Intercultural Summer Schools "Israel"
Intercultural Summer Schools "Israel"
Summer school series in Israel
University of Oldenburg (Head: Prof Dr Benedikt Hensel)
(The Summer School 2023 group from Oldenburg)
The Summer School series is aimed at Oldenburg students on teaching degree programmes and was launched in 2023. It takes place annually for almost four weeks under the direction of Prof. Dr Benedikt Hensel in Israel (in 2024 it will be suspended for security reasons due to the Middle East conflict).
The following core elements are an essential part of the Summer School:
- The regional studies of Israel as well as the history of Judaism and the Middle East from antiquity to modern times. To this end, Professor Dr Benedikt Hensel and his local cooperation partners (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel) offer excursions to monuments and excavation sites in Israel as well as corresponding seminars, workshops and lectures.
- Intercultural and interreligious meeting spaces: through a multinational and multicultural team in the study centre on site, as well as through targeted lectures and discussions with high-ranking spiritual and cultural representatives in Israel (in particular the Christian, Jewish and Muslim spectrum is taken into account here).
- Participation in the on-site educational excavation in Hazor/Israel, which Hensel is leading. The Summer School aims to acquire and train practical skills in the field of Middle Eastern archaeology.
For further information and registration, please contact Professor Dr Benedikt Hensel (benedikt.hensel@uol.de).
Date of the Summer School 2025
The Summer School 2025 will take place from 3 August to 26 August 2025, situation permitting. We cordially invite you to an information evening on 19 December, 18:30 in the "Villa Geistreich", Oldenburg or digitally via: meeting.uol.de/rooms/qub-zix-bor-ezt/join.
02-23 August 2026
Intercultural Summer School Israel (02-23 August 2026)
Prof Dr Benedikt Hensel is running a three-week summer school in Israel with a team of 30 students and researchers from Oldenburg. The training of intercultural and interreligious skills is at the centre of the programme: Israel will be explored as a polyphonic cultural and religious space in the past and present - through excursions, encounter formats and scientifically guided tours of ancient sites that complement the educational excavation in Hazor. Discussions are planned with representatives of Judaism, Christianity and Islam as well as insights into smaller communities (including Samaritans and Druze). A visit to Yad Vashem is a fixed part of the programme. The Summer School combines academic research, historical depth and lived dialogue practice - as an intensive teaching and experience format on site.
3 November 2023
In another time
The university website reports in an extensive article on the excavation of the Old Testament Chair in Hazor and the associated summer school and the related research projects of Benedikt Hensel - including his textbook on the "Archaeology of the Southern Levant". Click here for the article.
October 2023
UNI Info report and interview about the 2023 Hazor excavation of the Old Testament Chair
In the October-December 2023 issue, the UNI Info newspaper reports on the excavation of the Old Testament Chair Oldenburg in Hazor! In addition to excavation director Benedikt Hensel, our Hiwis Maryam Matta and Sophie Dierks are also interviewed.
Click here for the online edition of the journal.