2004 Camp Research Symposium Papers

Papers from Camp Research Symposium, sponsored by the American Camp Association.  Academic research on camps and camping and the benefits of camping to children.
 2004 Camp Research Symposium Papers (Link)

American Camp Association

The site has valuable information including educational and professional development resources.

The American Camp Association (formerly known as the American Camping Association) is a community of camp professionals who, for nearly 100 years, have joined together to share our knowledge and experience and to ensure the quality of camp programs. Because of our diverse 7,000 plus membership and our exceptional programs, children and adults have the opportunity to learn powerful lessons in community, character-building, skill development, and healthy living — lessons that can be learned nowhere else.

B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO)

The B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO) is a youth led, worldwide organization which provides opportunities for Jewish youth to develop their leadership potential, a positive Jewish identity and commitment to their personal development. The youth participate in democratically functioning small groups under the guidance of adult advisors and professional staff.

Business world lures Jews from work at Jewish camps

An article discussing how camp directors are working creatively to compete with the business world to attract and keep staff.

CAJE (Greater Kansas City) Learning for Life

In the fall of 2000, the Coalition established Learning for Life: An Informal Educational Initiative to provide resources to strengthen and expand traditional youth director positions and informal educational programming. With the help of private donors, an allocation from the Jewish Federation and a yearly grant from the Jewish Community Foundation, Learning for Life provides significant funding for five years (2000-2005) to seven local congregations, the Jewish Community Center and the University of Kansas Hillel.

These resources also help ensure that informal Jewish education professionals are trained, knowledgeable and committed to working with adolescents and young adults. The initiative requires that grant recipients allocate a portion of funds to professional development.

Following Up on Intensive Jewish Experiences

Foundation for Jewish Camp

The Foundation for Jewish Camp is an organization whose constituency consists of over 130 non-profit Jewish overnight summer camps in North America. It is the only public organization dedicated solely to nonprofit Jewish overnight camps. Website includes links for research on Jewish camping, resource centers for Jewish camp directors and staff, and a resource library.

Habonim Dror

Founded in 1935, Habonim Dror (the Builders of Freedom) is a Progressive Labor Zionist Youth movement whose missions are: To build a personal bond and commitment between North American Jewish youth and the State of Israel and to create Jewish leaders who will actualize the principles of social justice, equality, peace and coexistence in Israel and North America. Habonim Dror runs 7 summer camps across Canada and the United States, an Israel summer program, and a yearlong Israel program based on the pillars of Zionism, Judaism, Socialism, Social Justice and Self Actualization.

Hashomer Hatzair

Camp Shomria is the camp of Hashomer Hatzair, a youth movement that is based on the principles of Progressive Zionism, Social Justice, Progressive Judaism and self-actualization and that is committed to peace and equality. Camp Shomria offers a unique experience in a kibbutz-style atmosphere that helps to build long-term friendships.

How Goodly Are Thy Tents: Summer Camps as Jewish Socializing Experiences

An entertaining ethnographic study of how Jewish summer camps foster Jewish sensibilities and education.

In the summer of 2000, social psychologists Amy L. Sales and Leonard Saxe spent several days at each of twenty Jewish summer camps located throughout the United States. They spoke to camp directors, counselors, and staff members, and they closely observed daily life, including Sabbath rituals. In addition to the ethnographic material gleaned from their participant-observation field study, the authors offer a national census of Jewish residential camps, organizational analyzes of camps, and social psychological surveys of the attitudes and motivations of the your adults who work at camps. Jewish camps are often divided into two classes, those that are considered "educational camps" and others that are presumably non-educational. However, the authors believe tha ...

Israel in Jewish Summer Camps (Israel in Our Lives)

A volume from the series Israel in Our Lives. The goal of these guides is to:

• help introduce the idea of Israel into the lives of your constituents in an interesting and accessible manner; and, to
• suggest ways to help promote the idea of a visit to Israel - the Israel Experience - as a critical Jewish experience for every young Jew.

