The Stroum Center for Jewish Studies is excited to announce the members of the 2016-17 Jewish Studies Graduate Fellowship. Representing several different departments and graduate programs, these fellows will attend a yearlong workshop series on Jewish Studies and Public Scholarship. This funding is made possible by the generosity of our community supporters. We would like to especially thank Bob and Pam Center for sponsoring a graduate fellowship for the first time.

Mazel tov to the 2016-17  Fellowship class! Be on the lookout for blog posts and public presentations by these outstanding students throughout the academic year.

Esra Bakkalbasioglu (Robert & Pamela Center Fellow)

Project: “How does the Bedouin Minority Perceive the State of Israel?”

Esra Bakkalbasioglu is a PhD candidate in Near and Middle Eastern Studies in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. She received her MA and BA degrees in Political Sciences and International Relations from Bogazici University, Turkey. She is writing her dissertation on the politics of infrastructure in the peripheral regions of Turkey and Israel. This will be Esra’s second year in the Graduate Fellowship.

Emily Gade (Samuel & Althea Stroum Fellow)

Project: “Effects of Violence on Civilian Support for Militancy”

Emily Gade is a PhD candidate in the Political Science Department at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on civilians in conflict zones, political violence and nonviolent resistance, and she is especially interested in the role of ZAKA recovery workers in Israel. Before coming to Seattle, she worked as a contract research and writer, most recently completing research for the LSE Center for the Study of Global Governance on peace agreements. Emily also enjoys athletic endeavors, having competed at the 2012 Olympic Trials (rowing) in the lightweight double sculls and placed second in that same event at the 2013 US National Team Trials.

Ozgur Ozkan (I. Mervin & Georgiana Gorasht Fellow)

Project: “Non-Muslim Military Service and Minority Experience in the Late Ottoman Empire”

Ozgur Ozkan is a PhD candidate in the Jackson’s School International Studies doctoral program. He holds a BS degree in Systems Engineering and an MA degree in Regional Security Studies from the US Naval Postgraduate School. Ozgur is planning to study Sephardic Jewish heritage in the Northern Aegean and Southern Marmara, especially in Canakkale and its vicinity. He is particularly interested in Sephardic Jewish participation in the Ottoman Gallipoli Front in the First World War and the immigration patterns of Sephardic Jews of this region.

Oded Oron (Rabbi Arthur A. Jacobovitz Fellow)

Project: Jewish Morality in Israeli Policy toward Migrants

Oded Oron was born and raised in Tel Aviv, and his research focuses on the political mobilization of labor migrants and undocumented workers in Israel and the USA. Oded already holds degrees in Political Science and Communications as well as in Politics and Government. Prior to his enrollment in the Jackson School’s International Studies doctoral program, Oded worked in the Israeli media and government communications, and also worked for Hillel at UCLA. This will be his second year in the Jewish Studies Graduate Fellowship.

Zachary Tavlin (Richard M. Willner Memorial Scholar)

Project: Jewish Philosophical Collectives through the Gate of Heaven: Herrera, Spinoza, and Borges

Zachary Tavlin is a PhD candidate in the Department of English. He received his BA in Philosophy from The George Washington University in 2011, and his MA in Philosophy from Louisiana State University in 2013. He is currently writing a dissertation on nineteenth-century American literature, the visual arts, and embodied phenomenology. He has published numerous articles and book chapters on topics including psychoanalysis, Victorian materialisms, eco-criticism, poetics, philosophy and American literature, and film theory.

Interested in joining the Jewish Studies Graduate Fellowship? Information about applying for the 2017-2018 Fellowship will be available during Winter Quarter 2017. Questions can be directed to Dr. Hannah Pressman, director of the fellowship.