Global Faculty Seminar: Fall 2026

This Seminar is being offered on an accelerated timeline.
Applications due September 1, 2026.

About the Seminar

This Seminar is funded through a generous grant by the Koret Foundation as part of the Hazon Forum on Judaism and Our Common Future, a developing nexus for interdisciplinary research, learning, public discourse, and global exchange that enables students to explore and engage Judaism’s contributions to the great questions of our time.  

The Global Faculty Seminar is a precursor to a student program abroad in June 2027. One of the goals of the faculty seminar is to provide development to faculty for the purpose of preparing them to lead a student program abroad on the themes of the Hazon Forum on Judaism and Our Common Future, as well as to incorporate the themes into their teaching and research on campus.

Description

The Global Faculty Seminar will familiarize participants with the history of Jewish communities and the Holocaust in Czechia and Poland, and explore interdisciplinary themes that explore American and global Jewish identities, histories, perspectives, and contemporary cultural contributions. 

Participants can expect to participate in field visits where they will hear directly from historians, academics, and social and political actors to explore interdisciplinary themes, as described, above. Together, participants will examine historic events and contextualize them in the contemporary world. Participants will be encouraged to draw on insights from their own disciplinary frameworks to understand historic and contemporary issues. In keeping with SCU’s Jesuit identity, the Seminar will incorporate individual and group reflections through the Seminar.

Seminar Activities

The seminar consists of lectures, site visits and field-based lectures, and discussion. Sites include: Jewish Quarter Prague; meeting with Jewish Community Center members; Kazimierz Jewish Quarter, Krakow; meeting with Holocaust survivors; Jewish life in Poland after Shoah lecture; Marketing Krakow’s Jewish heritage and the Asuchwitze Memorial as Tourist Attractions; Auschwitz II - Birkenau. 

Seminar Activities are subject to change.

Goals

• Faculty who participate will share ideas for teaching and research on interdisciplinary themes that explore American and global Jewish identities, histories, perspectives, and contemporary cultural contributions.  
• Expand ideas for effective In situ pedagogy across different disciplines
• Provide a foundation for faculty to lead a student program abroad on the themes of the Hazon Forum on Judaism and Our Common Future
• Provide a framework for faculty to consider opportunities to incorporate the themes of the Hazon Forum into their teaching and research on campus.
  
  

Outcomes

On successful completion of this seminar, participants will be able to:

• Understand American and global Jewish identities, histories, perspectives, and contemporary cultural contributions
• Identify significant sites relevant to these the seminar themes in Czechia and Poland
• Develop a proposal for a faculty-led program abroad on a theme related to the Hazan Forum in Prague and Krakow

Eligibility  

Tenure and Tenure-Track faculty, Non-Tenure-Track faculty on Renewable-Term or Continuing Appointment, Faculty on Fixed-Term Appointment with a contract that continues into the academic year post program. Faculty must have completed at least two years of their fixed-term appointment at the time of proposal. Faculty in all disciplines are strongly encouraged to apply.
  

Number of Participants

Eight

Dates

Arrive Prague November 30, 2026 - Depart Krakow December 7, 2026

Cost

The cost of participation is provided through the generous support of the Koret Foundation.  

Included:

• Global Faculty Seminar participation including site visits
• Airfare to Prague from SFO and from Krakow to SFO on the dates of the program
• Airport transfer in Prague and Krakow at scheduled times
• Single occupancy hotel room daily breakfast in hotel
• Three group lunches; two group dinners
• Public transportation pass in Prague for the dates of the seminar

Not Included: 

• Transportation to/from airport in California
• Airport transfer in Prague and Krakow outside of scheduled times 
• Any costs resulting from changes to the itinerary
• Lunches and dinners outside of group meals
• Passport, photos, visa fees
• Incidentals

Participants who withdraw after confirmation are subject to $500 plus unrecoverable expenses.