Feature: Jewish Studies Debuts Via MSU Global Online Connection
When first approached about developing an online Jewish Studies course, Steven Weiland, director of MSU’s Jewish Studies Program and professor of higher education was reluctant. The program was young; faculty didn’t have the technical skills. He worried whether the current faculty could juggle adding more courses without compromising quality.
But the seed had been planted and was germinating. With the support of local and international faculty, a healthy infusion of MSU Global Online Connection’s marketing skills and venture capital, and regular sprinklings of MSU Virtual University’s technical support, the tiny seed grew to maturity.
The result is a groundbreaking on-line Modern Jewish Life certificate program that brings together American and Israeli faculty who created a curriculum rich with visual art, virtual visits to locations worldwide and concepts that link the present with the past. The first of the four-course sequence begins this spring semester. Anyone, anywhere in the world, with a computer and a modem can enroll.
The series brings together the expertise of Weiland; Albert Lewis, Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Emanuel in Grand Rapidsand MSUadjunct professor of Jewish studies; Eli Yassif, chair of the department of Hebrew Literature at Tel Aviv University in Israel; and David Mendelsson, who teaches Israeli history and politics at the Rothberg School for International Students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The courses provide insight on the Jewish experience in the United States and in Israel, the two centers of modern Jewish life, which is the programmatic focus of Jewish Studies at MSU. To fully comprehend the modern experience, the roots of Judaism must be studied for their multiple influences.
“In the second half of the20th century, the majority of Jews came tolive either in the United States or in Israel,” Weiland said. “This only came about after the Holocaust.”
Because the course’s content isn’t tied to chronological development, learners can focus on ideas and how they have changed and remained the same through the ages, Lewis explained.
Participants are likely to study the sufferings of Job while reading When Bad Things Happen to Good People. While studying Genesis, learners will be able to take virtual tours of modern day Hebron and view maps of how the area is divided today, Lewis said.
“In each unit, the ancient, the modern and the recent past are all woven together,” Lewis said. “It’s an exciting way to learn about Judaism.”
BEGINNINGS
Curriculum for this innovative program was developed during the summer of 2001, Weiland said. Yassif was already on MSU’s campus teaching a summer course. Mendelsson flew in to join the trio to share ideas and hammer out who would be teaching what.
Lewis said the entire undertaking seemed rather intimidating at first. The technology was new, and the format required novel teaching methods.
“We began talking over each other’s syllabi and in some cases there were some overlaps,” Lewis explained. “It was exciting to have all these perspectives.”
When they were done hammering out curriculum, Lewis and Yassif paired up to teach the first two installments of the series called What is Judaism and Who is a Jew: Myth, Morality, and Modernity, being offered in spring 2002. Key topics will include religious belief versus secularism, family structure, women’s roles and relationships with other religious groups.
Weiland will be teaching Jewish American Lives, which will focus on the lives of approximately a dozen prominent Jewish American citizens and families, sketching their process and challenges of becoming Americans.
Mendelsson’s unit, Zionism and the Making of Israeli Identity, will trace the Zionist Idea, the triangular conflicts among Zionists, Arabs and the British to 1948 and examine the conflicts and characteristics of the modern Israeli State.
Mendelsson said this is the first time he has been involved with on-line teaching.
“It is exciting to be involved in a new project, especially when there is a sense of innovation, new techniques and the combination of text and audio presentation,” he wrote in an e-mail communication. “As far as I know, not much has been attempted in teaching Jewish studies in this manner.”
The four professors have been working with the MSU Virtual University group, which is part of Libraries, Computing and Technology. Lori Hudson manages the team which has built more than 150 online courses offered to distance learners. She and her team have been key players in turning curriculum ideas into Web-based multi-media courseware.
IDENTIFYING THE AUDIENCE
There is a tremendous need for quality, convenient Jewish education in remote areas, said Susan Herman, director of the Michigan Jewish Conference responsible for developing resources in outstate Michigan.
“I did a visit up to Houghton-Hancock and Marquette and everyone there was very excited about the possibility,” Herman said. “It reaches into places where there isn’t usually access.”
The four professors quickly realized that simply developing the course would not be enough. Without an audience, their project, no matter how compelling and interesting, would wither. MSU Global Online Connection provided the expertise needed to market the online program and the money to develop the curriculum, executive director Bruce Magid said.
“We worked with them to provide a overall business development and sales plan,” Magid said, “and we supplied some development capital that has been appropriated to us from the Provost’s Office.”
“I really see this as MSU’s commitment to Jewish Studies,” Weiland said. “It is a very costly activity. But it’s an asset having the support of a dedicated business unit and our technology group.”
Developing a potential market was an interesting experience, said Gerald Rhead, MSU Global Online Connection’s director of online academic and professional programs.
“We complemented each other well,” Rhead said. “This was their first online experience and it was fun to watch them go through the process from being a little intimidated to being really excited by the possibilities.”
With the help of Rhead, Magid, and Sandra Conn, executive director for University Marketing, a diverse target audience was developed, including Jewish and non-Jewish educators and mature leisure learners, those interested in simply learning more about Judaism for the sake of learning.
Rhead and Magid believe the program is scalable and can be expanded beyond the state of Michigan. Weiland also has plans to create a for-credit version which could be used by other schools to supplement their course offerings.
“Our starting premise is that the faculty determines content and ensures quality,” Magid said. “We are looking to the market to help guide us in how we package the program.”
WHO BENEFITS?
The convenience of online instruction really opens up the course to those who may not have the time to attend a traditional class or may not live in an area where the material is available in face-to-face instruction, Lewis said.
The participants can log on anytime, from any location, working at their own pace and exploring the sites and materials gathered by the professors.
“Imagine, you can take a virtual tour of a museum, actually walk through an Israeli museum, visit the tenement museum in New York,” Lewis said. “These are all sites in the course, but you don’t have to go, we’ve found them for you.”
Another benefit of an online program is that students shy or uncomfortable asking questions in a large forum can do so in the privacy of an e-mail communication with the instructor, Mendelsson said.
“I can imagine certain mature students may feel embarrassed at their lack of knowledge in a given area,” he said. “A course offered in the privacy of your home overcomes this sense of inadequacy.”
Lewis said he hopes students become as excited as he has been in developing the series.
“I’m learning the technology that my grandkids are already very comfortable with,” he said. “It challenges me to teach in a much different way. But I can reach multiple audiences on multiple levels. It will be very, very exciting.”
author’s note: Colleen Gehoski Steinman graduated from MSU in 1989 with a degree in journalism. She currently teaches writing at Alpena Community College and writes from her northeast Michigan home.
MSU GLOBAL ONLINE CONNECTION
MSU Global Online Connection was created in June 2000 to help develop and to take responsiblity for marketing a select portfolio of MSU online courses, degrees and certificates to e-learners locally, nationally and internationally. In addition to selling directly to individuals, MSU Global Online Connection creates partnerships with other universities, corporations and government agencies seeking to expand their e-learning offerings.
MSU Global Online Connection's portfolio focuses on programs in thematic areas that are traditional MSU strengths. In Agriculture and Natural Resources, they include Food Law, Food Safety and Watershed Management; in Education, they include Education Technology, Education Leadership, Youth Development , and Teaching and Learning; and in Business and Management, they include Global Business Management, Logistics, Hospitality and Tourism, Packaging, Facility Management and Security Management.
In addition, MSU Global Online Connection develops customized e-learning programs for partnering organizations, which includes customizing existing programs or creating new programs employing the expertise of MSU faculty and the online instructional design and technology of MSU Libraries, Computing and Technology.
For more information, call 517-432-1950 or e-mail global@msu.edu.