Jewish Studies Fall 2025
Fall Online Weekly Courses | Make your selection by August 8, 2025
Dear Jewish Studies Students:
This fall, gather online with colleagues from across North America and beyond for two engaging courses.
Our fall courses, taught by two members of our acclaimed faculty, fulfill core requirements for both Master’s and Doctoral-level students. In addition to digging into complex topics in Jewish history and practice, they also provide opportunities for connection, discussion, and rich learning with peers with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise.
Registration is now open. If you have questions or would like to discuss your choice of courses, please email Scarlett Andes, Manager of Student & Faculty Services, at sandes@spertus.edu.
Sincerely,
Dr. Keren E. Fraiman
Dean & Chief Academic Officer
Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership
Please note that the preferred registration deadline is July 25, and the final registration deadline is August 8.
Fall 2025 | Online Weekly Courses | September-November 2025
Cordoba, Baghdad, Kaifeng: Medieval Jews, Global Lives
Taught by Dr. Jonathan Brack
3 quarter-hour credits
Fulfills MAJS Core (Middle Ages) or Elective | DSJS Elective | DHL Elective Core Reading Course
8 Sessions | Meets Mondays from 6 to 8:30 PM CT via Zoom
September 8, 15, and 29 | October 20, 27 | November 3, 10, 17
This course explores medieval Jewish history through two interrelated and innovative lenses: from the seventh to the fifteenth century: moving beyond the simplistic narratives of either Jewish persecution or rosy coexistence, while embracing the Global Middle Ages approach. From the seventh to the fifteenth centuries, we will examine two major questions: first, how did key events in world history – from the Muslim conquests to the Crusades and Mongol Invasions – influence and change Jewish intellectual, economic, and political life? Second, what active role did Jewish men and women play in historical changes during this period? The course traces Jewish experiences across vast, global networks. From the dramatic expansion of trade networks within the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean in the 10th to 12th centuries to economic activities along the Silk Roads into Central Asia and China, and cross-confessional scientific, intellectual, literary, and material exchanges in urban centers such as Fes, Toledo, Cairo, and Tabriz, Jews witnessed, experienced, and influenced an interconnected medieval world.
Halakhah: Its Past, Present, and Future
Taught by Dr. Tzvi Novick
3 quarter-hour credits
Fulfills MAJS Elective | DSJS Elective | DHL Core (Halakhah)
8 Sessions | Meets Thursdays from 6 to 8:30 PM CT via Zoom
September 4, 11, 18, and 25 | October 9, 16, 23, and 30
Halakhah is a central category of meaning and normativity in the Jewish tradition, and arguably the central one. It is also a site of constant contestation and change, not only in its substantive details, but also in the conceptualization of the category and of its relationship to other categories. In this seminar, designed for doctoral students, we will explore key historical and methodological questions connected with the emergence and development of halakhah as a category, and reflect on its present and future for contemporary Judaism.