The Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology

Jerusalem Comes to the World

Through a massive open online course (MOOC) on Jerusalem, Prof. Aren Maeir enables people around the world to engage with Bar-Ilan content and encounter—often for the first time—nuanced information about Jewish history.

Making it Personal

Shortly after concluding his first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on biblical archaeology in 2019, Prof. Aren Maeir of the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology was approached at a lecture by a fellow attendee. “He began speaking with me as if were friends, but I had no idea who he was,” Maeir recalls. “Finally, he explained that he’d been a student in my MOOC. ‘After eight weeks together,’ he said, ‘I felt like I knew you. After all, you were speaking to me the entire time.’” It was then, says Maeir, that he realized how effective a digital format can be, not only in conveying information, but also connecting with students. When President Prof. Arie Zaban invited ideas for enhancing Bar-Ilan’s Basic Jewish Studies curriculum a few years later, Maeir was therefore happy to suggest an online course about Jerusalem, open to the entire world.

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The result—the eight-lesson, English-language “Jerusalem: A Journey Through Time”—is the first academic online course to delve into the geography, early history, and archaeology of Jerusalem, as well as its place in broader political and religious contexts. Along with enriching the educational experience of hundreds of Bar-Ilan students each year, it will bring individuals across the globe into the Bar-Ilan classroom, offering what is for many their first encounter with the world’s most coveted city. No less important—particularly during a time of increasing anti-Israel sentiment—the course will help international students get to know a deeply knowledgeable and engaging Israeli. “Apart from providing knowledge, this course has the potential to shift people’s perceptions about Israel and the Jewish people,” says Maeir. “I view it as a long-term contribution to the state, one that just happened to be great fun to make.”

No Stone Unturned: A Jerusalem Syllabus

Along with lectures, “Jerusalem: A Journey Through Time” includes visits to major excavations—some of which are not yet open to the public—and interviews with leading scholars, including archaeologists Profs. Israel Finkelstein and Amihai Mazar and historian Prof. Jodi Magness.

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