FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Gita Brown, 401-456-8465, gbrown@ric.edu
Laura Hart, 401-456-8977, lhart@ric.edu
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Rhode Island-Israel College Consortium (Project RIICC) – an inter-institutional partnership with Rhode Island College and two higher education institutions in Israel – Beit Berl Academic College (BBC) and Oranim Academic College of Education (OAC) – has organized an international conference in Israel on Jan. 7 and 8, 2015.
The conference will be held at BBC on January 7th and at OAC on January 8th and is titled “Not in My Backyard: Inter-cultural Inclusion in Educational Systems and in Society.” OAC is the largest and leading college of education in North Israel. BBC is largest in number of students and range of programs.
Participating faculty from RIC’s Feinstein School of Education and Human Development will be Professor of Educational Studies Ellen Bigler; Professor of Elementary Education Ezra Stieglitz; and Associate Professors of Elementary Education Elizabeth Henshaw, Maria Lawrence and Mary Ellen McGuire-Schwartz.
They will present original research and conduct workshops on teaching strategies. In some sessions, their presentations will be held jointly with their BBC and OAC colleagues. Stieglitz will deliver a keynote titled “Addressing Religious Diversity in the United States from a Multicultural Education Perspective.”
Project RIICC was initiated in 2011 by RIC President Nancy Carriuolo when she traveled to Israel on a group trade mission led by Governor Chafee. “During my visits, I talked with Israeli faculty and administrators about the ways in which RIC and their own institutions might collaborate for the benefit of both,” said Carriuolo. “The trip unearthed numerous possibilities.”
A contractual partnership was established in 2012 and bore fruit in 2013 when eight RIC faculty flew to Israel to meet with their counterparts at OAC and BBC. In turn, faculties from BBC and OAC visited Rhode Island for a week last year.
“The plan for the future is to expand the scope of Project RIICC,” said Stieglitz. “Members of the consortium remain committed to continuing the relationship and to continuing efforts to foster international collaboration and cooperation.”
For more information about Project RIICC, please contact Ezra Stieglitz at estieglitz@ric.edu.
Established in 1854, Rhode Island College serves approximately 9,000 graduate and undergraduate students through its five schools: the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Feinstein School of Education and Human Development, the School of Social Work, the School of Management and the School of Nursing. For more information, visit www.ric.edu.
