Zvi Goldstein For the past two semesters, with the guidance of Professor Paul Glassman of Yeshiva University, I have been studying the design elements and strategies that can be used to form a cohesive leisure space in an urban location. In my first semester, I researched about how to go about giving the pedestrian a sense of place in a setting which is dominated by the automobile. I then took what I had had learned from my research and I applied it in my second semester to the creation of a redesigned YU campus, using a certain modeling software called Google SketchUp. My work has undoubtedly left me with a greater appreciation of all the elements that are employed in landscape architecture, especially in the small parks dispersed all over New York City which I have visited. I really came to appreciate Professor Glassman's experience and knowledge over the course of my fellowship with him, from our first meeting, when he helped me zero in on a topic for the year, until now, when I can finally take in the view of all the knowledge I've gained under his wing. I can truly say that while I learned a lot, I also had a ton of fun. Our shared interest in the subject matter, combined with the voluntary and freestyle nature of the Senior Fellowship program, made for a really exciting and productive year that I gained from tremendously. Yehuda Karol As one of this year's Senior Fellows, I was given the unique opportunity to study Medieval Jewish History under the guidance of Rabbi Dr. Haym Soloveitchik. The goal of my fellowship was for me to learn how to properly understand a particular halacha and to then trace its treatment through the period of theRishonim in their respective communities. The first half of the year I participated in a weekly class on the topic of mayim acharonim, the washing of the hands at the end of a meal, a mitzvah which is not practiced by most people today. We first focused on understanding the nature of mayim achronim by learning the relevant gemaras, and we then progressed to the Rishonim, first of France, then Germany, and finally Provence. At the moment, I am working on the second part of the class which is writing a research paper on the topic ofkiddush bimakom seudah and the various viewpoints on the subject. This inyancontains numerous halachic discussions such as what constitutes the changing of a location, the practice of reciting kiddush for widows, and why kiddush is recited Friday night in Shul. Through this fellowship I have learned from Professor Soloveitchik not just content and how to read a text in a certain way, but also how to approach a class and how to prepare for it properly. Professor Soloveitchik is well known for his insistence that students enter the classroom better prepared than they had ever imagined, and anything less than perfection on their part is not tolerated. I learned this the hard way, and over the course of the year I trained myself to work harder than I ever had, determined to make sure that I understood every word with complete and total comprehension. I quickly realized that there is a significant difference between spending four hours preparing for a class and spending five in preparation! This extraordinary experience has taught me much more than I ever could have imagined on both the topics of mayim acharonimand kiddush bimakom seudah, as well as the correct way to treat any subject or situation, and I am thankful to Professor Soloveitchik for spending so much time helping me, and to Dr. Berliner for instituting this fellowship program. Yehuda Tager This year I had the distinct privilege of participating in the senior fellow program here at MTA. I was able to do psychology research with Dr. Ariel Malka, a professor of psychology at Yeshiva University. Together, we researched the relationship between different personal characteristics and political attitudes. This is a topic that Dr. Malka has been working on for a long time and he has published several papers on the subject. I worked with him on his next paper, which will hopefully be published soon. Additionally, I conducted my own research into this area of study. Dr. Malka is presently examining the correlation between need for cognitive closure and political attitudes. His thesis is that people with high need for closure tend to be fiscal liberals but social conservatives. Together, we sifted through many relevant studies in order to create a meta-analysis of the topic which will be published. Additionally, he helped me conduct research into the psychology of extremists. We proposed that there are two fundamentally different types of extremism, ideological and violent extremism. I extend my sincerest thanks to Dr. Malka and to MTA for this valuable opportunity.