Monday January 23 at 3pm: Hillel student/EWCJS focus group mtg
Members of the BU Hillel student board met with Jewish studies faculty Abigail Gillman (MLCL), Michael Grodin (MED), and Jonathan Klawans (RN) for a “focus group” gathering at the second floor library, 147 BSR, on January 23, at 3pm. The conversation made it clear that both students feel that both institutions, Hillel and the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies belong to a larger community on campus and should find more ways to interact and strengthen curricular and co-curricular programming on campus that is attractive to the entire BU community. One idea that was floated was for JS faculty to offer a class after hours, informally dubbed “second dinner” (since it would come with food), that would meet once a week throughout the year, offer one or two credits, to make registration worth-while, and range across the entire curriculum of Jewish literature, history, and tradition. All JS faculty would be invited to hold classes, readings, discussions, and demonstrations related to their field of expertise and so give students an opportunity to get sense of their regular classes and teaching styles. This class would draw students into the Center at 147 BSR, making them feel more at home in our beautiful building. Conversely, it was suggested, Jewish studies faculty should hold regular lunch conversations at the Hillel House to become more visible, engaged, and available to the students there.
Both groups, the Hillel student board and the Jewish studies faculty felt that the conversation had been lively and productive and expressed a desire to repeat the experience.
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