Students will have more chances to travel to Israel in fall 2011 with an expansion of ASU’s study abroad program.
The University’s Study Abroad Office, along with a handful of departments, has agreed a new Israel program would offer an interesting and unique experience for students, said Dan Hart, assistant director of the office.
ASU has been working with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, located 65 miles southwest of Jerusalem, for at least the past year, Hart said. He added the University already has Israel study abroad programs in place.
However, specific details of the new program are not yet available.
BGU is a major research institute in the city of Be'er Sheva. The university was established in 1969 and has a student population of about 18,000.
"Most of our partners in Israel offer a broad curriculum," Hart said. "Because of the ongoing political situation in Israel and religious significance of many sites in the nation, it does seem to be a natural choice for political science, global studies, anthropology, religious studies and Jewish studies majors."
But there are opportunities for students in other areas of study as well, Hart said.
Sixteen students went to Israel last year, he said.
The University currently offers two summer programs in the region, both led by ASU faculty, including “Counter-Terrorism in Israel” and “Bible on Location." The latter takes students from Israel into neighboring Jordan and Egypt.
The estimated costs for these programs are roughly $3,000 and $4,000, respectively.
"Israel is such a unique, stimulating, learning environment for students," Hart said. “The location, the quality of the academic experience, the opportunity for personal growth, all add up to make our portfolio of programs in Israel unique and beneficial for students interested in studying in the region, or within the academic fields represented on each program."
Some Israel programs ASU has offered in the past were suspended following the second intifada, a period of intensified violence that began in September 2000 and ended roughly five years later.
Israel ranks 22nd out of the top 25 study abroad destinations for US students, according to a November 2009 report by the Institute of International Education.
Europe remains as the largest host for American students, claiming 56 percent of U.S. study abroad participants. The Middle East is host to a little more than 1 percent of the total number, the report states, though the number continues to grow.
New York University was ranked No. 1 in total students sent to study abroad locations with 3,395 in 2009, according to the report. ASU, ranked below the top 10, sending roughly 1,400.
Creative writing sophomore Dillon Head said the new Israel program seems interesting because it would allow students to be submerged in a culture they only see on the news.
Head, a corporal in the U.S. Army, spent time in Iraq. While he has not traveled to Israel, he said that traveling to a different country can help a person be more accepting of others.
"It helps eliminate biases and gives you a reference point," Head said. "We hear all the news out of the Middle East, but all that seems pretty abstract."
He added that people shouldn't let fear get in the way of experience.
According to its website, the study abroad office keeps strict protocol and guidelines in place to keep students safe. These guidelines include monitoring government advisories, keeping constant lines of communication open and holding mandatory pre-departure orientation sessions for students
"Safety is a major concern for most students who study abroad, particularly those who study in a region with a volatile past,” Hart said. “The ASU study abroad office places the safety and security of our participants as our primary concern.”
Don Benjamin said he has been to London and to Paris, but when it comes down to where he'd rather be, it's Israel.
As a professor in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, Benjamin has been taking trips to the Middle East since 1984.
The perspective from a student's point of view changes dramatically when students first taste the real culture in Israel, opposed to the media's image, Benjamin said.
"Students begin to appreciate that these are real people, and not the images they see on the media," he said, adding that traveling to that part of the world also opens the eyes of students. "Not only do they say, 'this is real,' but 'this is magnificent.'"
Reach the reporter at kpatton4@asu.edu
