He teaches courses on the archaeology of Israel, Jewish Sacred Texts, Introduction to Judaism, Jewish Theology, Monotheistic Mysticism and World Religions. He also leads Oakland University students to Israel each year to excavate. He has established a field school there in conjunction with Hebrew University. For five seasons the expedition excavated at Khirbet Qeiyafa, an important Iron Age site associated with the kingdom of David in Judah at about 1000 BCE. From 2014 to 2017 the team excavated ancient Lachish. Pytlik has taught at Oakland University since 2009. He holds a doctorate in Jewish Studies from Spertus College in Chicago. His dissertation centered on the topic of King David through the lenses of archaeology, history and Jewish tradition.