LEARNING FROM TAGLIT-BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL: AN ACADEMIC SYMPOSIUM


May 23-24, 2012 Brandeis University

Taglit-Birthright Israel

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

>>GUIDELINES FOR MODERATORS AND PRESENTERS

Click on session title to view presenter materials 

Wednesday, May 23, 2012
11:00-1:00 PM   Conference Registration (Mandel lower level)

12:00-1:00 PM  

Lunch (Mandel Atrium)

1:00-1:15 PM

Opening Session:  Welcome and Conference Goals (Mandel Auditorium) 

Prof. Leonard Saxe, Brandeis University
1:15-3:00 PM Plenary 1: Educational Philosophy and Vision of Taglit (Mandel Auditorium) 

Chair: Prof. Lisa Grant, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Presenters: Prof. Barry Chazan, Spertus Institute
Dr. Zohar Raviv, Taglit-Birthright Israel
Rachel Fish, Brandeis University
Dr. Daniel Marom, Mandel Leadership Institute 

Discussants: Prof. Joseph Reimer, Brandeis University
Gabor Balazs, University of Szeged

3:15-5:00 PM

Plenary 2A: Israel/Homeland-Diaspora Relations (Mandel Auditorium)

Chair: Prof. Ilan Troen, Brandeis University
Presenters: Dr. Jillian Powers, Washington University in St. Louis
Prof. Zvi Bekerman, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Prof. Theodore Sasson, Brandeis University; Middlebury College
Prof. David Mittelberg, Oranim, Academic College of Education 

Discussant: Prof. Larissa Remennick, Bar-Ilan University

3:15-5:00 PM

Plenary 2B:Israel Experience programs: Past, Present, and Future (Mandel G12) 

Chair: Prof. Shulamit Reinharz, Brandeis University
Presenters: Jonathan Ariel, MAKOM
Dr. Elan Ezrachi, Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education
Dr. Yonatan Mirvis, Melton Centre for Jewish Education
Dr. Ezra Kopelowitz, Research Success Technologies, Ltd.

Discussant: Prof. Bethamie Horowitz, NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development

5:45-6:30 PM

Wine Reception (Sherman - Hassenfeld Conference Center) 

6:30-9:00 PM

Dinner and Presentations (Sherman - Hassenfeld Conference Center) 

Master of Ceremonies: Prof. Amy L. Sales, Brandeis University

Welcome: Prof. Leonard Saxe, Brandeis University

Opening Remarks: Prof. Ilan Troen, Brandeis University

---Dinner---

Introduction of Speaker: Prof. Sylvia Barack Fishman, Brandeis University

Speaker: Rabbi Yitz Greenberg

Respondents: Dr. Jeffrey Solomon, Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies
Prof. Gil Troy, McGill University

9:00 PM

Transportation to the Marriott

Thursday, May 24, 2012
7:30-8:30 AM   Continental Breakfast (Mandel Atrium)

8:30-10:15 AM

Plenary 3A: Taglit on the Ground, Practice, and Mifgash (Mandel Auditorium)

Chair: Dr. Alex Pomson, Melton Centre for Jewish Education
Presenters: Dr. Mooli Brog, Taglit-Birthright Israel
Dr. Rachel Zorman, Henrietta Szold Institute
Prof. Philip Wexler, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Prof. Jon A. Levisohn, Brandeis University

Discussant: Dr. Rebekah Sobel, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

8:30-10:15 AM

Plenary 3B: Post-trip Engagement in Jewish Life and Israel (Mandel G12)

Chair: Prof. Barry D. Berger, University of Haifa
Presenters: Prof. Charles Kadushin, Brandeis University
Fern Chertok, Brandeis University
Rabbi Joy Levitt, The JCC in Manhattan
Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, Ph.D., Tufts University

Discussants: Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Union for Reform Judaism
Prof. Shaul Kelner, Vanderbilt University

10:30-12:15 PM  

Plenary 4: Measuring the Impact of Taglit and Israel Experience Programs
(Mandel Auditorium)

Chair: Prof. Rachel Friedberg, Brown University
Presenters: Prof. Leonard Saxe, Brandeis University
Michelle Shain, Brandeis University
Prof. Steven M. Cohen, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Prof. Erik Cohen, Bar-Ilan University

Discussants: Prof. Leonard Bickman, Vanderbilt University
Prof. Beth Weitzman, NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development

12:15-1:00 PM  

Lunch Buffet (Mandel Atrium) 

1:00-1:50 PM

Presentations and Keynote Speaker

Master of Ceremonies: Matthew Boxer, Brandeis University

Greetings: President Frederick Lawrence, Brandeis University

Taglit Research Award Recipients: Dr. Aviad Rubin and Dr. Ofir Rubin
Award Presented by: Prof. Barry Chazan, Spertus Institute

Introduction of Luncheon Speaker: Prof. Sharon Feiman-Nemser, Brandeis University

Speaker: Prof. Lee Shulman, Stanford University

2:00-3:30 PM

Plenary 5: Implications for Educational Theory and Practice (Mandel Auditorium) 

Moderator: Prof. Leonard Saxe, Brandeis University
Panelists: Prof. Jonathan Sarna, Brandeis University
Dr. Jonathan Woocher, JESNA
Prof. Ari Y. Kelman, Stanford University
Prof. Sharon Feiman-Nemser, Brandeis University
Jonathan Boyd, Institute for Jewish Policy Research
Dr. Aviva Zeltzer-Zubida, Jewish Agency for Israel

3:30 PM

Airport Shuttles
The official conference Twitter hashtag is #TaglitConf
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