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The professional field experience forms an important part of the Hornstein Program and is carefully designed to match each student’s interests and career goals. Hornstein’s Director of Fieldwork works with field site supervisors to craft experiences that develop a broad set of skills. Each student is placed in a Jewish organization to conduct specified projects under the mentorship of a leader within the organization and in conjunction with a Brandeis faculty member. The collaboration among student, organizational supervisor/mentor, and faculty member reinforces the student’s professional development and integrates the experience into the context of Hornstein's overall curriculum and goals.
The professional field experience strengthens students in their areas of focus, stretches their skills and knowledge, widens their network of contacts, broadens their perspectives on Jewish communal and organizational life, and deepens what they learn from formal coursework. Field experience usually takes place in the summer and/or second year of the program, and ranges between 125 and 250 hours.
Recent field experiences include:
- At the Anti-Defamation League, a Hornstein student worked closely with the staff leadership of the Confronting Anti-Semitisim Program to develop, market, and deliver high-quality programs.
- Another student spent the summer at the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco where he worked on legislative and public policy issues, including researching and writing about the Jewish community and the Armenian Genocide.
- Another developed surveys and interview protocols for evaluating a Jewish federation's adult education programs.
- This year, two students are shadowing the top leadership of the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston and Hebrew Senior Life in addition to working on projects critical to the organizations and their own professional development.
Recent field sites include:
 “Supervising Hornstein students has been a wonderful experience. The connections between classes and fieldwork create a real synergy. Most important, I feel that I am training my future colleagues.”
Ira Schor
Director of Community Programs
Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Boston
 "Student fieldwork needs and interests vary as do those of the field organizations. Field placement options reflect the variety of student interests, as well as the changing organizational shape and needs of our Jewish community.”
Jody Comins
Director of Fieldwork and Alumni Relations
Hornstein Program
“The fieldwork experience was crucial to my professional development. I grew as a person, a leader, and a professional. With the knowledge I gained, I felt as if I had done dozens of placements!”
Hal J. Ossman ‘01
Assistant Director
University of Arizona Hillel
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