The Samberg Family History Program
An Academic Summer Fellowship for High School Students
June 29 - July 24, 2009
Spaces fill up quickly! APPLY NOW!
About Us
The Samberg Family History Program will engage you in a multi-faceted exploration of Jewish history and your family's past. We draw upon all of the resources at the Center for Jewish History: our world-renowned collections of books, archival documents, photographs, artifacts, paintings, films, sound recordings, and textiles; our expert curators, archivists, and librarians; our technology offerings, knowledgeable historians, and caring educators. Based in the heart of New York City, we also take great advantage of our city's myriad important research institutions and historic sites.
Through the generosity of the Samberg Family Foundation, all students accepted into the Program receive full tuition fellowships and are recognized as Samberg High School Fellows. As a Fellow, you are both a student, learning a subject, and an apprentice, pursuing research into the Jewish past alongside the worldwide community of academics, genealogists, and others who come to use the collections housed at the Center for Jewish History.
The Samberg Family History Program is co-sponsored by the Center for Jewish History's Genealogy Institute and the American Jewish Historical Society and funded by the Samberg Family Foundation.
We invite you to contact us to learn more about the program and about how you can discover your own history.
Curriculum
Skills Workshops
Working with expert teachers, scholars, archivists, curators, and genealogists, you will learn the skills you need to mine evidence of the past to answer your own questions: reading official records, letters, personal mementos, photographs, and material objects, and conducting and using oral interviews. We also recognize, though, that teachers are not the only ones with knowledge; all of us in the Samberg Program are both learners and teachers. We encourage discussion, debate, and collaboration.
Off-Site Trips
We believe that history is not something that can be confined to the archives. The history of New York and the immigrant origins of the American Jewish community can be found and explored all around us. Off-site travel to some of New York City's key research institutions and important historic sites is an integral component of the Samberg curriculum. Last year's session included trips to Ellis Island, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, the Eldridge Street Synagogue and Museum, the International Center for Photography, and the Jewish Museum. We also provide an opportunity for the Samberg Fellows to explore the Lower East Side’s Jewish and cultural heritage through our exciting Lower East Side Scavenger Hunt!
Contact us to receive information about the summer 2009 program!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. When is it?
June 29 – July 24, 2009 (Monday-Friday)
2. Who can attend?
Students entering grade 9 through 12 and recent high school graduates are invited to apply.
3. What grades do I need to be accepted?
The Samberg Family History Program welcomes applicants from all backgrounds and levels of experience with Judaism and Jewish life. Anyone with an interest in genealogy, American Jewish history, and the Jewish experience is welcome to apply.
4. Do I have to be Jewish to apply?
The Samberg Program welcomes applicants from all backgrounds and levels of experience with Judaism and Jewish life. The program curriculum focuses on American Jewish history and research into the lives of Jewish ancestors. Anyone in high school with interest in those topics is encouraged to apply.
5. Do I need to know how to read Hebrew?
No. You are not required to know Hebrew, Ladino, Yiddish, German, or Russian (some of the many languages found in the Jewish historical record) to participate in the Program.
6. How large is the Samberg Program?
We will accept a maximum of 40 Samberg High School Fellows this summer.
7. Do I have to live in New York City to attend?
While most of the Samberg Fellows live in the Greater New York City Metropolitan area (including the five boroughs, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut), we always have some Fellows from across the country. Since the Samberg Program does not provide housing, we recommend that our out-of-town Fellows either stay with local friends or family or check the local universities for summer accommodations.
8. Will there be homework?
There will be no homework assigned as a part of the Samberg Program. However, as a part of the Fellowship, participating students are asked to commit both to working with both the collections of the Center for Jewish History as well as with the resources of the Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute towards the goal of completing a final project. This project will be the culmination of their Fellowship, a representation of their family history in whatever expressive form the Fellow chooses. They will work closely with Samberg staff and genealogy mentors to create goals for their research and communicate those goals and achievements through their final project. The Fellows will have an opportunity to share their work at a special Samberg Family History Program graduation ceremony held after the completion of the program.
9. Can I get school credit?
On an individual basis, we can coordinate with you and your teachers if you are interested in using the opportunity of the Samberg Program toward a senior project or independent study. Please let us know upon application if you are interested in arranging this.
The Samberg Program provides an intense experience in academic research. Regardless of whether or not you receive school credit, all Samberg High School Fellows receive a program certificate from the Center for Jewish History upon completion of the Program. All Samberg Fellows are eligible to receive college or other recommendations.
It may also be possible to arrange internships with the Center for Jewish History or one of the Center's partner organizations upon completion of the Samberg Program.
10. Is there a fee to participate?
A generous grant from the Samberg Family Foundation provides full fellowships for students accepted into the Program. Upon acceptance, a $100 registration fee is required. Need-based scholarships are available, upon application.
Applying to the Samberg Family History Program
Admissions to the Samberg Family History Program are rolling. We are currently accepting applications.
Step 1: Either fill out the online application, or download the PDF application form, print it, fill it out, sign it and mail it in to us.
Step 2: Ask a teacher to write a letter of recommendation for you and either include it with your completed application or ask him/her to mail it to us directly. Request that your high school send an official copy of your most recent transcript.
Step 3 (Optional): Download, print, and complete the PDF file of the scholarship form.
Contact Us
Contact us to receive information about the summer 2009 program!
The Center for Jewish History embodies the unique partnership of five major institutions of Jewish scholarship, history, and art: the American Jewish Historical Association, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. The Center comprises the largest repository documenting the Jewish experience outside of Israel.
The American Jewish Historical Society was founded in 1892 and is the oldest ethnic historical society in the United States. The AJHS was the first systematic collector of sources depicting the multi-faceted history of American Jewry. It is the preeminent resource for scholars, students, genealogists, curators, filmmakers, and publishers who want to document American Jewish life from the 1500s to the present.
The Samberg Family Foundation was founded in 1996 as a New York State trust. The Foundation aims to foster healthy and productive living for children and youth, families, and communities, and funds innovative and entrepreneurial approaches to Jewish identity, education, health, and housing and community development.
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