Download here:
Israel in Jewish Summer Camps (202.72 kB)

JCC Association

Website of the JCC Association, the umbrella for the Jewish Community Center Movement, which consists of more than 350 JCCs, YM-YWHAs, and camp sites in North America. The JCC is involved in many aspects of Jewish life, including educational, cultural, social, Jewish identity-building, recreational programs, early childhood centers, summer camps, and the chaplaincy.

Jewish Summer Camps: A Social Psychological Analysis of Fun

A short article by the author of “How Goodly Are Thy Tents.”  Includes other references related to the theory of why camp “works.”

Limud by the Lake: Fulfilling the Educational Potential of Jewish Summer Camps

This study focuses on how camps educate Jewish children and how their potential to do so can be maximized. One of our goals was to map the landscape of Jewish residential camps and to understand the types of camp experiences available. A second goal was to understand how these camps, in addition to providing a full camp experience, also socialize young people as members of the Jewish community. Our surveys of staff and observations of camp life offer insight into how camps can powerfully affect the children, teens, and young adults who participate in them. In this report, we summarize findings from our research and, based on these data, offer seven recommendations for maximizing camp's influence on young Jews.

Publication Date2002

Resource Type

• Research Reports and Studies

Mapping Professional Development for Jewish Educators

This report from the Fisher-Bernstein Institute for Jewish Philanthropy and Leadership describes professional development efforts in Jewish education. It begins with a list of desirable and necessary features for effective professional development in education, then presents current professional development opportunities in Jewish education, describing them by sub-sector (i.e., camp, year-round informal education, Hillel, day school, congregational school, and Israel). In the final section, current offerings in the Jewish sector are viewed in light of the desiderata for professional development in order to find possibilities for future expansion and improvement.

National Ramah Commission

Camp Ramah is the camping arm of the Conservative movement of Judaism. All Ramah programs provide the participant with an enriching educational experience in Jewish learning and living. Ramah operates overnight and day camps in North America for elementary and secondary school-age students, special needs programs for teenagers and college students, and a variety of programs in Israel for secondary school-age students in tenth grade and above. Ramah is under the educational and religious auspices of the National Ramah Commission and the Jewish Theological Seminary.

North American Jewish Data Bank

The North American Jewish Data Bank is the central repository of social scientific studies of North American Jewry. The Data Bank’s primary functions are to (1) acquire, archive, and disseminate quantitative data sets and reports, both contemporary and historical and (2) encourage utilization of the archive through training and provide information about methods for studying Jewish communities. Our goal is to aid in understanding North American Jewish communities, and to improve the quality and utilization of research conducted about North American Jewry.

Not on Our Watch: A Jewish Informal Education Resource on the Genocide in Darfur

An experiential curriculum designed to help middle school students understand the genocide in Darfur. Created by the American World Jewish Service, and co-sponsored by the Foundation for Jewish Camping.

Robert and Elisa Spungen Bildner Fellowship

With the goal of training the next generation of Jewish camp leaders, the Robert and Elisa Spungen Bildner Fellowship at Brandeis University will enable one graduate student per year to pursue a dual MA/MBA degree in Jewish Professional Leadership at Brandeis's Heller School for Social Policy and Management and at Hornstein: The Jewish Professional Leadership Program @ Brandeis. Robert and Elisa Spungen Bildner Fellows take courses in leadership and management of Jewish camping and are advised by a Hornstein faculty member with camping expertise. In addition to their academic coursework, Fellows will attend professional development opportunities offered by the Foundation, complete camp internships, and dedicate themselves to working at a Jewish camp in a leadership role for three years following graduation.

Summer Camp (Residential Camping) Philosophy, Theory, Research, & Evaluation

Website provide definitions of residential camp and other camping terms, links to camp organizations, research in the field of camping and camp philosophy.