Going “Beyond the Binary”

During Winter Quarter 2016, the UW Stroum Center for Jewish Studies will host three scholars who represent new approaches in the growing field of Israel Studies.

The lecture series is entitled “Beyond the Binary: Israel Studies Today” to reflect the fact that these researchers are going beyond standard divisions in the field. Their work, ranging from disability studies to sociolinguistics and the history of medicine, offers alternative perspectives on the region’s history. All lectures are free and open to the public.

Prof. Liora Halperin of the University of Colorado-Boulder.

The series begins on January 25th with Prof. Liora Halperin of the University of Colorado-Boulder. Halperin’s talk is entitled “Beyond Hebrew: Zionism and the Politics of Language Diversity in Palestine and Israel.” Halperin is the author, most recently, of Babel in Zion (Yale University Press), a well-received study of Hebrew’s changing status during the pre-state period. Halperin’s book won the 2015 Shapiro Award for Best Book in Israel Studies published in 2014, a prize sponsored by the Association for Israel Studies. Jan. 25th, 6:30-8:00 pm in HUB 214. Click here to RSVP.

Prof. Sagit Mor teaches law at the University of Haifa, Israel.

The second lecture will feature Prof. Sagit Mor of the Faculty of Law at the University of Haifa, Israel. She is an Israel Institute Teaching Fellow at the UW during 2015-2016, affiliated with the Law, Society, and Justice Program (LSJ) and the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies. the co-founder of the IDSN, the Israeli Disability Studies Network. Mor’s lecture on “Disability Law and Society in Israel” is being cosponsored by the Middle East Center at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. Feb. 1, 12:30 pm in THO 317. Click here to RSVP.

Dr. Anat Mooreville is this year’s Hazel D. Cole Fellow in Jewish Studies.

Dr. Anat Mooreville, this year’s Hazel D. Cole Fellow in Jewish Studies at the Stroum Center, will present the third talk, entitled “‘Dr. Loewenstein, I Presume?’: Israeli Eye Aid to Africa, 1959-1973.” Dr. Mooreville, who received her Ph.D. from UCLA, will address how and why ophthalmology became Israel’s largest medical aid program, and in so doing address Israel’s claims to be a bridgehead between East and West. March 8, 12:00 pm in HUB 332. Click here to RSVP. 

Prof. Noam Pianko, director of the Stroum Center, said, “We are pleased to be able to showcase new insights about Israel and its broader contexts for the campus and the community. I hope people will come out to one or all of the lectures to find out more about these cutting-edge research directions in Israel Studies today.”