The Global Age of Ashkelon Academic College

A decade after Ashkelon Academic College (AAC) was declared an independent college, its leadership marked a new goal: to transform the college into a leading institution of international academic cooperation. After several months of preparation, the program initiated its first activities, as in November 2018, delegations from the Netherlands and Austria visited the college. A month later, the European Union ambassador to Israel honored the college by paying an official visit to the campus to discuss possibilities of cooperation with European institutes. Since the outset of the international program, numerous initiatives and activities have been planned and executed.  

The College’s international program approved and given a generous grant by the Council for Higher Education in August 2020, is composed of several components. First, the program has set as a goal internationalizing the students’ study experience through our “internationalization at home” module. This involves offering additional courses in English, which are joint courses with universities abroad as courses in cooperation with English speaking communities in Israel. As such, students will graduate with practical English usage skills relevant to their field of study. In addition, international contents will be embedded in course materials within the college’s study program.

Second, the program is implementing a module to provide both academic and administrative staff with the tools to advance various international activities and connections. This includes training for and implementation of international webinars, increasing international social media impact, increasing international research partnerships, and facilitating participation in international conferences.

Dr. Elie Friedman, Head of the International Office at the College, explains, “At Ashkelon Academic College, we view internationalization as part of our goal of closing the social gaps between the center and periphery of the State of Israel. We intend to provide our academic and administrative staff, and more importantly, our students, with essential tools to take leading roles in the global age of academia, industry, and communications, by developing a skill set of international tools from within.”