המרכז להוראת תרבות ישראל באוניברסיטאות בעולם האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים The International Center for University Teaching of Jewish Civilization The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

יו"ר האקדמי המייסד משה דייוויס ז"ל יושב-ראש אקדמי יום טוב עסיס יושב-ראש חבר הנאמנים הרברט ניומן יושבי-ראש כבוד חבר הנאמנים רלף גולדמן ריצ'רד שויאר Founding Academic Chairman Moshe Davis ז"ל Academic Chairman Yom Tov Assis Chairman, Board of Regents Herbert Neuman Honorary Life Chairmen, Board of Regents Ralph I. Goldman Richard J. Scheuer הר הצופים ירושלים 91905 Mt. Scopus Jerusalem 91905 Israel Tel.    טל. 5881772-2-972+ 5881773-2-972+ פ Fax     פקס 5819096-2-972+ e-mail דואר אלקטרוני msjewciv@mscc.huji.ac.il

ANNOUNCEMENT Continuing Workshop on University Teaching of Hebrew Language Jerusalem, 4–8 July 2004 / 15–19 Tammuz 5764 Language as a Culture Medium:  Curriculum Content in the Academic Hebrew Ulpan Workshop Director: Prof. Aharon Maman, Department of Hebrew Language, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem The International Center for University Teaching of Jewish Civilization is pleased to announce that it is now accepting applications for the next annual session of its Continuing Workshop on University Teaching of Hebrew Language. The workshop will take place in Jerusalem from Sunday through Thursday, July 4-8, 2004, and will be devoted to the subject Language as a Culture Medium:  Curriculum Content in the Academic Hebrew Ulpan. Every language carries a certain degree of the culture of its speakers -- the Hebrew language carries more than three thousand years of culture.  There are key words whose semantic connotations could fill an entire encyclopedia, and no dictionary entry could express their full depth.  The same is true for phrases, expressions, idioms, parables, and, of course, prose, poetry and song texts. In teaching Hebrew, the weighty question arises of what cultural content should be incorporated into the curriculum at each of the six levels of the academic ulpan.  Many facets of this important subject are worthy of discussion in a workshop. Relevant questions include: Ø Is it possible to say “language is culture” to the same degree as “style is the man”? Ø Which components of culture might be reflected by the language and which might not? Ø Is the word-pair “language-culture” more tightly linked in Hebrew than in other languages?  If so, does this attribute arise only from the unique character of the history of the Hebrew language? Ø Does the failure of attempts to reform written Hebrew – to write Hebrew in Latin characters – attest to the unbreakable ties between the Hebrew language and Jewish culture? Ø Is it possible to teach “neutral” language, “sterile” and without culture at all?  If so, how?  Are there culturally neutral texts?  And if not, by what criteria can we choose the cultural and literary content to include in teaching, and to grade such content for use in the curriculum? Ø To what degree can “empty” sentences (See U. Ornan, Modern Hebrew Syntax, 1969, end of Appendix IV [in Hebrew]) and “empty” texts serve the purpose of neutralization? Ø Is it possible to build a complete curriculum based on concepts of universal culture? Ø Is it possible to teach the Hebrew names of the days, the months, the holidays – in fact the whole vocabulary relating to the Jewish life cycle, the cycle of the year, ancient and modern history – without referring to Jewish, religious, Israeli, political/national cultural concepts? Ø Should the teacher need to resort to the historical phenomena of aspects of sanctification and religion in the Hebrew language (from the Canaanite to Biblical Hebrew) on the one hand, and secularization and secularism (from Classical/Rabbinic to modern Hebrew language) on the other hand? The workshop sessions will include lectures as well as didactic and methodological workshops for practical use in the classroom. Participation is limited to a small number of university teachers of Hebrew language, chosen from among applicants from all over the world. The cost of participation in the conference is $100.  The Hebrew University’s International Center for University Teaching of Jewish Civilization provides accommodation for the dates of the workshop.  Travel expenses to and from Israel remain the responsibility of participants or their sponsoring institutions. Interested applicants should send a CV by e-mail, fax or post to: The International Center for University Teaching of Jewish Civilization Yitzhak Rabin Building for the World Center of Jewish Studies The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem 91905 ISRAEL Tel: +972-2-5881772/3; Fax:  +972-2-5819096 E-mail:  msjewciv@mscc.huji.ac.il