The Jewish Studies program is offering a new major in the history and culture of Judaism and Jews from biblical antiquity through the contemporary era. As an interdisciplinary major, students are introduced to methodologies of historical inquiry, anthropology, comparative literature, criminology, language, archaeology and classics and ancient Mediterranean studies. The major includes abroad opportunities, ranging from a semester in Europe or Israel, to summer abroad courses on the archaeology of ancient Israel, the Israeli criminal justice system, and the Holocaust in Europe.
For more information, check the Web at http://www3.la.psu.edu/jst/welcome.htm.
The School of Music is offering a new, Internet-based course in the Spring 2000 semester. "Introduction to Music Technology in Education" introduces students to technological methods of teaching music.
The one-credit course will cover topics such as recording, digital audio and technology in the classroom. The class also will include a teleconference in conjunction with the University of Oslo, Norway.
Penn State Altoona students now have the opportunity to promote the health and well-being of their peers. Peer educators promoting Campus Responsibility, Education and Wellness (CREW) is a new student group based out of the Health and Wellness Center.
The CREW members must take a three-credit course offered during the fall semester, which focuses on peer educator skills such as listening, and group facilitation as well as health and wellness issues facing college students.
Students will get academic credits and real-world experience at the 2000 Olympic Games, thanks to the University's new Sydney2000 program.
Sponsored by the Office of International Programs and the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management in the College of Health and Human Development in partnership with the University of New South Wales, this intensive program gives students the chance to earn 12 academic credits and participate in an internship in the Olympic Village in Australia.
For information, call Thomas Wortman at (814) 865-7681, or visit the Sydney2000 Web site at http://www.international.psu.edu/ieps/sydney.html.
More than 200 children from low-income families in the Alle-Kiski Valley will participate in a recreational and educational summer program every year for the foreseeable future thanks to an annual grant received recently by Penn State New Kensington.
The University will receive $45,000 this year and $50,500 annually beginning next year, when the program expands to include 250 children, ages 10 through 16, each summer.
The grant award for the National Youth Sports Camp comes from the National Youth Sports Program, an Indianapolis-based charitable organization. Penn State New Kensington will provide matching funds of $45,204.
For more information, call (724) 334-6010.