Abstract
In 2012, Brandeis University’s Summer Institute for Israel Studies (SIIS) welcomed its ninth
cohort of fellows. Twenty faculty members from across the United States (from Yale to the
University of Southern California) and from Canada, Great Britain, Germany, the Czech
Republic, India, and China came to Brandeis University for an intensive two-week seminar and
Israel study tour. They represented diverse disciplines. Like previous cohorts, they came to SIIS
to increase their understanding of Israel and develop the pedagogical skills to teach the subject
effectively. Fellows shared a commitment to expanding opportunities for students to learn about
Israel. This report documents the success of SIIS and its earlier fellows (2004-11) in meeting
those commitments. Through summer 2011, the program introduced 164 fellows from around the world to a
multidisciplinary approach to the study of Israel. Since 2004, these fellows taught at least 388
courses to almost 10,000 students. Sixty-two of the fellows who completed the annual survey
taught courses about Israel in 2011-12. This is an underestimate of the number of fellows who
taught about Israel, since some of those who did not respond likely taught courses as well.
Course offerings remained stable between 2010-11 (80) and 2011-12 (78) as did the number of
students enrolled. Through spring 2012, at least 9,800 students enrolled in Israel courses taught
by SIIS fellows. As with the number of courses, this figure also likely underestimates the true
impact of SIIS on student enrollment in courses about Israel.