| Summer 2009: Final |
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Greetings,
It was wonderful to share a small taste of Genesis with so many friends and family members at the first ever Genesis Showcase this past Wednesday.
Genesis has wrapped up for this summer - one of our very best - full of learning, exploring, discovery and many, many life-long friendships.
It's far too quiet on campus right now. We are filling the void with plans for summer 2010. Stay tuned and enjoy the rest of the summer.
Bradley and Dvora
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| Genesis Video and Photos |
Check out the final video of the summer by clicking here. Also, a few new photos have been added to our smugmug site.
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| Explorations |
After three weeks of Connections sessions, participants culminated their community education experience by creating Exploration projects. In teams of four or five, participants reflected on the previous three weeks of Genesis, sharing with each other the most meaningful parts of their individual experiences. The groups then chose a topic to explore more deeply and present in front of their peers. Participants explored their definitions of Judaism, the ways people make decisions, the importance of helping one another love themselves, and many other subjects as they prepared to bring their Genesis experience back to their home communities.
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| Genesis Showcase 2009 |
On our last complete day at Genesis, family and friends were invited for an afternoon showcasing the exciting topics participants have explored all summer long, both in their courses and throughout the other aspects of the program. The following are some highlights from the Genesis showcase 2009:
The Journalism course participants led parents and other guests in an interesting discussion on media bias. Discussing how Arab, Israeli and American media portray events occurring in Israel differently, the journalism participants provided a brief glimpse into some of the issues they grappled with this summer.
Participants of the World Religions course prepared four different presentations about each of the major religions they studied this summer: Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism. During the session on Wednesday afternoon, guests got to partake in different experiences that reflected the participants' encounters with each religion.
The Innovation and Revolution course participants discussed their understanding of innovation and revolution. They covered the printing press as an example of an innovation that has had a significant impact on society. Participants also demonstrated one of the new innovations they learned about this summer from guest JT Waldman - the Tagged Tanakh, an online Bible resource allowing individuals to provide and tag their own commentary - explaining to the audience why they believe this project is revolutionary for Jewish learning and text, and how it makes the text relevant and accessible to their generation.
The Judaism and Justice course conducted a session demonstrating the process of reading, examining and analyzing a case. Participants took a case that they had not yet discussed and together with the audience, went through the process of examining the elements of justice present in the case.
Guests of Wednesday's showcase also got to experience a couple of the Explorations that participants had been working on throughout the last week of the program. The first exploration session asked guests to think about different parts of their Jewish identities, such as text, community, prayer, and song, and discuss what elements are most important to them. The second session was about spirituality and God, with participants demonstrating the different ways individuals relate to God though a photography exhibit.
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| Exodus: Genesis Magazine |
As their final project this summer, the journalism students took on the huge task of publishing a magazine that they called Exodus. The twenty page magazine included feature articles written by the participants, editorials, and even a spotlight article on Genesis and BIMA. Some of the topics reported on include the opening of a mosque and Islamic Center in Boston, an update on settlement issues being discussed in Israel, and even a two-page spread on the life of community educator Shimshon Siegel. All of their hard work certainly paid off, with such, a visually appealing, detailed and informative magazine.
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Genesis at Brandeis University | 415 South Street MS 065 | Waltham | MA | 02454
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