Jewish Communal Service and Leadership
Named in honour of Roslyn Smorgon, who left a legacy of Jewish communal service and leadership, this program is the first of its kind in Australia. It was officially launched by Monash University’s Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Richard Larkins, on 18 November 2008.
The Jewish Communal Service and Leadership program deepens people’s understanding of Jewish life in Australia and the challenges and opportunities that face the community. This program prepares students for leadership positions in the Jewish community and professionally develops the skills of people already engaged in the field.
The mission of the JCSL is as follows:- To educate communal leaders to make decisions and take actions from more informed perspectives
- To encourage dialogue and transparency - (for e.g: intracommunal dialogue on Israel and interdenominational dialogue on Jewish continuity)
- To support and promote interfaith dialogue
- To encourage and foster womens’ leadership development
- To support innovation in communal leadership
- To develop and strengthen skills in lay and professional communal leaders through partnerships in the university and wider community
Participants of the programs are drawn from a wide background including professional staff and CEOs of communal organisations, fundraisers, museum volunteers, lay leadership of organisations and those involved in formal and informal Jewish education.
The JCSL Program offers:- Academic Units
- Professional Development
- Education for Communal Leaders
- Women’s Leadership Development
Consultancies are also available
For example, Melanie is facilitating a 3
day Women’s Leadership seminar [pdf 1.04 mb] in March 2011 for NCJW (Vic)
(contact melanie.landau@monash.edu for further information)
The core JCSL unit -
Rethinking
Australian Jewish Community: Policy and Praxis – [pdf 93.3 kb]
is now offered over a five-day intensive period to accommodate interstate participation. The unit is also open to
suitably qualified members of the community as auditing students, without responsibility for assessment.
Rethinking Australian Jewish Community: Policy and Praxis APG4648/APG5648
(please note that this unit is offered as a 5 day intensive in March 2011, rather than as an ongoing unit with a 3 hour weekly seminar – for further information please contact melanie.landau@monash.edu)
The unit invites a range of experts to critically analyse the following themes (with variations for each cohort).
- School and tertiary education
- Social cohesion, multiculturalism, interfaith dialogue
- Social and welfare issues
- Philanthropy
- Holocaust – where to from now?
- Forms of Jewish identification
- Role of Israel in Australian Jewish life
- Communities in global context
- The arts and cultural production
- Social justice and the environment
- Leadership, governance and management
- Dilemmas in Jewish leadership and models of leadership in Jewish sources
Dates: Sunday 13 -Thursday 17 March, 2011
For all enquiries about coursework or research in this area, please email arts-acjc@monash.edu or contact Melanie Landau.