Courses

Students select three HUJ courses in a wide range of academic disciplines, taught in English through the HUJ’s Rothberg International School http://overseas.huji.ac.il/. Students with a sufficiently high level of Hebrew also will have the option to enroll in regular Israeli university courses.

At the heart of the program are two courses designed exclusively for participants in the Wesleyan program. First is a robust one-credit critical seminar (Contemporary Israel: Society, Culture, and Politics) taught by Professor Bernard Avishai, an outstanding international scholar. In addition to three highly acclaimed books and numerous articles on Israel, Prof. Avishai publishes one of the most-referenced Israel-related blogs (see http://bernardavishai.blogspot.com/).

A second, half-credit course consists of a series of cultural evenings organized by Linda Zisquit, a well-connected American-born Israeli poet, translator, and professor of creative writing. The course will meet in Prof. Zisquit’s home in the German Colony neighborhood of Jerusalem, and will provide participants opportunities to engage in dialogue with distinguished artists, poets, novelists, journalists, and intellectuals shaping Israeli culture today.

Training in Hebrew is strongly encouraged, but not required. All students take a one-month Hebrew immersion course (ulpan) at the beginning of the program, as well as a course in Hebrew at the appropriate level during the regular semester. Students also can take Arabic as an elective.