Special Report

ON CAMPUS

MSU Jewish Studies

EDITOR'S NOTE: East Lansing — The journey that led to today's highly successful Jewish Studies Program at Michigan
State University began in 1992. The program was quite small in scope until the Board of Advisors was formed around 1998.

A Vision Turns Into
Thriving Program

Growth Means A
Range Of Offerings

I

wenty years ago, there was no
Hebrew instruction or serious
study of Israel at Michigan State
University. There was no Jewish Studies
Program with an undergraduate special-
ization nor did the university sponsor
study abroad in Israel. There were no fac-
ulty members dedicated to Jewish Studies,
only a single course here and there. There
was no active calendar of lectures on
Jewish subjects and no Israeli film festival.
How things have changed! With gener-
ous help from members of the Michigan
Jewish community, we have built a

had returned frequently to
my alma mater since gradu-
ating in 1966. The visits
were most often to see a Spartan
football or basketball game. In
the mid-`90s when I first learned
there was a fledgling Jewish
Studies Program at MSU, my
passion was ignited.
My mind had always pictured
Michael Serli
MSU in the land-grant tradition,
Special to th
a place where higher educa-
Jewish New
tion had first become available
to common people back in the
1850s. Suddenly, my eyes were opened to the idea
of a Jewish learning center within the university.
After establishing a Board of Advisors filled with
alumni that shared my passion, we set forth our
vision. We wanted MSU to become a place where
Jewish and non-Jewish students alike could learn
about the rich heritage, culture and religion of our
people and about Israel. Jewish and
non-Jewish student leaders could
emerge with a deeper understand-
ing of Jewish history and religion,
the Holocaust, Hebrew language,
American-Jewish history and cul-
ture, and the ties that bind Jews and
America to Israel.
In just a dozen years, the Jewish
Studies Program at MSU has grown
dramatically, fulfilling much of the
promise we envisioned. With the
generous help of the university and the Jewish
community in Michigan, the program now boasts
four core faculty positions in Hebrew language,
Israel Studies, American Jewish History & Culture
and Jewish Religion & Thought. More than 10
additional professors teach Jewish-related subjects
such as Holocaust, anti-Semitism, Jewish literature,
Israeli culture and more. MSU has occasionally
welcomed visiting faculty from Israel to teach
courses in the program.
We send students to Israel every summer and
have relationships with Hebrew University, Tel Aviv
University, Ben-Gurion University, Haifa University
and Tel Chai College. We have a specialization (like

a minor) in which students can enrich their
learning and develop specialized knowledge.
Students can study Hebrew to the intermedi-
ate level. We offer an annual Israel Film Fest,
a state Holocaust teachers workshop, frequent
lectures and more.
In a short time, we have grown dramati-
cally under the leadership of directors Steve
Weiland and, for the past five years, Ken
Waltzer. We're now to a program that offers
Jewish students opportunities to reconnect
with Jewish learning and become Jewish lead-
ers. At the same time, we offer non-Jewish
students (potential leaders) a connection to
the contributions of the Jewish people and of Israel
to civilization. It is critical that the Jewish Studies
Program at MSU continues to thrive.
The Jewish Studies Program offers infinite pos-
sibilities to our Michigan Jewish community. More
Jewish students from the state of Michigan attend
MSU than any other university in the state. This

In just a dozen years, the Jewish
Studies Program at MSU has grown
dramatically, fulfilling much of the
promise we envisioned.

76

May 20 • 2010

places MSU front and center in the challenges
faced by our state and our Jewish community now
and forward looking.
Our Jewish community has recognized the
importance of this program by donating $5 mil-
lion. MSU has likewise recognized the program's
importance by helping to create three of the four
core positions. Our future challenges include rais-
ing funds for an Israeli Visiting Scholar position,
for post-specialization degree scholarships and for
the naming of the Jewish Studies Program.

❑

Michael Serling chairs the MSU Jewish Studies

Advisory Board.

T

Kenneth
Waltzer
Special to the
Jewish News

We have built a substantial
program that has an impact at
the university and on the state and
is becoming visible nationally.

substantial program that has an impact at the university and on
the state and is becoming visible nationally. MSU offers Hebrew
instruction through the intermediate level. We study Israel as a
modern state and society and as a culture. Our Jewish Studies
Program counts eight core faculty members and another 10 affili-
ated faculty in five colleges. We have the Michael and Elaine Serling
and Friends Chair in Israel Studies, which was the fifth such initia-
tive at a university in the United States.
Some 40-50 students are engaged at any one time finishing the
specialization by taking 20 credits in Jewish Studies courses offered
in 10 departments. About 10-12 students graduate annually with a
Jewish Studies designation on their transcripts.
The annual calendar now includes the Hollander Lecture in
Jewish Art and Music, a lecture on Yiddishkeit, the Kessler Lecture
on Jewish Film, the Serling Lecture on Modern Israel and the
Rabin Lecture on the Holocaust. This year, we sponsored the
fifth annual Israeli Film Festival March 21-22 with support from
campus departments, the community and the Israeli Consulate in
Chicago.
We are proud to announce that we launched a joint lecture
series April 19-20 with the Holocaust Memorial Center (HMC)
in Farmington Hills. The series, on "New Directions in Study of
the Holocaust," was sponsored by a gift from the HMC's Alan
Zekelman. Our kickoff speaker was Omer Bartov of Brown