Jewish Studies Curriculum Initiative

Bring the breadth of Jewish history and civilization into your classroom with ready-to-use teaching modules curated by experts.

Organized as modules and centered around core teaching themes, each unit includes primary sources, expert interpretation, and supplementary resources for both students and instructors. Posen Library curricula offer flexibility and are designed to be easily integrated into coursework in a variety of ways—perfect for launching a new class or refreshing a syllabus to include new perspectives and voices.

Available now: The Origins of Rabbinic Judaism

Additional Modules Coming December 2025

Page of printed Hebrew text with word set in decorated border on top.

The Origins of Rabbinic Judaism

The rabbis of late antiquity shaped Judaism through debates in the Mishnah, Talmud, and midrash, balancing continuity, change, and authority.

Erez DeGolan

Cartoon drawing of man with three heads and many hands reaching in different directions, the hands in center typing on a large typewriter, a hand to the left holding a conducting baton, another hand holding a phone, and a hand to the right holding a pen.

Jewish Culture Worldwide: Food, Music, Language, Names, and Identity

Explore Jewish culture worldwide through food, music, language, and names, balancing integration and distinctiveness, tradition and creativity.

Sarah Bunin Benor

Medal depicting two figures on either side of a set of tablets and small portrait of man in center.

Jewish Emancipation, Citizenship, and Belonging from Revolutionary France to the Modern Middle East

Trace the evolution of Jewish citizenship from eighteenth-century France through Europe, the Ottoman Empire, and the Middle East, where debates over rights endu

Geraldine Gudefin

Manuscript page with Hebrew text and drawing of spheres and interconnected lines.

Jewish Mysticism & Shabbat: Sacred Time and God’s Oneness

Examine Jewish mysticism through Shabbat as sacred time, exploring theology of God’s oneness, ritual practice, and mystical states of experience in Kabbalistic

Eitan Fishbane

Page of Aramaic text in center and around border with images of birds and flowers.

Jews of the Middle East and North Africa: Empire, Colonialism, and Identity

Explore Jewish life across Islamic empires, colonial rule, and modern Israel and see how MENA, Sephardic, and Mizrahi identities evolved across regions and cent

Geoffrey Levin

Watch-like device with concentric circles, inner geometric shapes and hands.

Sephardic Jewish History and Culture in Spain and Beyond

Explore the history of the Jews in late medieval Spain and the rebirth of Sephardic culture in 17th century Netherlands and the Americas.

Ronnie Perelis

Photograph of figure holding sword behind her neck.

Sephardic Journeys: Literature, Memory, and Jewish Culture

Discover how Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) shaped global Jewish culture, identity, and imagination.

Karen Skinazi

Photograph of men, women, and children seated on the steps of a large public monument with nude classical figures and a winged horse atop a circular base.

Who Is American? Citizenship, Law, and Jewish History in the United States

Jewish encounters with American citizenship, from the colonial era to today, reveal how the United States has continually redefined who belongs and why.

Lila Corwin Berman