Ben-Gurion University of the NegevContact Information The Concept
This pioneering track of study enables students interested in environmental
studies, development studies, and religious studies to pursue these fields in a
unique socio-economic and socio-political context: the Negev desert of Israel. The
Office of Student Services Ginsburg-Ingerman Overseas Student Program
program presents a holistic and comprehensive perspective on the Negev desert,
considering ecological, economic, social, cultural, demographic and political aspects
of this desert region. It also offers an exceptional opportunity to experience Israel
in light of the challenges it faces in developing the Negev; its largest remaining
wilderness. In addition to ulpan and academic courses, students will participate in
workshops, discussion groups, field trips, volunteering activities, and environmental
fieldwork that will introduce them to the sustainable development challenges of
Ginsburg-Ingerman Overseas Student Program
Israel's periphery. The program is the fruit of col aboration between Ben-Gurion
University's (BGU) Overseas Study Program, the Arava Institute for Environmental
Studies (AIES) at Kibbutz Keturah, and the Atid Bamidbar creative Jewish studies
center in the Negev town of Yeroham. These three institutions represent the
northern, central and southern Negev, and thus expose the student to the complete social, environmental and geographical range of the Negev region. The program is appropriate for a year of study abroad during undergraduate studies.
The Program The first semester is focused on the northern and
This is a full year academic curriculum, however each
central Negev. Students will divide their time
semester may be taken independently as well.
between the main BGU campus in Beer-Sheva and the central Negev town of Yeroham, located
The Courses
twenty miles south of Beer-Sheva. Students will live in Yeroham, where they will experience life in
First Semester (Introduction and Overview):
a multi-cultural development town, connect with
host families, and participate in workshops, action-
Atid Bamidbar is a unique community oriented
oriented research, and study-tours at the Atid
study center where a diverse representation of the
Bamidbar (lit., “future in the desert”) study center,
population of the Negev - women and men, religious
as well as engage in volunteering activities related
Environmental and Natural Resources Policy
and secular, new immigrants and veteran Israelis,
to the environmental issues they will learn about.
residents of development towns and kibbutz mem-
Three days a week, students will take a Hebrew
bers - meet and study Jewish sources, from Bible to
language course and three other courses at the BGU
contemporary works, in an open, egalitarian, and
Environmental Development, Sustainability
pluralistic atmosphere, striving to apply these sources
and Social Justice in light of Jewish sources?
to the complex social realities of the 21st century.
The second semester will focus on regional
For more information see www.bamidbar.org
environmental issues as well as environmental aspects of the southern Negev and Arava desert,
and will provide a more in-depth focus on the issues
Environmental Studies (AIES) is the premier
presented during the first semester. Students will
This program thus offers a unique "hands-on"
environmental teaching and research program in
reside on Kibbutz Ketura (30 minutes north of Eilat)
Israel experience: meaningful social encounters
the Middle East, preparing future Arab and
and take courses at the Arava Institute. Students
in a distinctive desert environment, all within an
Jewish leaders to cooperatively solve the
will study the social, religious and environmental
academic framework. Students will engage the
region’s environmental challenges. The studies
dimensions of sustainable development from an
social, developmental and environmental challenges
are international in scope, with a student body
international and mutli-cultural perspective, as they
that, in the 21st century, face the region that David
comprised of Jordanians, Palestinians, Israelis and
will be a part of the Arava Institute's Middle Eastern
Ben-Gurion called the future of the Jewish State.
other nationalities. AIES gives Jewish, Arab and other
student body (Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordanians).
They will receive the tools, training and experience
students a unique opportunity to study and live
Interaction between the students and kibbutz
to effectively analyze the complex interplay
together for an extended period of time; building
members will also be actively encouraged, through
of factors promoting or hindering sustainable
networks and understanding that will enable future
host families arranged by the Arava Institute, and
development in the Negev and in general, and they
cooperative work and activism in the Middle East
participation in kibbutz cultural and social activities.
will gain an in depth understanding of one of Israel’s
greatest challenges: that of developing the Negev
For more information see www.arava.org
into a socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable element of the State and people of Israel.
TERMITE PROTECTION: AVAILABLE TREATMENTS AND HAZARD INFORMATION ABOUT TERMITICIDES Why are termites a problem in Australia? Termites (often incorrectly called 'white ants') feed on wood and serve an important functionin nature by converting dead trees into organic matter. Unfortunately, the wood in buildingsand other structures such as wooden power poles is equally appetising to termite
B4 School Check: This is a check for children aged between 4-5yrs. We are doing this check by nurse clinic appointment only. Once an appointment is made through the nurses, a booklet and consent form is sent out for parents to fill in. 1) Health questionnaire filled in by the parent. 2) Developmental assessments done by the nurse (involves the nurse asking child to 3) Parental evaluatio
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Contact Information 
The Program