Posen Library Digital Curriculum Development Fellowship
For over twenty years, the Posen Library has been producing print and digital collections of primary texts and images representing a variety of voices from Jewish culture and history, from all over the world and from the biblical to the contemporary periods. Through them, the Posen Library seeks to fulfill its mission to provide an expansive view of Jewish culture and history and to combat the tendency to reduce and simplify debates about Jews and Judaism.
Creating the Next Generation of Jewish Studies Sourcebooks
The inaugural Posen Library Digital Curriculum Development Fellowship will draw on and expand the Posen Library’s existing collection to develop free, easy-to-use teaching modules that can be incorporated into a variety of college-level courses related to Jewish culture and experience. These modules will provide plug-in collections of sources and interpretive material curated by experts in the field so instructors, and particularly those who might be teaching outside of their area of expertise, can include multiple perspectives in their teaching of Jewish history and culture.
2025 Fellowship Requirements and Expectations
We seek fellows who combine a passion for innovation in the classroom with a demonstrated commitment to teaching inclusive Jewish history.
Fellows will be responsible for creating single modules intended to cover approximately 1–2 weeks of course content in a broad survey course. Each module will include approximately 20 sources and be curated as a collection of text and image materials. Fellows will select from existing Posen Library content available on the digital platform and suggest new entries to add to the Posen Library. Note that in August 2025, a significant amount of new content from the rabbinic period will be added. Currently, the collection includes material created before 2005 but material created after 2005 can be added as part of the modules.
Fellows will also create contextual educational resources for the entries in the module, including overviews for the module and each entry. Course content should appeal broadly to students, instructors, and nonacademic users of the site.
The modules will be housed on the Posen Library website and will be available to faculty to choose from to build their own curricula. All fellow-generated course content will be available through open access for any Posen Library website user. Fellows will be cited as the creators of the modules. Fellows can design the modules for courses that they will be teaching in the coming academic year if desired.
As part of the inaugural fellowship cohort, fellows will work closely with Posen Library staff to develop our platform architecture and provide the tools faculty will find most useful in incorporating Posen Library modules into their teaching. They will also advise on and participate in 1–2 outreach efforts such as writing email marketing, social media posts, an article, or a conference paper about their work.
Module Themes for 2025
For the 2025 inaugural fellowship, we have selected five key themes that can be incorporated into commonly taught university courses with Jewish studies content:
- Jews and Citizenship
- MENA, Sephardic, Magrebi, and/or Mizrahi Jewish Experiences
- Gender and Sexuality
- Life-Cycle and/or Holidays around the World
- Rabbis and the Emergence of Judaism in Antiquity
Fellows can apply to create a module for any one of these themes. We encourage applicants to think creatively based on their scholarly and pedagogical expertise about how to create effective teaching materials that can be used in a variety of different syllabi.
Time Commitment
The 2025 fellowship will run from June 16 to December 31, 2025. It will take place virtually and will include monthly group meetings for all fellows to check in on progress, coordinate, and support work. Additional meetings with Posen Library staff will be scheduled as needed.
- June–August 2025: approx. 15 hours/week of research, writing, and online meetings to develop module content and required site functionality
- September–December 2025: approx. 5–7 hours/week of editing and meetings to review and revise module content and create module pages
Fellow Qualifications
Fellows should be scholars in fields relevant to the 2025 topics who have completed their Ph.D. Ideal candidates will have a minimum of 5 years of teaching experience, will have a demonstrated commitment to pedagogical innovation and diversity, and will have a proven track record of research and publication on their chosen topic. We have a preference for fellows who could pilot the material they create in a course planned for the academic year 2025–2026.
Compensation
Fellows will receive a stipend of $8,000 for their work, to be paid in two installments over the course of the fellowship.
Applications
Interested candidates should complete an application (available here) by Monday, May 12. Applications must include a current CV.