|
Summer
2015 Israel and Palestine Internship Program:
An
Applied Workshop in Civil Society, Politics and Conflict Resolution
Dates: June 4 – August 7, 2015
Application Deadline: February 27, 2015
Program Director: Yehuda Lukacs, PhD (see bio)
Dear Colleague:
We invite your students to participate in our Summer
2015 Israel and Palestine Internship Program: An Applied Workshop in Civil Society, Politics and Conflict Resolution, June 4 to August 7, 2015. Participation is is open to undergraduate and graduate students, offering 9 undergraduate and 6 graduate credits
in multiple disciplines.
The nine-week program begins with a one-week intensive seminar in Jerusalem. The internship component follows with eight weeks of a full-time internship placement (5 days/week, 8 hours/day) in either an Israeli or a Palestinian organization. (Previous internship
locations include: Jerusalem, Ramallah, Tel Aviv, Nazareth, the Galilee, and Bethlehem. Themat.)
The internships are related to Conflict Resolution, Politics, Communication, Environmental Studies, Peace Studies, International Relations, Human Rights, Sociology/Anthropology, Economics, or Business and Finance in Israel and Palestine.
The program offers a unique life-changing opportunity to obtain hands-on experience working in Israel and/or the Palestinian territories. Students participate in day-to-day activities, learning about the complexity of daily life in in Israel
and Palestine.
Thematically, this program introduces students to underlying dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Students learn firsthand about the socio-political climate in each society, and current issues affecting the diplomatic process. Participants interact
with ordinary Israelis and Palestinians, whose lives are shaped by the conflict, thus leading to a deeper appreciation of the multiple factors constituting this protracted conflict. Learning is approached through an interdisciplinary pedagogy where political
agreements are presented as necessary, but viewed as insufficient to credible and transformative peace. Students have the opportunity to interact directly with stakeholders, including NGO’s, the private sector, educational institutions, government officials,
and international organizations which often present conflicting and contradictory perspectives on various aspects of the conflict.
The aim of this program is to allow students to experience firsthand how the conflict has shaped the lives of ordinary citizens and their respective communities. It is expected each student will complete the program with a deeper understanding of the causes
of, and myriad perspectives on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Students should also be able to develop a comparative analytical framework for analyzing inter-communal conflicts, apply theory to practice, and examine multiple dimensions of the conflict that
could be applied to other conflict zones as well.
|
