The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development (GSEHD) and Columbian College of Arts and Sciences received a $1.47 million grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation to fund a new program combining experiential education and Jewish cultural arts. The program is the only one of its kind in the country, offering an interdisciplinary curriculum of coursework from GSEHD’s Museum Education Program and the Columbian College’s program in Judaic studies to provide a Master of Arts in experiential education and Jewish cultural arts.

The program will begin in summer 2014, and will be built on the platform of experiential education in which educators engage with students to provide not only knowledge, but first-hand experiences outside of a traditional academic setting. The initiative will offer a series of intensive summer institutes and community collaborations designed to take advantage of GW’s location in the nation’s capital, with its vast array of institutional and human resources.