Monday, March 19, 2012

Not Footnote, but ...

ANOTHER DRAMA INVOLVING THE ACADEMIC STUDY OF THE TALMUD, only this one is in real life:
New Bar-Ilan Talmud program was not approved, says Israeli higher education body

Council for Higher Education in Israel orders Bar-Ilan University to stop registering students for its graduate Talmud program.


By Talila Nesher (Haaretz)
Tags: Jewish World Israel education

The Council for Higher Education in Israel has ordered Bar-Ilan University to stop registering students for its graduate Talmud program, saying the university did not seek the necessary approval before opening the new program.

The university says the program, which was launched in its current format at the beginning of this academic year, is not actually new and is just being branded in a new way. But approval from the higher education council is still required for major changes, like shortening the Talmud curriculum so that students have class just one day a week for one year.

[...]

Bar-Ilan University's spokesman Haim Zisovitch told Haaretz: "Bar-Ilan University completely rejects the position of the Council for Higher Education. The only difference is that three classes are now available online. It's unfortunate that the council chose to ignore the university's detailed explanations. It is also strange that the council's letter was leaked to the press before the discussion in the council's plenum was completed."