Michelle Lynn-Sachs

Dr. Michelle Lynn-Sachs is assistant professor of Jewish Education at the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education of The Jewish Theological Seminary. Dr. Lynn-Sachs's teaching and research focuses primarily on Jewish education in the congregational setting. She coordinates the synagogue education track for Davidson MA students, supervising student fieldwork and teaching the synagogue education practicum.

Dr. Lynn-Sachs’s areas of interest include educational leadership, congregational studies, sociology of education, and sociology of religion. Her recent research project, titled "Inside Sunday School: Cultural and Religious Logics at Work at the Intersection of Religion and Education," was a comparative, ethnographic study of the aspirations for religious education programs in a Catholic church, Protestant church, and synagogue. She has presented her work at conferences of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and the Network for Research in Jewish Education.

Previously, Dr. Lynn-Sachs was a researcher and consultant for the Experiment in Congregational Education; congregational educator at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, Ontario; and a mentor and supervisor for education students at both JTS and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She is a founding member of the Synagogue Studies Academy and serves on the advisory boards of the Leadership Institute for Congregational School Educators and the Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning.

Dr. Lynn-Sachs received a bachelor of arts degree in Literature and Society from Brown University (1993); master's degree in Jewish Education from the Rhea Hirsch School of Education at HUC (1996); and a doctorate in Education and Jewish Studies from New York University (2007). She was a Wexner Graduate Fellow while at HUC and a Beam Family Fellow at New York University.

February 2009

Courses

Spring 2009:

EDU 5514: Synagogue Education Practicum II

EDU 5559: Staff Development and Supervision

EDU 5609: Leading and Managing Jewish Non-profit Organizations