Class Descriptions

Seminar in Jewish Communal Leadership

SW692

Course Description

The professional seminar in Jewish communal leadership provides a critical space within the Jewish Communal Leadership Program curriculum in which students can integrate the very different approaches to knowledge, skills and experience – acquired in their SSW and Judaic studies courses and in their board and field placements – into a coherent whole. It provides opportunities for participants to meet with relevant professional and lay community leaders, to explore the relationship of personal and professional identities, to work collaboratively on soliciting and addressing communal problems gathered from the field, to participate in generating public programming related to Jewish communal issues, to consult with SSW faculty about the application of Social Work approaches to Jewish communal problems, and to gather peer feedback and establish relationships with each other.

The seminar also serves as a setting for the exploration of general societal concerns from the perspective of Jewish communal interests and traditional values, and for bringing the perspectives and skills that are a part of Social Work study and practice to addressing Jewish communal concerns.

The seminar serves as the intellectual home for the Jewish Communal Leadership Program, providing the forum in which students will grapple with understanding the Jewish community within its broader societal context. It provides a space for students to engage with issues of pluralism – addressing the place of Jewish community in a diverse society and the challenges of diversity within the Jewish community. The seminar will also provide a setting for students to apply their Judaic training and their practical skills in evaluation, data analysis, and social relationships to developing analytical approaches to current problems that will be presented by communal agencies for the consideration of JCLP students.

Objectives

a. Gain familiarity with the historical antecedents, contemporary organizational structures, and
critical problems defining contemporary Jewish community
b. Combine appropriate modes of practice, analysis and knowledge drawn from both Social Work
and Judaic Studies to discuss and address communal issues.
c. Connect relevant professional and Judaic studies course work and field placement experiences
with emerging career interests.
d. Establish relationships and interact professionally with lay and professional leaders in Jewish
communal service, relevant sub-fields, and allied occupational settings. Benefit from their
leadership narratives and learn from their approach to communal work and issues.
e. Develop their own voice, self-presentation, and perspectives as emerging professional leaders.
f. Work together to create an open, exciting, and mutually supportive class forum for the discussion
of challenging issues in a safe environment.
g. Frame big questions and present public forums to draw the broader community into significant
conversations about the American Jewish present and future.
h. Begin to bring their voices to bear on the broader discourse of concerns and debates animating
today’s American Jewish community.