Jewish Studies Course Schedule & Registration

Jewish Studies 2026-2027 Academic Year

Dear Jewish Studies Students:

I am thrilled to present our course offerings for the 2026-2027 academic year.

Choose from a variety of topics across the realm of Jewish Studies, all taught by acclaimed members of our faculty, including some who are new to Spertus. These courses satisfy a range of requirements for all of our Jewish Studies programs, both online and in person. We hope this year’s offerings inspire your learning while also helping you progress in your graduate journey.

Fall, Winter, and Spring courses are offered online in real time and the Summer Seminar takes place in person at Spertus Institute. In each course, you will learn together with faculty and your fellow students.

The full year of courses are now available below.  I encourage you to schedule an advising appointment here with Scarlett Andes (Manager of Student and Faculty Services) so that we can review your transcript together and determine which courses are the best fit for you.

Here’s to another year of great learning!

Yours,

Dr. Daniella Farah
Assistant Director of Jewish Studies
Professor of Jewish Studies
Spertus Institute for Learning and Leadership

 

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Fall 2026 | Online Weekly Courses | September-November 2026

Narrating Conversion and Change

Taught by Dr. Shai Zamir
3 quarter-hour credits
Fulfills MAJS 2nd Level Core or Elective | DSJS Core (Intergroup Relations), Text, or Elective | DHL Text or Elective Core Reading Course

8 Sessions | Meets Wednesdays from 11 AM to 1:30 PM CT via Zoom
September 9, 16, 23, 30 | October 7, 14, 21, 28

Can we change? And if so, how would such change manifest itself in words? How can a spiritual or inner change be seen, and for what purposes? Do we change for other people to notice? Would they believe our “conversion” story? Does change require belief? Does it have a history? How do different religious traditions portray change? Do we live in a time when we are forced to change constantly? Do we take classes because we hope to change through the acts of reading and writing?
In this course, we will read key texts from the ancient Mediterranean to the early modern era to explore how philosophers, historians, and novelists envisioned change, especially in the context of the Jewish and Christian traditions. We will learn how to think historically about subjects such as the self, narrative, rhetoric, and transformation, while learning about missionary efforts, miraculous changes, and even werewolves, and reading fundamental texts in world literature and thought, from the Bible to the picaresque novel.

A History of Antisemitism

Taught by Dr. Marc Dollinger
3 quarter-hour credits
Fulfills MAJS 2nd Level Core or Elective | DSJS Elective | DHL Elective Core Reading Course

8 Sessions | Meets Tuesdays from 6 PM to 8:30 PM CT via Zoom
September 29 | October 6, 13, 20 | November 3, 10, 17, 24

One of the most debated and contested topics in contemporary Jewish life, antisemitism (or accusations of it) have paralleled the history of Jews and Judaism itself, from ancient charges of deicide to medieval accusations of blood libel, to modern eugenics-informed assumptions about Jewish biological inferiority that led to the Nazi genocide. Today, intense Jewish communal debates over whether (or how) anti-Zionism becomes antisemitism surface at least three competing formal definitions of antisemitism itself. Join us for a semester-long immersion in “the longest hatred” as we engage the subject’s most important scholarly articles and books in order to gain a deeper, more complex and nuanced understanding of antisemitism over time and place. Units include ancient anti-Judaism, medieval Jew hatred, and modern antisemitism, culminating in an extended study of the contemporary scene.

Great Modern Jewish Thinkers

Taught by Dr. Claire Sufrin
3 quarter-hour credits
Fulfills MAJS Core (Modern Jewish Experiences) or Elective | DSJS Core (Jewish Thinking) or Elective | DHL Core (Jewish Thought) or Elective Core Reading Course

8 Sessions | Meets Thursdays from 6:30 PM to 9 PM CT via Zoom
October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 | November 5, 12, and 19

In this course, we will explore the Jewish intellectual tradition as it developed during the 20th century. We will focus in particular on thinkers responding to the failures of the Enlightenment that had reshaped European society and, with it, modern Judaism, in the 18th and 19th centuries.

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Winter 2027 | Online Seminar Format | January 10-14, 2027

Jesus and Judaism

Taught by Dr. Dov Weiss
3 quarter-hour credits
Fulfills MAJS 2nd Level Core or Elective | DSJS Core (Intergroup Relations) or Elective | DHL Elective Core Reading Course

Seminar Morning Course
9 AM-1 PM CT each day | Meets via Zoom

This course examines the various ways in which Jews — over the last two thousand ears — thought about, and reflected on, Jesus of Nazareth. It will cover numerous types of Jewish literature, including, but not limited to, folk stories and Talmudic teachings (from Late Antiquity), published letters, polemical treatises, law codes, philosophical tracks, and mystical writings (from the Middle Ages), and, lastly, works of Reform theology, ecumenical treatises, Zionist literature, and Jewish artistic expressions (in the Modern Period). The course will highlight the shifting Jewish attitudes toward Jesus Christ, from antipathy and scorn (in earlier periods) to celebration and valorization (in later periods).

