Brandeis University President's Initiative on Antisemitism

Join us for an intensive program where you will engage with leading academics and practitioners, and network with colleagues from across the country. Educational presentations and workshops will be held on the Brandeis campus in Waltham, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, and generally start at 9 AM and run until about 8 PM. 

Participants will be housed in single rooms at a hotel near campus. Shuttle service will be provided to campus. (Local attendees are welcome to commute from home.)

At the end of the Brandeis residency, we will embark on a six-day study tour of Israel. If security conditions allow, we also intend to visit the West Bank. This immersive experience will build on what you've learned at Brandeis by offering firsthand encounters with key people, places, and holy sites. We will also visit educational institutions and organizations to help you connect with professional counterparts.

The tour is being planned to include visits to areas in and around Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. We will travel as a group on a chartered bus accompanied by experienced tour providers and guides. Participants will stay in single rooms at hotels.

We will closely monitor the security situation at all destinations and adjust the itinerary if needed. If the study tour cannot proceed immediately after the Brandeis residency, participants will be invited to join the tour in Summer 2026.

• Classroom teachers will be expected to integrate the knowledge gained from the Institute — related to the teaching of Israeli and Palestinian history and society, relations between Israelis, Palestinians, and surrounding countries, and contemporary expressions of antisemitism and antizionism — into their existing curricular scope, sequence and materials over the course of the 2025–2026 academic year.
• Educational leaders/administrators will be expected to complete a project or initiative to educate about contemporary manifestations of antisemitism and/or Israeli and Palestinian history, society, relations, and geopolitics of the region, in their school communities. Projects should be tailored to your specific school's or district's needs, may be conceived of and implemented from one or multiple departments, and do not follow a prescribed template. During the institute, participants will develop the project and then implement it over the following school year.
• Attendance on all days and at all activities of the Institute, both at Brandeis and in Israel.

• Open to humanities teachers, directors of teaching and learning or curriculum directors, principals, district heads, superintendents, heads of school, DEI professionals, teacher's union leaders, and other educational leaders currently employed at public or independent schools in the United States.
• To maximize potential benefit for your school, community and region, we strongly encourage applicants to join with others in their area to form a regional team. For example, the City of Anywhere USA might consider fielding an 8-person team composed of the superintendent of public schools, the director of curriculum,  a teacher's union head, the head of an independent school, and 4 humanities teachers, etc.
• We welcome applications from individual educators, as well, though priority will be given to teams during the admissions process.
• Applicants who are classroom teachers must have support from their division head, senior manager, or supervisor to substantially integrate knowledge gained from the Institute into their teaching. A letter of support from this senior administrator will be required as part of the application process.
• Applicants who are administrators must have support from their division head, senior manager, or supervisor to implement a project or initiative to help counter antisemitism in their school community after the Institute. A letter of support from this senior administrator will be required as part of the application process.

• All instruction, site visits and materials at Brandeis and in Israel.
• Lodging in single hotel rooms near the Brandeis campus and in Israel. 
• Shuttle service from hotel to campus.
• All meals on the Brandeis campus and group meals in Israel (special dietary needs accommodated)
• Flight to Tel Aviv from Boston and from Tel Aviv to JFK airport at conclusion of Israel Study Tour.
• $5,000 stipend. Half is paid to participants upon completion of the Israel study tour and the other half upon completion of the curriculum integration or school community project.

• All travel expenses, including insurance, if desired, from home to the Brandeis University campus in time for the start of the Brandeis residency portion of the Institute.
• All travel expenses from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, including insurance, if desired, to home at the conclusion of the Israel Study Tour.
• Passport costs and Israel entry fees. Please check your passport expiration date to ensure that the passport will be valid for at least six months after your departure date since this is required by some airlines.
• Occasional meals in Israel not taken with the group.
• Tips at hotels and for guide and driver in Israel (optional).

Please fill out this short application. We will notify you of your acceptance by April 15, 2025.

If you are applying as a member of a school or regional team, each team member will need to complete a separate application but may utilize the same "Statement of Challenges & Opportunities". (See below.) Applications need to be completed in one sitting, so please have all of the following required information and documents at hand:

• Statement of Purpose (under 250 words): Please tell us what you hope to gain from participating. How does your role intersect with the ways antisemitism appears in your school or district?
• Statement about the Challenges & Opportunities in your school or district (under 250 words): Please describe your school or district environment. How does antisemitism manifest? What are the challenges and opportunities your school or district faces in addressing these issues? (Team members may submit the same statement.)
• Résumé or c.v.
• Letter of Institutional Support: Name and email address of Division Head/Senior Manager/Supervisor providing letter of support for your participation and subsequent activities to integrate your learning into your work. (Please have them send letter directly to bupia@brandeis.edu)
• Letter of Recommendation: Name and email address of colleague providing letter of recommendation to support your participation. (Please have them send recommendation directly to bupia@brandeis.edu)