May 22 – June 6, 2023
In partnership with the University of San Francisco and the Center for Transformative Education, the Swig Program in Jewish Studies and Social Justice is excited to relaunch Beyond Bridges: Israel-Palestine (BBIP). This groundbreaking conflict transformation program is designed for students of all backgrounds to explore questions central to international studies, comparative analysis, identity formation, narrative construction, politics, religion, and more.
This two-week summer course takes students to the Middle East on a journey that combines rigorous academics and practical hands-on training with the intent to explore questions at the core of all conflicts. Through this process, BBIP aims to create spaces for both personal and collective growth, helping students gain new understandings of the role they play in international conflicts and how this relates to their many political identities. Moving past the stage of practical peace agreements or beyond “building bridges,” the program challenges participants to look at long-term solutions to end intercommunal conflict.
This program is unique in several ways:
Comparative Approach. We utilize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an entry point into re-examining and deexceptionalizing conflicts around the world, such as the conflicts in the Balkans and Northern Ireland.
Study Group. We consider each participant to embody particular social identities. As such, we not only engage with Palestinian and Israeli sites, speakers and presentations, and academic texts, but also have students study themselves and their location in the world.
Experiential Education. We travel in Israel and Palestine, exploring this region with local scholars, religious and political leaders, and activists. This gives participants insights and opportunities one cannot get from books alone.
Photos from previous BBIP program:
