The editors of the Journal of Jewish Education invite papers for a special issue on Jewish education and the arts. In this issue, we hope to foreground some of the diversity of endeavors that utilize the creative, visual and performing arts for the purposes of Jewish education, whether in the past or the present, and across the full age range of learners in formal, experiential and digital educational contexts, from early childhood through adulthood. To this end, we welcome submissions from various disciplinary perspectives, including but by no means limited to education, sociology, geography, history, anthropology, digital arts, philosophy, painting, drawing, photography, architecture, filmmaking, creative writing, music, dance, drama and theater. We are interested in receiving papers not only from academic researchers, but also practitioners and artists (broadly defined) whose work has a Jewish educational objective. We are equally interested in publishing creative works of a scholarly nature and will endeavor to ensure they are reviewed by people familiar with the chosen medium. Where applicable, authors are welcome to reflect on their own experiences of using the arts in Jewish education, and may draw on the full range of methods available.
Possible questions of interest include:
- How can the arts be used in novel ways to engage students, participants or audiences in Jewish history, culture, faith or language?
- How can educators of Jewish themes best employ the arts in their pedagogy?
- What can the arts uniquely offer to Jewish education, whether in the past, present or future?
- How do physical locations (e.g., museums, theaters, field trips) shape the ways that the arts can be taught in Jewish education contexts?
- What barriers exist to the development of Jewish education-oriented artistic programs in the future?
