Hebrew Immersion Study Abroad Coming to BGU
Hebrew Immersion Study Abroad Coming to BGU
March 3, 2011
Press Releases, Social Sciences & Humanities
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), Brandeis University and Middlebury College have established a joint study abroad program that will be conducted solely in Hebrew.
The program will begin offering classes at BGU in the spring of 2012. The curriculum, drawn from Brandeis’ Hebrew Language and Literature Program, is designed for high intermediate and advanced Hebrew language students. Qualified students will also be able to enroll directly in courses at BGU.
Students will be housed in BGU dormitories with Israeli students and will adhere to the Middlebury College Language Pledge — a promise to speak no language other than the one they are studying. Anticipated initial enrollment is about 10 to 15 students per semester.
Beer-Sheva is in the heart of the Negev desert in southern Israel. One of the world’s oldest cities, it has been inhabited for some 6,000 years. Located in an area rich with Biblical and archeological history, the city is now a modern regional capital with a population of about 200,000, including a large number of Russian and Ethiopian Jews who arrived in the 1990s.
“BGU is Israel’s most popular university among students and has a very strong focus on community service, which is an excellent complement to our outstanding academic programs,” explains Andrea Meiseles, director of the North American office for international academic affairs at American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. “It is a multicultural oasis of innovation in the desert that is the fulfillment of David Ben-Gurion’s vision for sustainable and scientific expansion into the Negev.”
Michael Geisler, Middlebury’s vice president for language schools, schools abroad and graduate programs, called Ben-Gurion an ideal partner for such a program in Israel. “Ben-Gurion University, which is seen by many as having one of the strongest and most diversified academic programs in Israel, is an excellent location,” he says. “Since the university is well integrated with the town of Beer-Sheva, students will find it easier than in many other cities in Israel to gain access to the community.”
Students who are interested in an English-language unique study abroad program at Ben-Gurion University where they live with Israelis while studying Hebrew, Arabic archeology, anthropology, Israel studies, desert studies, or enroll in special tracks in Global Health and Sustainable Development should contact [email protected] or call 646-452-3704, or visit www.bgustudyabroad.org.
ABOUT AMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY
By supporting a world-class academic institution that not only nurtures the Negev, but also shares its expertise locally and globally, Americans for Ben-Gurion University engages a community of Americans who are committed to improving the world. David Ben-Gurion envisioned that Israel’s future would be forged in the Negev. The cutting-edge research carried out at Ben-Gurion University drives that vision by sustaining a desert Silicon Valley, with the “Stanford of the Negev” at its center. The Americans for Ben-Gurion University movement supports a 21st century unifying vision for Israel by rallying around BGU’s remarkable work and role as an apolitical beacon of light in the Negev desert.
About Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev embraces the endless potential we have as individuals and as a commonality to adapt and to thrive in changing environments. Inspired by our location in the desert, we aim to discover, to create, and to develop solutions to dynamic challenges, to pose questions that have yet to be asked, and to push beyond the boundaries of the commonly accepted and possible.
We are proud to be a central force for inclusion, diversity and innovation in Israel, and we strive to extend the Negev’s potential and our entrepreneurial spirit throughout the world. For example, the multi-disciplinary School for Sustainability and Climate Change at BGU leverages over 50 years of expertise on living and thriving in the desert into scalable solutions for people everywhere.
BGU at a glance:
20,000 students | 800 senior faculty | 3 campuses | 6 faculties: humanities & social sciences, health sciences, engineering sciences, natural sciences, business & management, and desert research.
For all press inquiries, please contact:
James Fattal, J Cubed Communications
516.289.1496
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