The School of Civic Leadership announced it will develop a scholarship program, two new majors and a study abroad cohort to Israel, according to two January news releases.
The study abroad opportunity to Jerusalem is part of the new Ackerman Program on Jewish and Western Civilization, which will also create a scholarship program called the Rosenthal-Levy Scholars. The programs will begin this fall, according to the press release.
Justin Dyer, the dean of the School of Civic Leadership, said the program will focus on Israel’s influence on Western Civilization and American values. Dyer said the school is working with Texas Global to develop the study abroad program to Israel, which will be open to all students in the school.
“Jerusalem (as a) place becomes important to understanding the great ideas that influence the American founding and the American constitution,” Dyer said. “And then to understand some of the unique national security challenges America faces in the world, as we study strategy and statecraft.”
The Ackerman program was funded by donations from Tomas Ackerman, an alumnus, and his wife, Abby Ackerman. The two, along with donors Gary and Lee Rosenthal, and Paul and Karen Levy, donated $12.5 million, according to the news release.
William Inboden, executive vice president and provost, said in a news release the school’s new developments will serve as a strong example of UT’s research and teaching.
“Jewish ideas are central to the foundations of Western culture and the American constitutional order,” Inboden said. “Modern Israel is one of the world’s most remarkable nations — a singular story of political refuge, economic growth and strategic influence. These programs will expose our students to these themes in an era when they are as important as ever.”
The new majors — Strategy and Statecraft, and Great Books — open for applications this fall, and will focus on the foundations of Western Civilization and teach how to “defend America’s interests in a complex world,” according to the press release.
Both degrees are pending approval by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Dyer said.
The Strategy and Statecraft major will serve as a humanities-based study for students interested in national security professions like foreign service and military intelligence roles, according to the news release.
The Great Books major will teach students about texts and documents that have shaped Western civilization, from ancient Greece to Modern America, said Alexander Duff, director of Faculty Development for the School of Civic Leadership.
He said the major was created after the school saw a rising demand for the classical education programs in the University’s Thomas Jefferson Center for the Study of Core Texts & Ideas.
The majors were created after UT received a $10 million grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a public agency that funds museums and public institutions that study humanities topics like law and history. Duff said the number of staff and faculty at the school could increase from at least 13 to up to 60 because of the grant.
“What we’re doing is echoing a kind of education that … comes from the 20th century in places like (The University of Chicago), Columbia, St John’s,” Duff said. “The formula of the great books became a new way, or a renewed way, to approach the long tradition of Western (classics).”