Adventures in Rabbinic Responsa

Taught by Dr. Matt Goldish
3 quarter-hour credits
Fulfills MAJS 2nd Level Core or Elective | DSJS Text or Elective | DHL Text or Elective Core Reading Course

Seminar Afternoon Course
3 PM-7:30 PM CT each day (with a 30-minute break) | Meets via Zoom

The responsa are letters sent to rabbis for their expert legal opinions on cases which have arisen in the Jewish community. For the historian, the responsa are an almost bottomless source of historical information, biographical fragments, legal curiosities, and especially, stories of Jewish life from the early Middle Ages to the present. We will examine many responsa together, with the aim of learning how historians use the genre, what we can learn from them, and how to analyze these fascinating but complex documents.

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Spring 2027 | Weekly Online Courses | February-April 2027

The Sages: Foundations of Classical Judaism

Taught by Dr. Mika Ahuvia
3 quarter-hour credits
Fulfills MAJS Core (World of the Rabbis) or Elective | DSJS Text or Elective | DHL Text or Elective Core Reading Course

8 Sessions | Meets Wednesdays from 6 PM to 8:30 PM CT via Zoom
February 17, 24 | March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 | April 7

This course investigates the origins and foundation of classical Judaism by the Jewish sages (AKA the rabbis). The Judaism that prevails today arose in the context of the Hebrew Bible’s completion, the Romans’ destruction of Jerusalem, and alongside the emergence of Christianity. This course discusses the rise of the rabbinic movement, its stories and laws, and its Greco-Roman as well as Babylonian-Persian context.

The Ten Commandments Throughout the Ages

Taught by Rabbi Dr. Vernon Kurtz
3 quarter-hour credits
Fulfills MAJS 2nd Level Core or Elective | DSJS Text or Elective | DHL Text or Elective Core Reading Course

8 Sessions | Meets Thursdays from 11 AM to 1:30 PM CT via Zoom
Feb. 18, 25 | March 4, 11, 18, 25 | April 1, 8

The Ten Commandments seem to be simple statements of religious and moral behavior. However, their eternal truths form the core of Judeo-Christian values and are the foundational laws for western civilization. In this course we will delve into the important lessons they teach for modern society by examining Biblical, Rabbinic, New Testament and later Christian sources, as well as Medieval and modern Jewish texts. Our study together will allow us to discuss their importance and relevance for today.

What is Judaism?

Taught by Rabbi Dr. Scott Aaron
3 quarter-hour credits
Fulfills MAJS 2nd Level Core or Elective | DSJS Core (What is Judaism?) or Elective | DHL Core (Jewish Thought) or Elective Core Reading Course

8 Sessions | Meets Tuesdays from 6 PM to 8:30 PM CT via Zoom
March 2, 9, 16, 30 | April 6, 13, 20 | May 4

Explore the evolution of Jewish thought in a changing world from Spinoza to the present. In this overview course, we will focus on key thinkers from the 17th – 20th centuries and touch on theological and philosophical developments both in the light of and in opposition to the Enlightenment and the modern world.

Course registration for Spring 2027 will open in November 2026.

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Summer Seminar | In Person at Spertus Institute | June 20-24, 2027

Summer Seminar courses are taught in person at Spertus Institute in Chicago. Two courses will be taught in the morning slot and two in the afternoons.
The schedule is as follows:
Morning courses: Sunday 1-4 PM, Monday 8:30 AM-12:30 PM, Tuesday 8:30 AM-1 PM, Wednesday 8:30 AM-12:30 PM, Thursday 8-11:30 AM
Afternoon courses: Sunday 4:30-7:30 PM, Monday 1:30-6 PM, Tuesday 2-6 PM, Wednesday 1:30-6 PM, Thursday 12:30-3:30 PM
*Exact course times may be subject to change.

Introduction to Jewish Studies

Taught by Dr. Daniella Farah, Assistant Director of Jewish Studies
3 quarter-hour credits
Fulfills MAJS Core (Intro to Jewish Studies)

Jewish Studies as an academic discipline is in some ways a relatively new endeavor. As an interdisciplinary field, it draws from a broad range of scholarly methodologies, covers a dizzying array of topics, and utilizes many genres of source materials. As such, Jewish Studies is an amalgam that tells us quite a bit about Jews and Judaism (both past and present) as well as the current state of the Academy. At the same time, Jewish Studies writ large is a much older discipline—in the guise of Biblical study, exegesis, historical writing, and debate, for example. In this course, we will examine the general lines of development of Jewish Studies in the Academy, with special emphasis on recent developments. We consider each of the major chronological periods through a close look at recent scholarship to understand central themes and current trends in Jewish Studies today.

