Education
Gratz College Launches America’s First Master’s Degree in Antisemitism Studies
PHILADELPHIA, February 22, 2024 (Newswire.com) - Gratz College is launching the first Master of Arts degree program in Antisemitism Studies in the United States in Fall 2024. This ground-breaking program will help fill the vacuum of knowledge about antisemitism across Jewish, non-Jewish, and governmental organizations responsible for generating policy to combat prejudice at a time of unprecedented Jew hatred.
It will:
• Provide an academic home for those seeking to develop both a deep theoretical and practical understanding of antisemitism;
• Help generate new and impactful research on the factors that contribute to growing antisemitism and test interventions that can successfully combat it; and
• Arm educators and practitioners with the most effective antisemitism pedagogy and programming.
Through degree concentrations in teaching, advocacy and research, graduates of this program will be uniquely qualified for prominent careers in education, think tanks, government relations, public policy, and community organizations (Jewish and non-Jewish).
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is eager to see this program take shape:
“We’re seeing a dangerous rise in antisemitism, hatred, and bigotry across our country – and it’s more important than ever that Pennsylvanians be equipped with a thorough knowledge of our shared history and the skills to discern fact from fiction. Gratz College is already renowned for its Holocaust and Genocide Studies programs, and I am encouraged the College is expanding upon that work with a new Master’s degree in Antisemitism Studies. I wish the faculty, staff, and especially the inaugural class of Antisemitism Studies students, great success in their work.”
The program is directed by Dr. Ayal Feinberg, antisemitism studies expert and Director of the Center for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights at Gratz College. The program boasts a distinguished interdisciplinary faculty from academia and leading public advocacy organizations. Despite its infancy, the degree has been endorsed by nearly one hundred scholars and public policy experts from around the world. Professor of Political Science at Kalamazoo College R. Amy Elman asserts, “With an emphasis on operationalizing knowledge, informed teaching and ethical advocacy, Gratz’s innovative graduate program fulfills a deep need in countering antisemitism.”
Gratz’s Antisemitism Studies program is also establishing ground-breaking partnerships with the world’s most prominent Jewish organizations and programs to combat antisemitism in the classroom, on campus, and in professional workspaces. In the first such partnership, Gratz and The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History have joined forces to launch the National Education Fellowship on Antisemitism. The aim of this fellowship is to generate and assess paradigm-shifting middle and high school curriculum to reduce Jew-hatred and prejudice more broadly.
As an early adopter of online education, a 128-year history of Jewish learning, and home to the world’s largest graduate program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Gratz is uniquely qualified to take on this necessary and overdue program.
On March 4, 2024, the master’s degree program will kick-off with a series of public lectures, including by scholars serving as affiliate faculty for the program. On April 2, 2024, Dr. Avinoam Patt, inaugural director of NYU’s Center for Study of Antisemitism and the Maurice Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies, will deliver a keynote lecture, titled, "Awake My People": Jewish Responses to Antisemitism in the Modern Period.” Additional talks will take place before the program officially begins in August.
Prospective students eager to start may apply now and take courses as early as March 2024 with electives in Antisemitism Studies already developed as a preview to the program.
Gratz College is grateful to the Isidore and Penny Myers Foundation for generously supporting the launch of the Antisemitism Studies program. Jay Myers, Board Chair, shared: “The Isidore and Penny Myers Foundation, a family foundation guided by Jewish American values, sees great worth in educating future generations about the roots of Antisemitism, and by doing so, working to combat it. This degree program will create scholars who can devote their talent to meet this challenge. Our Foundation is proud to support this work and by so doing, meet our obligation to help repair the world.”
Contact: lcohen@gratz.edu for more information.
Contact Information:Lori Cohen
Director of Marketing and Design
lcohen@gratz.edu
215-635-7300 x182
Original Source: Gratz College Launches America's First Master's Degree in Antisemitism Studies
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Solvably Launches AI Centers of Excellence to Support Systemic AI Literacy
Solvably AI Center of Excellence
Solvably's AI Center of Excellence is designed to support AI Literacy for ALL!
