Jewish Portal of Teacher Education

Source: Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies 

The 2012-13 Directory of Israel Studies builds on the work of previous directories through inclusion of course enrollment data and identification of faculty. A key change is the recognition and addition of upper-level Hebrew language courses as Israel-focused. At the 316 colleges and universities included in the Directory, Israel-focused courses increased from 609 in 2011-12 to 616 in 2012-13. Including upper - level Hebrew language courses, however, increases further the total number of Israel - focused courses in 2012 - 13 : 701 courses.

The Directory this year documents three important findings about the field of Israel studies:

• Growth in the number of Israel - focused courses, albeit at a slower rate than seen in the past.
• The importance of institutional and external support for professorships, chairs, centers, and programs to prepare scholars to teach in the field.
• Student demand for Israel - focused courses in enrollment numbers and the number of faculty teaching about Israel.

The directory included in the report documents Israel - focused course offerings at 316 American colleges and universities in 2012 - 13. For each institution, the Directory lists:

• Estimated undergraduate 2012 - 13 enrollment (Source: College Board College Search website.) 
• Estimated number of Jewish undergraduates (Source: College Guide — Hillel). The research team contacted schools directly for where Hillel estimates were not available.
• The number of Israel - focused courses offered in 2008 - 09, 2011 - 12, and 2012 - 13.
• The number of Israel - related courses offered in 2012 - 13.
• A list of Israel - focused courses offered in 2012 - 13 with the department listing the courses in parentheses. Often courses are listed and cross - listed in multiple departments. The Directory includes only one department for each course. As in previous years, courses are counted only once regardless of whether they were offered in more than once.
• The number of Hebrew language courses and the number of Arabic language courses. Courses are listed only once regardless of the number of times they were offered or the number of sections.
• Other Israel and Israel - related academic programs such as Jewish studies, Israel studies, Israel studies chairs, and study a broad programs in Israel.

The institutions included in this directory represent a purposive sample of 316 schools. They include top - ranked national and regional universities and liberal arts colleges (following U.S. News and World Report rankings). Unranked and lower ranked schools with large Jewish populations are included as well.