Religious Studies Professor Geoffrey Claussen's new article appears in the Journal of Jewish Ethics.
Geoffrey Claussen, Lori and Eric Sklut Scholar in Jewish Studies and associate professor and chair of the Department of Religious Studies, has published an article titled “Teaching Modern Jewish Ethics Through Role-Play.” The article appears in the latest issue of the Journal of Jewish Ethics.
This article brings readers inside a Religious Studies course at Elon, Jewish Ethics (REL 382), focusing on a course activity in which students represent diverse modern Jewish thinkers and debate how Jews should understand particular moral virtues.
Claussen’s article includes an in-depth look at a class session in which Elon students represented seven modern Jews with diverse perspectives on altruistic love, kindness, and compassion and engaged in character with questions regarding gender, violence, and the biblical commandment to love one’s fellow.
The article explores how such role-playing engaged students and challenged them to think critically about the views of others, the construction of virtue, the diversity of modern Jewish ethical traditions, and their own approaches to ethics.