Adjunct Instructor
215-576-0800

Joshua Yarden is a Ph.D. candidate in Education, Culture & Society at the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a master of arts in Jewish History and Judaic Thought from the University of Haifa and a bachelor's degree in Middle East studies from McGill University. He has worked in schools and informal educational settings with adolescents and adults in North America and Israel for over 25 years. He immigrated to Israel in 1983, where he worked in industry and education and served as the general secretary of Kibbutz Adamit. As the director of Ulpan Ein Hashofet, he designed and implemented "In the Land of Israel," a multi-lingual experiential semester, which introduced tourists and new immigrants to the complexities of Israeli society, culture and geography.

Yarden is the senior educator of Genesis at Brandeis University, an innovative program for high school students integrating Jewish studies, the arts, humanities and community building. His work there focuses on experiential curriculum design and in-service professional development. His articles include, "Continuity and Decline," published in Against The Stream: Seven Decades of Hashomer Hatzair in North America, edited by Ariel Hurwitz (1994) and "Emancipatory Education and Religious Tradition," published in Mo'ed, the academic journal of the Center for Jewish Culture at Beit Berl College in Israel. Currently, he is writing a dissertation on learning through critical reflection on experience and cultural context.