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Since 1968, the Yiddish Summer Program, cosponsored by Columbia University and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, has attracted students from all over the world to participate in a special cultural immersion program. The program, which currently lasts six weeks (with an optional two week pre-session review), includes an intensive for-credit language course five mornings a week. In the afternoons, students attend a rich array of workshops and performances led by various academic experts and leading Yiddish cultural figures. The outstanding visiting faculty in recent years has included Avrom Nowersztern (Hebrew University), Mordkhe Schaechter (Columbia University), Ellen Kellman (Columbia University), Pesach Fishman (Jewish Theological Seminary), Sheva Zucker (Duke University), and David Braun (Harvard University).
Summer Program students may choose to live in Yidish-hoyz, a communal arrangement on the Columbia campus, which provides an increased opportunity to speak Yiddish outside of the classroom, and excursions and social events related to the program take place on some evenings and weekends.