Dear colleagues, students, alumni, and friends,
As we quickly reach the end of the academic year at Brandeis, I'd like to announce three new developments that speak to our global character and future, and that bring a wide range of departments and offices to work together.
A new grant for student scholarshipsA new grant of up to $10.8 million will support undergraduate and
graduate scholarships at Brandeis University, beginning in fall 2009. The Genesis Philanthropy Group, based in Moscow, has committed the funds
in order to provide educational opportunities for young people from
Russian-speaking backgrounds and to encourage them to become engaged in Jewish
culture, tradition, and community life. Outreach will focus on Russian-speaking communities in the U.S., though we anticipate that we will attract students from the former Soviet Union, Israel, and Germany as well. By 2012-13, the grant will
underwrite as many as 40-50 undergraduates and 18 graduate students per
year.
In order to support students and build connections to Russian-speaking
Jewish communities in the United States and around the world, the grant
will also support the establishment of the Brandeis-Genesis Institute
(BGI), a unit devoted to programming. The BGI will encompass a variety
of activities to support Russian speaking students, including
recruitment, extra-curricular and community activities, outreach and
organizing conferences, and exchanges with other institutions and
groups. The BGI will be part of the Office of Global Affairs, and it
will also work closely with relevant academic and administrative
departments on campus.
The program will also bring Russian-speaking high school students to the
University's two summer programs for high school students: Genesis at
Brandeis University and BIMA. Both of these programs have a consistent
record in encouraging strong students to choose Brandeis for their
undergraduate education.
For more information about the BGI, please see the basic information at
http://www.brandeis.edu/bgi. Please also feel free
to contact me if
you have suggestions or questions, or would like to become involved.
Brandeis-India Initiative builds ties to Delhi, Mumbai
Building upon a first training program hosted at Brandeis for Indian graduate students in public policy in summer 2008, we are exploring a multidimensional partnership with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in Delhi, one of India's premiere research centers on climate change and sustainability. TERI is led by R.K. Pachauri, who shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore for his leadership of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Several colleages at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management linked via video-conference with TERI in early February to discuss possible research and student exchanges, including a second summer training program for TERI University graduate students in summer 2010. We are also exploring potential short-term study abroad programs in India.
Our network of alumni, parents, and friends in Mumbai continues to come together as well. Many alumni and parents have generously offered help in identifying internship sites for Brandeis students. And we've been inspired by the work of the Brandeis student group Revive Mumbai, who have launched a campaign for a new student scholarship program; they are also working on getting Brandeis students to Mumbai this summer for a joint service project. You can follow their spring events and news at
http://revivemumbai.wordpress.com/. For more information on the Brandeis-India Initiative, please visit:
http://www.brandeis.edu/globalbrandeis/regions/india.html
The on-going Brandeis partnership with Al-Quds University continues to involve a range of faculty and students. This week, Perry Hanson, Vice President and Vice Provost for Libraries and Information Technology, will visit Al-Quds for further consultation on their strategic planning and administrative systems. And this May, several groups from Brandeis will be visiting Jerusalem to undertake projects in effective teaching and learning.
On May 3, Al-Quds University will host the first partnership academic conference, "Women, Leadership, State, and Society." The international conference will draw upon diverse perspectives as well as the Palestinian context, covering higher education, government, and community organizations. Plenary speakers will include Brandeis professors Anita Hill (Heller) and Mari Fitzduff (Coexistence and Conflict). As part of the conference, Brandeis faculty and conference committee members James Mandrell (Romance/WGS) and Susan Lanser (WGS/Literature) will also undertake consultations in language teaching and faculty mentoring, respectively. Provost Marty Krauss and Prof. Shula Reinharz (Sociology) also serve on the conference committee. A full conference program will be announced soon.
Building upon two successful summer undergraduate programs in Istanbul, from May 8 - 19 four Brandeis students who participated in the programs will visit Al-Quds University with assistant provost Alwina Bennett. Congratulations to Claire Cooper '11, Garret Nada '10, Holly Devon '11, and Jared Hirsh '10, who will participate and lead workshops and outreach with their Al-Quds student peers.
Finally, I'm excited to announce that three Brandeis faculty members, Derek Isaacowitz (Psychology), Anne P. Carter (International Business School/Economics), and Daniel Thomas Kryder (Politics) were selected to be "in residence" at Al-Quds University in early May. They will be teaching short modules, and consulting on curriculum and research development.
You can visit
www.brandeis.edu/aqu for more information on the Brandeis-Al-Quds University Partnership.
As we reach that point in the semester when our community comes together for numerous events and activities, I invite you to continue to use the Global Brandeis e-list for information, and to encourage friends and colleagues to sign up individually by going directly to
www.brandeis.edu/globalbrandeis or
using this Forward to a Friend link.Sincerely,
Daniel Terris
Associate Vice President for Global Affairs
