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"The Legacy of Abraham" is a three week study/travel experience sponsored by Warren Wilson College in collaboration with the Presbyterian Church Higher Education office for the purpose of enabling students who are enrolled in colleges associated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) to travel to Israel. In 1999, seven students and three faculty members launched the pilot program with the hopes that this would be an ongoing adventure. The course consisted of a 16 week, three credit preparation class in which students began to familiarize themselves with the religious traditions of the three monotheistic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) and to consider the foundational issues that challenge Israelis and Palestinians as they try to find peaceful solutions to the current social and political crisis in Israel and the Occupied Territories. This 16 week course was carried out under the supervision of one academic faculty member at each of the students' colleges in the form of an independent study. (To see syllabus for past and future trips click here) Upon the conclusion of the preparation course, the students traveled to Israel where they continued to reflect on the insights gained from their independent studies, visit sacred sites of the three traditions, and meet with religious leaders and practitioners who are trying to articulate their hopes for peace within the context of their respective faiths.
This website includes a photo diary of the 1999 trip, (written by Dr. Jeanne Matthews Sommer, professor of Religion in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Warren Wilson College, and one of the leaders of the 1999 trip), sample syllabi from past and future courses, the preliminary itinerary for the Summer 2000 trip, and information for application for future courses. In addition to providing an opportunity for past participants to reminisce about their trip, we hope that this website will inform interested persons about issues that face Israeli and Palestinian people today and inspire students who are eligible to travel in this program from the sixty-six Presbyterian colleges to apply in the future.
Travel Diary: The Legacy of Abraham
Summer 1999
Participants:
Faculty:
Dr. Duncan Ferguson, Associate Director for Colleges and Universities, Office of Higher
Education, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Rev. Gordon Mikoski, Doctoral Student, Emory University
Dr. Jeanne Matthews Sommer, Professor of Religion, Warren Wilson College
Students:
Kelly Anderson, Warren Wilson College, Asheville, NC
Jay Babcock, Eckerd College, Florida
Amy Cranson, Coe College, Iowa
Erin O'Daniel, Warren Wilson College, Asheville, NC
Michelle Merves, Eckerd College, Florida
Nicole Puhr, Westminster College, Missouri
Evangeline Simmons, Warren Wilson College, Asheville, NC
Website Created By: Morgan Davis
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