Teaching Controversial Topics: Proven ACUE Practices for Your Faculty

Louis Newman, PhD is the author most recently of Thinking Critically in College:  The Essential Handbook for Student Success (Radius Book Group, 2023). From 2016 - 2022 he served as the Dean of Academic Advising and Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Stanford University.  From 1983 - 2016 he was on the faculty of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where is is now the John M. and Elizabeth W. Musser Professor of Religious Studies, emeritus.  During his tenure at Carleton he also served as the Humphrey Doermann Professor of Liberal Learning and the Director of the Perlman Center for Learning and Teaching (2010-13) and as Associate Dean of the College and Director of Advising at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota (2013-16).

Born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, he received his B.A. in philosophy and Hebrew and his M.A. in philosophy from the University of Minnesota.  He received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Brown University in 1983.  He had a long career as a widely respected teacher and mentor at Carleton from 1983-2016.

One of the country’s leading scholars of Jewish ethics, he is the author of several books:  Repentance:  the Meaning and Practice of Teshuvah (Jewish Lights 2010), Past Imperatives:  Studies in the History and Theory of Jewish Ethics (SUNY Press, 1998) and An Introduction to Jewish Ethics (Prentice Hall, 2005).  He also co-edited, with Elliot Dorff, two anthologies, Contemporary Jewish Ethics and Morality (Oxford University Press, 1995) and Contemporary Jewish Theology (Oxford University Press, 1999), as well as three volumes in the Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices series (Jewish Publication Society, 2008/09) that address contemporary moral issues from a range of Jewish perspectives.

He has been a member of several professional organizations, including the American Academy of Religion, Association for Jewish Studies, and Academy for Jewish Philosophy.  He was the first president of the Society of Jewish Ethics, an organization he helped found.  He has also been actively involved in the educational programs of several community organizations.   He serves on the International Council of the New Israel Fund and is currently co-chair of its San Francisco Regional Council.  He served as president of the board of directors of the St. Paul Talmud Torah from 1994-96, and as president of the board of Beth Jacob Congregation (Conservative) from 2009-11.

He works as a college coach, providing personalized academic advising to college students.  In addition, he consults on academic advising, as well as issues of learning and teaching in higher education.  A faculty member for over thirty years, he brings a wealth of experience to discussions of pedagogy, curricular innovation, institutional change and faculty development.

He also works as an ethics coach for individuals and organizations.  In this capacity, he provides guidance on how to address ethical issues and to foster moral development.