Jewish Historiography

Taught by Dr. Dean P. Bell
3 quarter-hour credits
Fulfills MAJS 2nd Level Core or Elective | DSJS Core (Jewish Historiography) |DHL Elective Core Reading Course

How and why have Jews engaged history? What meaning does history have for Judaism and how has Jewish historiography reflected the changing position of Jews and Judaism? This course explores the full range of Jewish historiographical writing, from the Bible to contemporary and postmodern reflections on history. Particular attention, however, will be given to the development of formal Jewish historiography since the sixteenth century and especially in the nineteenth century. Among the important Jewish historians to be studied will be: Azaria de Rossi, David Gans, Nathan of Hannover, Heinrich Graetz, Simon Dubnow and Salo Baron.

Uses of the Bible in Modern Jewish Life

Taught by Dr. Rachel Havrelock
3 quarter-hour credits
Fulfills MAJS Core (Modern Jewish Experiences) or Elective | DSJS Text or Elective | DHL Text-Based Course or Elective

Conditions of democracy in the 20th and 21st Centuries brought new political and artistic meanings and uses of the Bible to the fore. Although the Bible’s role in American Christianity is often discussed, less explored is the question of what the Bible has meant to American Jews. What distinct Jewish American interpretations can we identify? How does the Hebrew Bible figure in Jewish American arts and letters? It follows to inquire whether Israeli and North American Jews share readings and orientations to their sacred texts. The unique role of biblical texts in Israel has received more scholarly attention than its American counterpart. In Israeli settings, prime ministers and poets alike have cited Scripture with moral authority.

Registration for the Summer 2027 Seminar will open in February 2027.

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Summer 2027 | Weekly Online Bonus Course | July-September 2027

Writing the 21st-Century Jewish Experience

Taught by Dr. Shana Mauer
3 quarter-hour credits
Fulfills MAJS Core (Contemporary Jewish Experiences) or Elective | DSJS Text or Elective | DHL Text-Based Course or Elective Core Reading Course

8 Sessions | Meets Tuesdays from 11 AM to 1:30 PM CT via Zoom
July 20, 27 | August 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 | September 7

At the end of the 20th century, the three dominant concerns of Jewish literature were a return to tradition, Israel and Holocaust memory. For more than two decades, these thematic matters have remained central to Jewish writing, but they have evolved and become more diverse. Conversations about tradition have focused on both a return and rejection of observant Jewish life. Israel has been a source of pride, worry, confusion and internecine conflict. Holocaust memory has been a pillar of Jewish community identity and also a weaponized tragedy, enlisted as an explanation or rationale for different beliefs, ideologies and causes.  Against these pillars of contemporary Jewish writing, unanticipated topics have also become part of the Jewish literary conversation; the Sephardic Jewish experience, Confederacy Jews, Russian-American Jewish life and the rising tides of antisemitism. This course will be a close study of imaginative, compelling storytelling that reflects these issues and how changing winds have resulted in both continuity and upheaval in Jewish literature.

Course registration for the Summer 2027 bonus course will open in February 2027.

Course Payment

Spertus students must be in good standing to be eligible to register. This means:

• GPA is 2.7 or above.
• Financial account does not have an overdue balance.

Students who do not meet the financial criteria will need to pay down their overdue balance prior to registering for courses.

Course Costs

For MA in Jewish Studies (MAJS) Students
$400 per quarter-hour credit
($1200 per 3qh course)

For DS in Jewish Studies (DSJS) and Doctor of Hebrew Letters (DHL) Students
$475 per quarter-hour credit
($1425 per 3qh course)

A non-refundable $25 fee is charged on all course registrations forms.

Refund policies vary by course format. Please review the specific policy listed on your course registration form.

Courses auditing can be arranged on a select basis with approval from the Dean. Audited course tuition is $450 per 3qh course.

Course confirmation will be acknowledged by email upon approval of your course registration(s).

Scholarship for Jewish Studies students may be available. Read more about scholarship opportunities and the application process here.

Questions

• For questions relating to Jewish Studies courses and registration, please contact Scarlett Andes at sandes@spertus.edu.
• For questions about payment, please contact Spertus Finance Coordinator Judith Wood at jwood@spertus.edu.