Teaching

A man in a tan blazer giving a presentation in front of an audience. Behind him are two framed art pieces on the wall. The audience consists of older adults seated around tables, some with beverages, and attentively listening.

Jacob teaches and lectures on topics of modern Jewish history and U.S. history. He is currently co-teaching a course at BU called “Antisemitism and the Holocaust in America” with Prof. Nancy Harrowitz. The seminar class explores how antisemitism and the Holocaust played defining roles in the formation of modern American Jewish life. At Yale he designed and taught an upper-level undergraduate research seminar at Yale titled “American Jewish Citizenship Politics, from Revolution to Civil Rights.” Throughout the semester, students engaged with many of today’s most essential Jewish political questions, including about the history of Zionism/anti-Zionism, antisemitism, racism and nativism.

He has taught introductory undergraduate courses with faculty on subjects of the American Civil War and Reconstruction (Dr. David Blight), European Jewish Political History (Dr. David Sorkin), and U.S. and the World (Dr. David Engerman). At Yale he also mentored and taught writing at the graduate level, including for five years as a Graduate Writing Fellow at the Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning.

Jacob has spoken and guest lectured at various academic institutions, archives, and museums across the country.