Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and JTS Announce Joint Israel Studies Program

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) have signed a five-year study abroad program agreement.

JTS students in the Modern Jewish Studies or Jewish Studies programs in The Graduate School of JTS will have the option of pursuing an Israel studies track at BGU in the first semester of their second year under the auspices of BGU’s Israel Studies International Program (ISIP). The program will take place at the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism on BGU’s Sede Boqer campus, home to the David Ben-Gurion Archives.

Students will take three Israel studies courses and one Hebrew language course. The courses offered include:

• The Israeli Mosaic, which includes research in the Ben-Gurion Archives and focuses on archival methodology, using primary source material in restructuring Israel’s historical narrative
• Israel from an Interdisciplinary Perspective, which focuses on academic discourse on Israel. Students will study and analyze different scholars’ perspectives on Israel’s history, society, geography, and culture.
• A seminar that will concentrate on one core issue in Israeli society, such as religion and state, or the relationship between the geographic “center” (Tel Aviv) and “peripheries” (north and south)