After the Summer Institute for Israel Studies (SIIS), which includes a 10-day seminar at Brandeis University and a ten-day study tour in Israel, you will be able to create and teach courses in Israel Studies at your home institution.
During the Brandeis residency, you will attend seminars taught by distinguished Israel Studies scholars, in disciplines such as Israeli history, politics, sociology, literature, cinema, music, and more. You will discuss foundational and current Israel Studies scholarship, and learn about debates within the field.
In Israel, you will meet with scholars, government officials, writers, artists, public intellectuals, and community leaders. You will visit cultural and historical sites, and will have the opportunity to contextualize what you learned in the Brandeis portion of the Institute.
After completing the program, SIIS Fellows join an active community of program alumni from across cohorts. Through a dedidcated email group, alumni trade expertise, seek recommendations for sources or readings, share faculty openings and other career opportunities, put together panels for academic conferences, announce new publications, and more.
SIIS alumni are invited to participate in a biennial conference held at Brandeis. Examples include Democracy and its Alternatives: The Origins of Israel's Current Crises in 2024, which included Israeli, Palestinian, and American scholars and activists, and Innovation in Israel: Economy and Society in 2019, cosponsored by Brandeis University's International Business School, and featuring keynote speaker Karnit Flug, former Governor of the Bank of Israel. Financial aid to offset travel costs might be available depending on need, distance, and related factors.
Fellows are welcome at all our online events - see our YouTube channel for recordings from recent years - and those living in or visiting the Boston area are warmly encouraged to attend any in-person events taking place.
No, Hebrew language proficiency is not required.
Summer Institute participants span the gamut of Israel knowledge and experience teaching about Israel. We have discovered that faculty all along that spectrum benefit greatly from the program.
We have had participants quite experienced in teaching about Israel and who possess deep knowledge of the subject who join the program seeking to reconfigure a course, incorporate fresh content and new perspectives into their teaching, explore different pedagogical approaches, and network with a diverse, international group of scholars. And because the program covers a generous range of topics and disciplines, it is perfect for someone with expertise in one area of Israel studies who wants to expand or deepen their knowledge in another.
Summer Institute participants span the gamut of Israel knowledge and experience teaching about Israel. We have discovered that faculty all along that spectrum benefit greatly from the program.
We have had faculty members who are new to teaching about Israel and who lack deep knowledge of the subject. The Summer Institute will give you the tools and the knowledge to design and teach courses about Israel with confidence and authority. For some participants, the fellowship changes the focus of their teaching and research, and sometimes even the trajectory of their academic career.
Visit the application instructions page to learn what information and documents you will need in order to create your application.
Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate friends and family during the program. They may not stay in your dorm room at Brandeis or your hotel room in Israel. For this reason, some Fellows have family or friends join them in Israel at the conclusion of the program, at their own expense. Travel arrangements may be made through our ground services provider, Eshet Incoming or independently.
Fellows have come from colleges and universities across the United States and around the world, representing 35 countries and six continents. View a complete list of participating institutions.
Fellows come come from all disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, including history, political science, geography, film studies, literature, Jewish studies, economics, sociology, anthropology, Middle Eastern Studies, international relations, law and security studies.
At Brandeis, fellows stay in individual rooms within shared suites at one of the University's newest residence halls. Each suite has a shared bathroom and kitchen. In Israel, fellows stay in single rooms at hotels.
At Brandeis, the program covers all meals taken on campus. There are both vegetarian and kosher options available. Any meals taken off-campus are at the Fellows' expense.
In Israel, the hotel provides a magnanimous buffet breakfast, and the group often eats lunch at local restaurants or is provided lunch boxes while on the road. Dinner may be provided at the hotel or at the Fellows' expense at venues around town. At times, the group may need to eat in non-kosher venue; special kosher meals will be provided if requested. Other dietary restrictions are also accommodated (vegan, specific allergies).
There is wireless Internet access throughout the Brandeis campus. In Israel, most of the group's hotels offer free Wi-Fi as does the tour bus.
“[On the annual conference] It was fantastic to hear so many outstanding scholars speaking on a wide range of issues, and those talks and the resultant discussions [with other SIIS fellows] have really impacted on my teaching. I can confidently say that without SIIS, we would have no Israel Studies module at LJMU.”
Katherine Harbord
Liverpool John Moores University Politics