Innovation Excellence

Young professionals event 12.7.23
Fulbright establishes first Young Professionals Networking event
Israeli Fulbright alumni from the last decade, gathered this week for a professional networking event. For this first gathering of its kind, the alumni, motivators and trailblazers who studied and trained at the leading higher education institutions in the United States, met. The event focused on connecting, discussing and sharing ideas for future initiatives that will impact Israeli society and emphasized the importance of the Fulbright network and social capital, and enabled thoughts and initiatives on the next chapter of our alumni Fulbright journey. Thank you to Shir Eshkol and Yonat Ben Ozer, our recent MA program alumni for the initiative and to Raji Awies for the wonderful hospitality.


Nina Simone
Nina Simon gives inspirational talk on being relevant, at the joint Fulbright Israel and Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Public Humanities Conference
Nina Simon described as a “museum visionary” opened the first Public Humanities Conference, initiated by Fulbright Israel and Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem in May, Being relevant, she said, is the key to success. It starts by asking who are the audiences or the communities I really care about and what do they value. Because, she said, we can’t say “we exist for everyone,” if the people coming in the door do not look like everyone in our community.

Nina discussed relevant art pertaining to museums and other public institutions and how, as the Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, she led an institutional turnaround based on grassroots community participation. The participants were particularly moved by Nina’s account of her project working with foster children, who were paired up with artists for a year, so as to present their personal stories through exhibits. The children initiated, curated, developed and guided the exhibition that, as stated by one of the children, was about, from and for them. This was the most viewed exhibition ever seen at the museum and each of the children established long-lasting ties with other community members.

Nina has spent over twenty years as an exhibit designer, museum director, nonprofit CEO, mentor and advocate for community participation in the arts and is also the author of several books.
ETA-ELF 23
ETA-ELF enrichment seminar - sharing experiences in teaching English in Israel
Fulbright Israel held an ETA-ELF enrichment seminar. It was a wonderful opportunity to bring together both our U.S. English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Fellows and English Language Fellows (ELF) allowing them to share experiences, successes, and challenges in teaching English in Israel.

Our ETA fellow, Willow Green, lead a "connecting movement and language" session and the American Center held a session on dealing with different opinions and experiences in the classroom. Participants also discussed and practiced ways to not only convey the English language to their students, but also to create a more immersive experience in doing so. The seminar was held in collaboration with the American Center in Jerusalem.
Second meeting of our Postdoctoral Seminar series for our U.S. Fulbright fellows
In early July we held our second Postdoctoral Seminar series for our U.S. Fulbright fellows.
During this meeting, we had the opportunity to hear from Dr. Roie Levin, a Fulbright fellow at Tel Aviv University about "Decision making under uncertainty" and from Dr. Julia Reed a Fulbright fellow at Bar-Ilan University about "Varieties of Religious Experience and Histories of Scientific Explanation." Their lectures were followed by a fascinating discussion with the fellows who attended.

Fulbright's 20th Pre-Departure Orientation for Israeli fellows held - to prepare them and their families for their upcoming journey to the U.S.
In May, Fulbright's 20th Pre-Departure Orientation was held for Israeli fellows leaving for the U.S. this year.
The PDO incorporates extensive and rich content in order to fully prepare fellows and their families for their upcoming Fulbright experience.
In addition, it is an opportunity for the fellows to interact and network with each other and with alumni from the Fulbright community, who came to share their knowledge.
Public Humanities conf 2023
First Public Humanities Conference raises issues such as relevance and creativity and their importance to vital aspects of life in Israel
The first Public Humanities Conference, a joint venture of Fulbright Israel and Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design took place in May. Fulbright fellows and alumni, academics, and representatives of cultural and academic institutions as well as participants from government and the third sector attended. They discussed relevance, creativity, and the humanities, and their importance to civil, cultural, economic, and academic life in Israel. U.S. Ambassador Thomas Nides opened the event, together with the president of Bezalel, Professor Adi Stern.
Lili Foggle Zoom seminar
What to expect in academic job interviews? How to make sure you are professional, authentic, likable, demonstrate your experience, accomplishments, and good fit for the position and the institution, while giving solid examples?
Fulbright U.S. Postdoc fellows recently participated in an extensive workshop, presented by Lili Foggle, who taught specific skills and strategies on how to successfully communicate a postdoc’s unique value during job interviews, at all stages of the interview process.