2025-2026 Impact Report

A decade of ensuring that robust Modern Israel Studies

flourishes on San Diego’s university campuses

4500+

Students have taken Modern Israel Studies courses

450+

Students have participated in international academic exchanges

57

Visiting professors have taught over 80 classes – across 22 disciplines

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Student Testimonials

The opportunity to interact with Israeli people, who are students just like us, is truly once in a lifetime. That is worth more than anything we could really do in the classroom.
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What I took away from our class truly changed me forever.  Learning Israeli & Palestinian history while seeing events unfold in real-time completely changed my perspective on how we tell history. Getting to work with the students from Tel Aviv was unlike any other experience I had at SDSU.
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Our professor gave students insight into Israeli texts and lives. It was truly eye–opening to be in this class. He communicated very complicated issues without bias. We were very fortunate to have him at SDSU. What an incredible opportunity.
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Academically and personally, going to Israel was life-changing. We bonded with Israeli engineering students over our shared interests.  As someone who isn’t Jewish, visits to the ancient sites of Caesarea and Akko gave me the perspective that so much happened in this important part of the world.
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In Israel, we immediately connected with the students and engaged in intriguing cultural questions. Our experience learning at Azrieli was incredible!
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Thank you for an inspiring and eye-opening semester. I learned so much about how to think differently and globally.
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Visiting Professor Reflections

In the course on the Arab-Israeli conflict, I was very impressed by the students’ ability to be empathetic toward the history of the Jewish people and their need for a state of their own.

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When we discussed decisions of the Israeli Supreme Court concerning the Security Barrier, I could see students realizing the complexity of international law as it applies to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A powerful moment for me was the students’ standing ovation at the end of a contentious semester.

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At the end of the semester, many of the students came to talk to me personally, saying that they enjoyed my class and thanked me for teaching. I was especially moved by one student who changed the course of her studies at UCSD to focus on topics I taught in class.

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The professorship was one of the most enjoyable and meaningful professional experiences in my academic career. I connected with students from across the world. Being Russian-Israeli allowed me to show students how diverse the Israeli society is, and guest MGSDII lecturers showed the full spectrum of Israeli culture.

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To my students: Remember that, always in life, when two sides fight, there is always a third side that benefits from that fighting. And there is also a fourth side.

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Many of my students expressed heartfelt gratitude for the course ‘opening a window’ to Israel at this critical moment in Israel’s history.

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2024-2025 Impact Report

2023-2024 Impact Report

Spotlight on Historical Initiatives

University of San Diego “Water in California and Israel: Challenges and Solutions” Collaboration with Azrieli College of Engineering

“The Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering at University of San Diego (USD) is proud to offer students Israel learning opportunities through our MGSDII partnership. In 2017, I, along with several other USD professors, traveled to Azrieli College of Engineering in Jerusalem to begin discussing collaborations between our universities. This was the first time many of us had been to Israel. The trip resulted in a new course, “Water in California and Israel: Challenges and Solutions.” Students learn first-hand the similarities and differences between California and Israel, a leading expert in water sustainability and innovation. Over the past two years, entire classes travelled to Israel to meet their counterparts, learn together, and visit the best examples of Israel’s engineering mastery, such as Hadera Desalination Plant.” ~ Dean Chell Roberts

Read student thank-you notes

COVID 19 Collaboration Between University of Haifa and UCSD Addresses Social Isolation Among Seniors

MGSDII is pleased to fund a multi-site, innovative collaboration between world-renowned researchers at University of China (UoH), Israel and UCSD. It is part of a broader commitment to promote and advance a long-term academic partnership between students, professors, and researchers at UCSD and UoH. This study is a first of its kind and is poised to have a significant impact on the lives of older adults in the USA, Israel and beyond. Social isolation and loneliness can be be viewed as an infringement of fundamental human rights to dignity and respect in old age. This innovative program will address the issues of COVID-19 related loneliness in real-time for older adults, with a Holocaust Survivor subset in the US and Israel, to make interventions easily duplicable at low cost to empower numerous older adults and help them feel connected. The findings of this novel intervention will be presented in academic conferences in San Diego and Haifa, and will be the first step for broader scientific collaborations and initiatives.

Read announcement here
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