Reflections on the 
MAJOR impact of 
the Jewish Studies 
MINOR 

Fifty-four MSU students are currently 
working to earn a minor in Jewish Studies, 
which offers a rich interdisciplinary program 
to explore the history, cultures, language(s), 
identities, religion and civilization of the 
Jewish people. 

Working closely with faculty mentors who 
provide guidance academically and 
professionally, students choose from among 
30 course offerings and take advantage of 
the many cultural events offered by the 
Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and 
Modern Israel. 

Two students and an alumnus recently 
shared how the minor impacted their time 
at MSU and beyond. 

Ben Francis, a senior double majoring in 
Finance and Political Theory, considers 
Serling Institute faculty his greatest mentors. 
A highlight, he says, was interning at Bar-Ilan 
University’s Faculty of Law Clinic conducting 
comparative legal research on the rights of 
parents with disabilities. 

Ben received the Serling Institute Student 
Achievement Award last year. Support from 
the Serling Institute’s Hersh, Levy and Slade 
scholarships enabled Ben’s study abroad 
and internship opportunities. The institute 
also offers the Finifter Hebrew Scholarship of 
$1,000 per semester for students enrolled in 
Hebrew. 

Ellie Baden, a sophomore in Social Relations 
and Policy, is excited to study abroad in 
Israel this summer through the Serling 
Institute’s faculty-led program that explores 
Israel’s diverse populations and 
communities. She has been awarded both 
the Ed Levy Jr. and Linda Dresner Levy 
Endowed Scholarship, which provides 
scholarships for study abroad in Israel and 
for combining Hebrew with education 
abroad in Israel, and the Albert and Sharie 
Gladner Study in Israel Endowed Scholarship. 

“I am able to participate…due to the 
generous scholarship offerings of the Serling 

Institute, which make the program 
extremely affordable and accessible,” she 
says. 

Ellie, who was honored with MSU Student 
Life’s Emerging Leader Award, says she has 
also been able to plan events, collaborate on 
an educational anti-Semitism guide and 
enjoys connecting with other Jewish Studies 
minors. Ellie was recently named the MSU 
nominee for the national Udall Foundation 
scholarship awards.

Jewish Studies students have opportunities 
to engage in substantive research projects, 
and many present their research at the 
annual Serling Institute Undergraduate 
Research Conference. This spring Ellie 
presented “The Naming and Shaming of 
Israel in the United Nations Human Rights 
Council,” and Ben presented “Graffiti in the 
Israeli Palestinian Context.”

Looking back on his MSU undergraduate 
experience and the trajectory of his career 
five years since, alumnus Brad Isakson 
(’16) says it is easy to see the impact of his 
minor in Jewish Studies.

“Whether working in Washington, D.C., for a 
nonprofit organization that combats 
antisemitism and anti-Israel biases in 
academia or teaching English in the Japan 
Exchange and Teaching Program (JET), the 
skills and values I gained from my Jewish 
Studies minor have been instrumental in all 
of my pursuits,” he says. “Notably, the Israel 
Study Abroad program marked the first time 
I traveled abroad. It was there that I first fell 
in love with international exchange, a love 
that eventually led me to move to Japan.” 

As a student, Brad double majored in 
International Relations and History, and was 

honored with the Jewish Studies Student 
Achievement Award. In his current role as a 
JET cultural ambassador, he educates 
students on American culture as well as the 
Holocaust and the importance of fighting all 
forms of hatred, in part through his own 
experience as a grandchild of a Holocaust 
survivor.

“The research and public speaking skills and 
academic values I honed in Jewish Studies 
were easily transferable to my role as a 
teacher in Japan and allowed me to 
successfully educate students on my Jewish 
background—something I never envisioned 
myself doing five years ago,” he says.

In the fall, Brad will begin a master’s degree 
program at Johns Hopkins School of 
Advanced International Studies. He says he is 
confident that his Jewish Studies minor has 
equipped him to excel in any graduate 
program and career.

LEARN MORE about the Jewish Studies 
minor at jsp.msu.edu

Ben Francis
Brad Isakson

Ellie Baden

