The Polis Institute

Polis – The Jerusalem Institute of Languages and Humanities is a non-profit academic institution based in Jerusalem, Israel founded in 2011[1] which focuses on the humanities through the study of Western and Eastern cultural sources.[2][3][4]

Polis – The Jerusalem Institute of Languages and Humanities
פוליס – המכון ללשונות ולמדעי הרוח בירושלים (Hebrew)
Other name
پولــِس- معهد اللغات والعلوم الإنسانية – القدس (Arabic)
TypeLanguage teaching institution focusing on ancient languages
Established9 May 2011
DeanChristophe Rico
Academic staff
20
Administrative staff
10
Students500
Address
8 HaAyin Het St.
,
Musrara
,
Israel

31°46'59.2"N, 35°13'35.6"E
CampusUrban
LanguageAll students are required to be fluent in English. Language courses are given in the target language.
Symbolπ (Greek letter pi)
ColorsMaroon and white
Websitehttps://www.polisjerusalem.org/

The institute is located in Musrara, near the Old City of Jerusalem. Students come from more than thirty countries from six continents.[5]

History
Street-view placard of Polis bearing the official name of the Institute in English, Hebrew, and Arabic

Polis and its faculty have organized intensive language courses and as well as shorter seminars and talks in Italy,[6] Peru,[7] Argentina,[8] the United States,[9][10] Spain,[11] Morocco,[7] Finland,[12] Sweden,[13] and the Philippines.[14]

The Polis Method

Theoretical Principles

The 'Polis Method' encompasses a variety of approaches and techniques for teaching modern languages applied to ancient languages.[15] These strategies are unified under two major tenets:

Dynamic language development

Polis believes that grammatical structures must be learned according to their natural order of acquisition. It thus recognizes not only the student's continuous progression in language acquisition based on the four basic language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, but also the modes of discourse or literary genres – dialogue › narration › argumentation › poetry – involved in this progressive language acquisition.

Taking these principles into account, Polis puts together and adapts a wide range of approaches and teaching techniques that have been developed since the 70s in the States and Canada.[16]

Practical Techniques
Classroom in Polis

Living Sequential Expression (LSE)

In the Polis LSE approach, students are presented with a series of sentences that express "sequences of logically connected actions" and they eventually understand the meaning of the sentences "by performing and then reporting on" the actions referred to.[17]

Other activities and techniques

Activities that require the use of language as one of its chief components can help a great deal in creating a more natural immersive experience. With this principle in mind, Polis encourages students to attend extra-class activities such as the full immersion lunches, where students and teachers dine together while speaking exclusively in the target language.[18]

Academic programs

Master of Arts in Ancient Philology

The Ancient Philology MA is dedicated to the study of both Ancient Greek and Biblical Hebrew. The MA degree in Ancient Philology is granted by either the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome or the International University of Catalonia in Barcelona.[19][20]

Master of Arts in Near Eastern Languages

The MA degree in Near Eastern Languages is granted by the University of Navarra in Pamplona.[21][20]

Certificate programs
Students of Historical Geography in the underground network of the Herodian fortress developed by the Jewish rebels during the Revolt of Bar Kochba (130–135 AD).

Certificates in language fluency

Polis offers MA-level certificate programs in language fluency in Ancient Greek and Arabic.[20]

Summer programs and international programs

In the summer, Polis offers several intensive language courses, both in Jerusalem and abroad. Courses in Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Latin, Modern Standard Arabic and Methods in Teaching Ancient Languages have been held in Rome, Italy and the US[20] Venues have included the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome,[22] Christendom College in Virginia,[23] Wisconsin, Ave Maria University in Florida,[24] Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts,[25] and the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.[26] In the Polis Institute itself, during the summer, in addition to the language courses already mentioned, Classical Syriac and Spoken Arabic are likewise taught.[20]

Language courses

In the regular school year (October – February) Polis teaches ancient and modern language courses. Ancient languages include Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Latin, Classical Syriac, and Bohairic Coptic. Modern languages include Modern Hebrew (Ulpan), Spoken Arabic, and Modern Standard Arabic. In the past Sumerian was also taught.[27][28]

See also

References
  1. "A new Renaissance of Latin". Polis. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  2. Katarzyna Ochman, "Zmierzch cywilizacji łacińskiej czy początek szóstego renesansu?"
  3. Chistophe Rico, Forum: Speaking Latin as Living Language, pages 10–15, Polis Institute Press, 2017
  4. Die Tagespost, Die Quellen des Abendlandes freilegen, 16 June 2012
  5. "Polis Community". Polis. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  6. "Master & Summer courses | Pontificia Università della Santa Croce". en.pusc.it. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  7. Jeltzz (11 August 2014). "Compliant Subversity: Interviews with Communicative Greek Teachers (3): Christophe Rico". Compliant Subversity. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  8. Rico, Christophe; Casa, Romina Della. ""Language, Writing and Alphabet: an Interview with Christophe Rico"". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. Hebrew and Latin Intensive Course Archived 2 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Rogelio Toledo-Martin, περὶ τῆς γλώττης τῶν τελείων ψυχῶν τοῦ σώματος ἠλευθερωμένων – LLiNYC 2019 – YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  11. "News". UIC Barcelona. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  12. "Blog". Reason and Religious Recognition. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  13. "The Polis Method: Speaking Ancient Greek as a Living Language – Romanska och klassiska institutionen". www.su.se. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  14. "CRC Research Catalog SY 2013–14 Version 7 Sept 5 2014 | Manila | Philippines". Scribd. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  15. Rico, Christophe. "The Polis Method". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  16. Nauka jezyka starogreckiego w sposob czynny – metoda POLIS (Michal Kabat), pages 134–136, Nowy Filomata XIX 2015(1)
  17. "The Polis Method "Polis". Polis. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  18. "Ancient Greek". Polis. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  19. "MA in Ancient Philology". Polis. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  20. Polis Institute (2020). "Polis – the Jerusalem Institute of Languages and Humanities Academic Programs 2020/21" (PDF).
  21. "MA in Near Eastern Languages". Polis. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  22. "Master & Summer courses | Pontificia Università della Santa Croce". en.pusc.it. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  23. "Christendom College". Summer Classics. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  24. Vidani, Peter. "Classics at AMU". Classics at AMU. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  25. "Polis, The Jerusalem Institute of Languages and Humanities". Summer Classics. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  26. "University of Kentucky". Summer Classics. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  27. "The Sumerian Verb: A Workshop for the Non-Sumerian Speaker". Polis. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  28. Steinberg, Jessica. "Spelling out Harry Potter in Arabic, Greek and Hebrew". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
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