In a new partnership, six American academic institutions are teaming up to offer their graduate students a Master’s Concentration Program in Israel education.

Selected students will study a common curriculum, gather together for eight colloquium days, receive ongoing individual mentoring, and create their own learning experience in Israel. Students are also expected to be proficient in Hebrew by the end of the program. The program will be coordinated by The iCenter, a national nonprofit whose aim is to dramatically enhance pre-collegiate Israel education in North America.

Set to launch this May, the program is recruiting for its inaugural cohort of 18 students from:

• Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education at Yeshiva University
• Davidson School of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary
• Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program at Brandeis University
• The Schools of Education at Hebrew Union College
• The Jewish Education Program at the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University
• Jewish Professional Studies at Spertus Institute

Administrators and professors from the program’s six institutions agree: this approach has the advantage of collaborating faculties and students that will naturally elicit energy, enthusiasm, and new ways of thinking and strategizing.

“It is an important initiative in building the developing field of Israel education and will meet a clear need within the American Jewish community to enrich and sophisticate the teaching of Israel. The combination of rigorous academic preparation, close mentoring, and supervision of projects will greatly enhance the professional preparation of a cadre of educators who are committed to engaging learners in deep questions that get at the heart of why Israel matters in American Jewish life,” says Lisa D. Grant, Associate Professor of Jewish Education of Hebrew Union College.

More information on the Masters Concentration partnership is available on the iCenter website.

Founding funders of the iCenter include The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and the Jim Joseph Foundation.