NAPLES, Fla., December 4, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Solvably (http://www.solvably.com), a digital collaborative, creative problem-solving platform for lifelong learners, launched its AI Centers of Excellence today to systemically train all kindergarten-through-career learners on Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Solvably's AI Centers of Excellence offer 20 initial AI-focused, real-world challenges for K12, Higher Education, and Corporate Talent. Learners using the platform can collaborate in remote teams through a scaffolded problem-solving process, much like a virtual escape room, creating a deliverable that illustrates an application of AI with relevant impact by specific workforce job role/function (i.e., Customer Service, Sales, Leadership), K12 educational subject (i.e., Math, Science, Social Studies), or Higher Education institutional major (i.e., Marketing, Engineering, Finance). High-fidelity, pedagogically sound 'custom' challenges can also be created easily using Solvably’s Design Lab wizard tool. Each Solvably Center of Excellence experience supports soft skill development and engagement tracking, as well as longitudinal efficacy reporting among learning institutions and employers.
“To best prepare for tomorrow’s demanding workforce, today’s students and professionals need to not only understand AI and its enormous potential but how to apply it to solve real-world challenges in order to achieve higher outcomes,” said Solvably Founder and Chief Problem Solver Angelo Biasi. “Solvably’s active learning and authentic assessment experience is an evidence-based solution that empowers and ultimately future-proofs this wide audience with the skills required to use AI technologies and applications effectively, or ‘AI Literacy’ – something I am boldly calling the newest 21st Century Competency - while, in turn, creating a more qualified and effective global talent pool.”
Solvably for education and Solvably TALENT for employers are digital learning and assessment solutions that facilitate behavioral change via remote, collaborative experiences. The platform, founded in 2020, sold in 2022, and re-acquired/re-launched in 2023 by Angelo Biasi, won several awards, including an EdTech Breakthrough Product Award for Creativity Solution of the Year, and EdTech Digest’s Cool Tool award for 21st Century Skills Development. AI Centers of Excellence (COE) complement Solvably’s other COEs and serve as a centerpiece for the relaunch of the powerful platform.
Educational institutions and employers interested in working with Solvably to support learners or employees in their lifelong learning journeys can contact the company at info@solvably.com, or visit http://www.solvably.com.
Contact Information:Angelo Biasi
Founder / Chief Problem Solver
abiasi@solvably.com
+1 (917) 539-5287
Original Source: Solvably Launches AI Centers of Excellence to Support Systemic AI Literacy
Sandra Day O’Connor Institute Mourns Passing of Founder
PHOENIX, December 1, 2023 (Newswire.com) - The namesake organization founded by the first woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court is mourning the loss of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
“No words can describe the profound loss of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. The organization she founded remains resolute and will redouble our efforts to continue her lifetime work and extraordinary legacy,” said Gay Firestone Wray, Board of Directors Co-Chair.
The Institute will carry on its mission to further the distinguished legacy and lifetime work of Justice O’Connor to advance American democracy through civil discourse, civic engagement, and civics education.
“From our organization’s founding in 2009 following her retirement from the Supreme Court, Justice O’Connor led our organization with vision and intellect, and she exemplified our nation’s ideals,” said Sarah Suggs, President and CEO. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to continue her work and dedication to our great nation.”
Sandra Day was born on March 26, 1930, in El Paso, Texas. She spent much of her younger years on her family’s 160,000-acre Lazy B ranch on the Arizona-New Mexico border. At 16 she went to Stanford University for college, graduating magna cum laude with a degree in economics. She stayed for law school. Day graduated and, six months later, married John O’Connor, the love of her life. They eventually moved to Phoenix, where Sandra Day O’Connor began her rapid professional rise, which included holding positions as assistant attorney general of Arizona, majority leader of the Arizona State Senate, and judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals. She also found time to raise three sons—Scott, Brian, and Jay—and make every recipe in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
On August 19, 1981, President Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court; on September 21 she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate with a vote of 99-0.
Her career on the Court was historic. Justice O’Connor will be remembered not only for being the first female on the Court, or for her clear-eyed judicial reasoning and writings and major decisions, but also for her insistence on civility, her penchant for bringing people together to solve problems, whether in Washington, D.C. or over tacos and beer in her Arizona dining room.
“She overcame obstacles with quiet skill and determination and, in the process, inspired and continues to inspire countless others,” said Institute Board of Directors Co-Chair Matt Feeney.
We will miss you, Justice O’Connor.
About the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute for American Democracy
Founded in 2009 by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the O’Connor Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3), continues her distinguished legacy and lifetime work to advance American democracy through multigenerational civil discourse, civic engagement and civics education. Visit www.OConnorInstitute.org for more information.
Heather Schader
COO
hschader@oconnorinstitute.org
602-730-3300 x8
Original Source: Sandra Day O’Connor Institute Mourns Passing of Founder
