Israel StudiesScholarship & CoursesIsrael Studies at the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies promotes the academic study of the histories, cultures, and politics of the State of Israel, Zionism in its various forms and iterations, and the communities of British and Ottoman Palestine, in regional and comparative perspective.
Through engaging academic programming for campus and community audiences, Israel Studies lends critical insight into unfolding conversations, many with relevance far beyond Israel, about nationalism, liberalism, citizenship, globalization, technology, religion, ethnicity, migration, and the military.
Israel Studies engages and welcomes the participation of people from diverse personal backgrounds, academic disciplines, and political perspectives related to Israel/Palestine, encouraging connections between those who may not normally learn with or from one another.
Nearly one hundred years ago a group of American Jews hatched a plan to end the kibbutz. Today it looks like their plan might have worked
As kibbutzim (Jewish collective farms) began to form in British Palestine in the early 1900s, American Jewish businessmen worked hard to promote an alternate model of private homeownership — one that has largely won out today, writes graduate fellow Jake Beckert.
“It must start with us”: The grassroots struggle for peace amid violence in Israel-Palestine
Amid recurring violence, Israeli and Palestinian grassroots groups are bridging divides and engaging in "constructive resistance" against the status quo to work towards a more peaceful future, writes graduate fellow Kara Atkinson.
What is an ostracon? How the “scrap paper of the ancient world” offers glimpses of life in biblical times
Pieces of broken pottery ("ostraca") were commonly used to write letters, receipts, and notes in the ancient world, and these fragments show how biblical writings connect to real-world concerns of the time, writes graduate fellow Corinna Nichols.
About Israel Studies
A focus area in the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies, part of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, Israel Studies brings together distinguished faculty with expertise in modern Israel and offers students multiple disciplinary perspectives on the Israeli state, including history, sociology, law, environment, technology, science and culture.