معرفی
Jon A. Levisohn is the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Associate Professor of Jewish Educational Thought at Brandeis University, where he also serves as Director of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education. He has been a faculty member at Brandeis since 2002 and served as chair of the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from 2021-2024. At Brandeis, he also chairs the Seminar on Contemporary Jewish Life (CJL) and the Jewish Education Working Group (JEWG), and serves on several faculty advisory committees. He is affiliated with the Hornstein Program in Jewish Professional Leadership, the Education Program, and the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute.
Levisohn earned his AB in Philosophy from Harvard College, followed by MA degrees in Philosophy and Religious Studies and a PhD in Philosophy of Education from Stanford University, where he was a Presidential Fellow and a Wexner Graduate Fellow. Before graduate studies, he studied classical Jewish texts at Yeshivat Sha'alvim in Israel and the Hebrew University, and taught Jewish studies at a Jewish day school for three years.
As a philosopher of education, Levisohn's research primarily examines foundational ideas about the purposes of Jewish education. His current book project redefines Jewish literacy in conceptually coherent and practitioner-useful ways. He also develops materials for American Jewish civic education and studies the American Jewish gap year in Israel. His scholarship explores the teaching of history, classical Jewish texts, and the normative dimensions of Jewish education, with a particular focus on language acquisition as a metaphor for Jewish educational outcomes.
His research has followed several key trajectories: conceptualizing Jewish literacy, examining the teaching of classical Jewish texts, exploring Israel education frameworks, analyzing historical narratives in Jewish contexts, and developing philosophical foundations for Jewish education. These interconnected strands reveal his consistent focus on how educational purposes shape pedagogical approaches and outcomes in Jewish contexts.
- Beit Midrash Fellowship, Shalom Hartman Institute (1993-1994)
- Presidential Graduate Fellowship, Stanford University (1997)
- Wexner Graduate Fellowship (1997-2001)
- Spencer Foundation Research Training Grant (2001)
- Mandel Leadership Institute Visiting Fellowship (2008-2009)
- Davis Fellow in Teaching and Learning, Brandeis University (2014-2015)
- Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies Fellow (2021)
- American Jewish Civics Seminar Fellow (2024-25)
Levisohn has advised nearly 40 theses and dissertations and consulted with over 20 Jewish educational organizations. His grant support comes from major foundations including AVI CHAI, CASJE, Jim Joseph Foundation, Israel Institute, and the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation. He has chaired or co-chaired 8 academic conferences and overseen more than a dozen scholarly initiatives.
He leads several research projects including the American Jewish Gap Year in Israel study, the Jewish Literacy Project, and the Seminar on Guiding Principles in Jewish Education. His work bridges theoretical scholarship with practical application through collaborations with Jewish educational institutions across North America.
