Shenkar’s academic vision advocates for the value of interdisciplinarity – a combination of the core fields of study: engineering, design, and art. In our curriculum, the emphasis is placed on activities that combine the various departments and disciplines. The one that stands out among those is the event taking place in the second year of studies – the JamWeek.
JamWeek is a four-day academic course engaging students and lecturers across all departments. The course is based on cross-disciplinary workshops and sessions, unified under a central theme of the JamWeek picked every year. Among the topics previously explored are accessibility and equality, cinema, the culture of making, redesigning urban environment, and others, grounded on recognizing the power of students to serve as agents of social change.
JamWeek began as an experimental project in 2012, initiated by the former president of Shenkar, Prof. Yuli Tamir, and has been held continuously for the past eight years, gradually evolving to become a multidisciplinary learning model. “Today, more than ever, we find the academic world, in Israel and around the world, committed to social, community and human action. We believe that education in design, engineering and art is based on education to do for the other and not just for ourselves” – said Prof. Yuli Tamir when launching the program.
JamWeek is an integral part of the curriculum at every department of Shenkar and is credited with 2 academic points.
The event takes place as part of the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation’s art programs, which work on influencing and promoting social involvement through art, fostering excellence in art, and continuing a long-standing family tradition of art patronage.
Eli Buch, Director of Philanthropy at the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation: “The Edmond de Rothschild Foundation sees JamWeek as an example of advancing interdisciplinary and innovative thinking and tackling social challenges through the fields of art and design.”