How to Teach A Course On Land Use and Anti-Jewish Discrimination

Abstract

In 2022, I was asked to teach a one-week mini-course within a broader course on “Structural Barriers and the Pursuit of Equity,” a course focusing on various forms of structural discrimination The course is typically taught by over a dozen professors from various parts of Touro University, each of whom teaches for a week on a different topic. I chose to teach on issues related to land use law (because my scholarship focuses on that area) and in particular how land use law has been used by and against traditionally observant Jews (because that is the religious tradition I am most familiar with). The purpose of this paper is primarily to explain the substance of the course: that is, what I chose to teach the students about land use law and Jews. I divided the course into three areas: intentional discrimination against observant Jews, constitutional issues other than intentional discrimination, and issues arising under federal statutes