Recently Project Interchange, an institute of AJC that has brought over 5,000 influential figures to Israel from more than 60 countries, produced a powerful new reference guide for participants of its programs.
The featured Israel at a Glance Maps Booklet, available under Resources and Links, includes maps of Israel alongside significant dates and interesting facts. For example, did you know that …
… as the 100th smallest country in the world, Israel:
- Is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth (relative to its size);
- Produces more scientific paper per capita than any other nation;
- Is a world leader in water and solar technology, despite being two-thirds desert; and
- Has the highest rate of entrepreneurship among women.
The fold-out booklet is being distributed to all participants of Project Interchange seminars in Israel, serving as a reference guide to be used throughout and pursuant to the week-long educational program for opinion leaders from across the globe.
CLSFF is a proud sponsor of Project Interchange’s University Presidents’ Seminar.
In July, as part of this intensive week-long seminar, 13 university presidents from across the United States traveled to Israel to meet with leaders, senior government officials, executive counterparts and citizens representing a broad spectrum of scholarship, opinion and experience on a range of issues including: biblical and modern history, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, research and academic accomplishment, archeology, religion and regional/global security and university visits.
One member of the delegation, Cornell University President David J. Skorton, blogged about the experience for the Chronicle of Higher Education while on the ground in Israel.
In his last post he wrote, “It is more important than ever for faculty colleagues throughout the world to resist and oppose academic boycotts against Israeli institutions, to reject fatalism, and, instead, to enlist faculty, students, staff and higher-education leaders throughout the world to connect with colleagues in Israel and the Palestinian Territories …” Read more.
We believe that by providing university presidents and chancellors a firsthand experience in Israel, they gain an appreciation for the country, connect with Israeli counterparts and forge academic exchange programs that set a model for university leadership traveling to Israel and can make a tangible impact at universities across the nation, including the development of academic partnerships, enabling access to study abroad in Israel and bringing Israeli lecturers on campus.
Case in point: after going on the trip in 2008, Mark Yudof, president of the University of California System, was instrumental in getting U.C. to reinstate its Israel study abroad program. Like many other such programs, it had been suspended in 2002 after the United States State Department placed Israel on its travel advisory list for safety reasons.
For more information about Project Interchange, visit www.projectinterchange.org.