This Week

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Michigan State's Jewish Studies Program gets ready to leap into distance learning.

DIANA LIEBERMAN
StafTWriter

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eter McPherson, president of Michigan
State University, has one of those sincere,
open faces that signals emotions like a
lighthouse.
And when he talks about the future of MSU's Jewish
Studies Program, his face shines with enthusiasm.
All the facts and figures associated with the pro-
gram are growing, from the number of courses and
extracurricular activities to the steady stream of
financial contributions.
Most of all, the MSU president sees new opportu-
nities ahead for Jewish studies as he leads the charge
into the virtual university.
On Feb. 5, McPherson and others from MSU
spoke with about 40 college-bound teens and par-
ents at the West Bloomfield Jewish Community
Center. The East Lansing-based university is seeking
to boost - its Jewish enrollment as part of its commit-
ment to diversity. Among the delegation were
Michael Serling of West Bloomfield, chair of the
MSU Jewish Studies Program Advisory Board;
Cindy Hughey, MSU Hillel director; and Gordon
Stanley, MSU director of admissions.
Before the JCC meeting, some of the MSU repre-
sentatives spoke with the Jewish News in Southfield.

"One of our most innovative ideas is a Jewish
Studies Program where the faculty is both in
Michigan and Israel," McPherson said. "Last year,
we had an enrollment of more than 2,000 in our
virtual university, including marketing, hospitality
and master's courses in education.
"We see it as an excellent fit for Jewish studies."

Making Connections

A virtual university offers academic courses by com-
puter. Also known as distance or on-line learning,
the concept has proved successful for adult students
who have other responsibilities during regular class-
room hours, or those who live far from the brick-
and-mortar university.
"In Jewish studies, there's a synergy between the
study abroad and the virtual classroom programs,"
McPherson said.
MSU's study abroad program, one of America's
largest, has forged strong ties between Israeli profes-
sors and their colleagues in East Lansing. Although
the Israeli component of the program has been sus-
pended for this year because of the U.S. State
Department advisory against travel to Israel,
McPherson is optimistic for its long-term prospects.
Recently, an anonymous donor contributed $500,000
for the university's Israeli study abroad program.

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"We now have a cadre of colleagues at Ben-
Gurion and Tel Aviv universities," said Steven
Weiland, director of MSU's Jewish Studies
Program. "Whenever we send students abroad, we
send faculty members with them. This is how the
relationships begin."
Through the virtual university, professors from
both countries will be able to maintain relation-
ships with each other and their students — as long
as their computers don't crash.

Two Centers ',

The Jewish studies virtual university is tentatively
set to open for the spring semester of 2002, with
one course, Judaism in Contemporary America.
With this course, MSU will join other colleges
and universities offering an on-line Jewish curricu-
lum. They include Hebrew College in Brookline,
Mass., Sperms Institute of Jewish Studies in
Chicago and the Jewish Theological Seminary
(JTS) in New York City.
The on-line course offered this winter by
Detroit's SAJE (Seminars in Adult Jewish
Enrichment), Poetry and Wisdom - Reintroduction to
the Bible, is co-sponsored by JTS and led by one of
its faculty members.
Despite the popularity of the format, Weiland
said he knew of no other on-line Jewish curriculum
with the same academic focus as the one planned
for MSU.
The university's Jewish Studies Program uses an
approach known as the "Two Centers of Modern
Jewish Experience."
Instead of starting with biblical or European his-
tory, the curriculum emphasizes America and Israel.
"Thus, we reverse the order of most teaching in
university Jewish studies, where American Jewish
and Israeli experience is introduced at the end of
the story of the Jews," states the program's long-
range plan.
"But we also look back to the history of
European Jewry in order to understand American
and Israeli Jews and the society in which they live
today."

First Steps

Above: Michael Serling, chair, Michigan State University Jewish
Studies Program Advisory Board; Peter McPherson, MSU president.

Right: Steven Weiland, director, MSU Jewish Studies Program.

Although planning for the virtual university is in
its infancy, Weiland envisions beginning with "a
nice four-course certificate series based on the two
centers of Jewish experience."
Currently, the MSU Jewish Studies Program

