Announcements, Informational Sites, & Educational Events

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Below is a sample of an educational file that is a typical download on to Amazon Kindle Fire Tablets supplied as part of the orientation materials supplied to each participant on all of the International Travel Studies Institute programs.  The files are developed for each Field Study Trip, so that participants can study before, during, and after the program the many sites  visited.  These files include the historical and scriptural significance of each site, its archaeological development, physical and historical geography,  and numerous photos, diagrams, and maps of the regions visited.

All participants receive the Near Eastern Studies 100 course "  General Orientation  to the Peoples & Cultures of the Holy Land " lessons.    This course is intended to introduce the significant history, geography, religions and cultures of the Holy Land. The study begins in lesson 1 with the Latter-day Saint perspectives and relationships to the land, including the Church's history in the Holy Land from the 19th century to the present establishment of the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. After reviewing the vital sources and resources available in the Bible and associated dictionaries, commentaries and works of scholars on the Holy Land provided in lesson 2, the inquiry focuses in lesson 3 and lesson 4 on the physical and historical geography of the region. These first lessons are intended to give reality to the place and time of pivotal historical events and individuals identified with the land. Next, lessons 5 and 6 turn to the major religions centered in the Near East; Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, Baha'ism, and the Mowahhidoon (Druze). These are followed by lesson 7 which presents the fundamental background to the contemporary Arab-Israeli conflict. In this and the concluding lesson 8 participants examine the key issues, events and people connected with current affairs and controversies that have international implications for nearly every individual living anywhere in the world today. Lesson 8 is intended to be studied concurrently with all the other lessons and will provide participants with the opportunity to read a major work on the political and social feelings and aspirations of the various groups who make up the societies of the Holy Land and its neighbors. 

When possible, lectures are recorded in audio and/or video and are made available to participants.  A portion of an on-site lecture video is also located below. 

Information concerning travel arrangements and itineraries, cultural and practical travel suggestions on customs, living arrangements, packing recommendations, currency exchanges, electrical and communication concerns, airline and bus etiquette, emergency  and security requirements,  and much more is also supplied to each participant before departure.