: Curricular Materials for Tours of American Jewish Teens to Poland
  4. A Curriculum for Teaching Jewish Theology in Orthodox Synagogues
  5. A Curriculum for Jewish Cultural Literacy: The Integrated Learning Wheel
  6. Using Classical Jewish Sources for Social Action Programming
  7. Creating A Local Jewish Communal Archive as a Basis for Communal Planning and As A Resource for Communal History
  8. Isaiah Horowitz's Shnei Luhot ha-Brit As A Resource for Homiletics and Adult Education
  9. Creating A Jewish Contemplative Community

 

Further Information

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