AICE To Fund Israel ScholarsThe nonprofit American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE) has created the Israel Scholar Development Fund (ISDF) to address the serious shortage of faculty teaching courses related to Israel at American universities. We believe that Israel has a pool of talent that could benefit American students. In addition to scholars in universities, many Israelis have long, distinguished careers in public service who would make terrific teachers for short-term assignments. Some U.S. scholars may also be willing and able to spend stints as visitors. The ideal candidates from our perspective will have impeccable scholarly credentials. They should be excellent classroom teachers who are fluent in English. They should also be willing to be active on the campus and the community. We would like to see scholars who will, for instance, give public lectures and engage in policy debates in the media. Faculty will be expected to teach two courses per semester, one of which should be related to modern Israel. The Fund will support visiting scholars at universities where we believe they can have the most impact. Institutions Must also contribute matching funds. The ideal situation will be one in which AICE contributes one-third, the university contributes one-third, and the last third is a demonstration of community support for the project and the university through a local donor or institution. AICE awarded its first two grants to establish visiting Israel scholar positions for 2005-06 at American University and UCLA. A number of other universities have expressed interest in hosting Israel scholars for 2006-07, including the University of Maryland, Washington University (St. Louis), and the University of California at Santa Barbara. We are also evaluating a number of other institutions, such as the University of Texas, the University of North Carolina, Harvard, the University of Georgia and Ohio State. In addition, the ISDF will be offering awards to encourage students to pursue academic careers in fields related to the study of Israel. Awards will be available to undergraduates who have already been accepted to a graduate program, graduate students who have received master’s degrees in Middle East related fields who wish to pursue a doctorate, and doctoral students who are writing dissertations related to Israel. AICE is seeking funding to allow the ISDF to offer more awards for graduate students and to establish additional visiting scholar positions at major universities. |
UCLA, AU Hire ScholarsOn November 10, 2004, AICE's board announced that it would offer the first ISDF grants to American University in Washington, D.C., and the University of California at Los Angeles to hire visiting Israel scholars for the 2005-2006 academic year. AICE chose AU and UCLA as the first recipients of ISDF grants because students at both campuses are likely to become decision makers in the future. In addition, both campuses have significant Jewish student populations. AU has a Center for Israel Studies, but has been better known for anti-Israel sentiment among faculty. UCLA has fewer problems from anti-Israel faculty, but there is a tremendous unmet demand for courses related to Israel, and each course has an exponential impact. AU reported that the pool of candidates was the strongest they have ever come across and ultimately hired Barry Rubin, a prominent Israeli scholar and prolific writer from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herliya. UCLA hired Tel Aviv University’s Aharon Kleiman, one of Israel’s most respected historians. We believe the ISDF grants will also help AU and UCLA in their efforts to build their programs. AU is raising money for an endowment and hopes to establish a permanent chair. UCLA is working on the creation of an Israel Studies Center and a permanent endowed chair. We have been told that our support has already resulted in new gifts to UCLA to support the establishment of permanent chairs. Both campuses will still need to raise additional funds, so we hope you will consider donating either directly to the colleges or to AICE for the ISDF.
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Please forward this newsletter to other funders interested in education and Israel. AICE can also help you work with the universities to insure that any donations are used for the purpose intended. For further information, please contact Dr. Mitchell Bard. AICE |
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