Associate Professor of Crop Science Tim Durham participated in the Jewish National Fund-USA Faculty Fellowship Program, a two-week academic exchange program exploring Israeli history, politics, culture, and economy, that took place in Israel from December 26, 2022 to January 8, 2023. Durham joined 32 other professors from the United States whose areas of expertise included agriculture, civil engineering, sociology, and ecotourism.
“The intent of the trip was to give professors a different view of how things really work in Israel, especially with the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians and some of their neighbors,” explained Durham, who applied for the fellowship after stumbling across it by chance online. “I was looking up generically international agriculture fellowships. I’d never been to the Middle East, but I’ve always been interested in its socio-economics and socio-political dynamics. This seemed like a great opportunity to experience that.”
Durham learned a lot from his Israeli counterparts about the current issues they are facing and about the culture and the history of the country. His favorite part of visiting Israel was going to Jerusalem because of the historic Judeo-Christian links in that region of the world. He also enjoyed going to the Sea of Galilee, the lowest freshwater lake on earth, and Capernaum, which was the adopted town of Jesus. He also visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum and admired the archeological context of his visit to the City of David.
While the trip was not agriculturally based, Durham had some agricultural experiences including a visit to a kibbutz, a communally-owned farm in southern Israel where bananas, olives, dates, cabbage, and lettuce are grown. “They made an oasis in the desert and have to be really intentional with their irrigation. They are innovators and conservationists out of necessity, and use innovative desalination techniques because 97% of their water is recycled,” he explained.
After his time in Israel, Durham plans to bring more international elements to his classes. “Ultimately, I would like to go overseas with a class and do a comparative agriculture type course, and demonstrate to them that one size does not fit all. The U.S. model does not necessarily apply in other countries,” he said.
In addition, Durham wants to bring international students to Ferrum College. While in Israel, he visited the Arava Institute, where students from around the world learn real world problem solving skills in pest management, disease management, irrigation, and fertility. “Students work out of kibbutzim, gaining real-world experiences to bring back to their respective countries. I’d like to do something similar here where we could host a cohort of international students and emulate the model that I saw there,” concluded Durham.
This fall, Durham will teach Plant Science, Field and Forage Crops, Soil Science, and Senior Seminar. He aspires to internationalize content and bring real-world examples into the classroom, especially similarities (perhaps not evident on the surface) between temperate zones (like Virginia) and desert zones like the Negev (geographic southern “wedge” of Israel).
