Doctoral Students

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Although the Schusterman Center is not a degree-granting institution, it supports GSAS doctoral students whose dissertation research focuses on Israel.

These Schusterman Scholars are part of the intellectual hub of students, faculty and visiting scholars that make up the Center. Bi-monthly seminars on Israel Studies enrich their academic coursework.

Click here for information on how to apply.

Scroll below for profiles of our current Schusterman Scholars.

 

Aviv Ben-Or, NEJSAviv Ben-Or

Aviv is broadly interested in Hebrew literature and the Jewish literary tradition and more specifically in regard to Arab-Jewish identity. His research will be looking at the Hebrew and Arabic works of Shimon Ballas and Sami Mikhael, both Baghdad-born Jewish authors who have lived in Israel since the 1950s. He will be spending the rest of 2013 in Israel conducting dissertation research.

 

zeynep civcik

Zeynep Civcik, NEJS

In 2003-2004 Zeynep conducted a research project at the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University and wrote a thesis about the changes and continuities of Israeli security policy. For her dissertation, she is nearing completion of a comparative study of the role of the military in the foreign policies of Turkey and Israel.

eric fleisch

Eric Fleisch, NEJS

Eric's dissertation "Israeli NGOs and Their Overseas Partners: The Real and Perceived Boundaries of Influence and Legitimacy" studies the historical development of relationship structures and dynamics between Israeli NGOs and American Jews who fund their work. It examines the formal organizational structures mediating the philanthropic relationships as well as the range of opinions regarding the ideal roles each should play in diasporic partnerships.

 

eva gurevich

Eva Gurevich, NEJS

Eva is pursuing her interest in the cultural history of conceptions of land, place and space in Israel-Palestine. She holds a BFA in Photography from the San Francisco Art Institute, and has worked in several Jewish museum and art institutions including The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at University of California, Berkeley. Eva speaks fluent Hebrew and Russian, and is currently gaining proficiency in Arabic.

 

mostafa hussein Mostafa Hussein, NEJS

Having received an MA degree from Al Azhar University in Cairo, in Islamic Studies in Israel, Mostafa intends to broaden the outlook on Islamic Scholarly works conducted by Israeli scholars and on their connection to the Western oriental studies carried out by Jewish researchers. Aside from his native Arabic language - colloquial Egyptian and Classical Arabic - he speaks Hebrew and German.

 

Susanna Klosko, NEJSSusanna Klosko

Susanna received her B.A. in History with a minor in Russian Studies from the College of William and Mary. In fall 2013 she is in Israel researching her dissertation, which examines mental health care among the Old Yishuv at the turn of the century. She compares Palestine's first mental hospital, Ezrath Nashim, to international welfare organizations for Palestine's Jews. In doing so, she examines how the language of poverty and debility used by such institutions inscribed the relationship between the healthy and the sick.

 

Laura Ligouri, AnthropologyLaura Ligouri

Laura's work examines the ways in which Israeli and Palestinian theatre influence the social fabric of the region as both forms of cultural production as well as grassroots methods of conflict management while simultaneously addressing trauma and the development of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) within participating populations.

 

ari moshkovskyAri Moshkovski, NEJS

A student of Israeli and Middle Eastern history and politics, Ari's research interests focus on the roles of security, religion and nationalism in Arab-Israeli relations. He holds a BA (Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and an MA from Queens College, CUNY. Ari co-founded the Queens College Center for Ethnic, Racial and Religious Understanding, funded by a US Department of Education grant.

 

Idan Rochell, HistoryIdan Rochell

Idan's MA research at the University of Haifa focused on the diplomatic history of the US-Israeli relationship with regard to water development. His doctoral research will examine the mutual geopolitical interests and common democratic tradition underlying the US-Israel relationship and both sides' decision-making.

 

Jason Olson, NEJSJason Olson

Jason is in his 4th year as a PhD candidate and conducting research on the question of Christian support for and opposition to the state of Israel. His dissertation will show how Christian solidarity with the State of Israel shifted from the liberal Protestants before 1967, to the conservative Protestants post-1967, and how the rise of both the Likud party and the Christian Right in American has transformed the US-Israeli relationship itself.

 

shay rabineauShay Rabineau, NEJS

Shay's doctoral studies are on the modern Middle East with a focus on Israel. He is a National Merit Scholar and award-winning writer, proficient in both Hebrew and Arabic. He is spending the 2011-12 academic year in Israel researching the Israel trail network.

 

Gangzheng She

Gangzheng She, NEJS

Gangzheng received his B.A in Hebrew Culture and Literature from Peking University. He used to work for China Development Research Foundation and the Organizing Committee of Guangzhou Award. His research interests focus on domestic politics and foreign policies of Israel during the Cold War, China's evolving engagement in the Middle East and in particular Sino-Israel relations.

 

karen spira

Karen Spira, NEJS

Karen's doctoral work focuses on the intersection of Holocaust history and the State of Israel. She is spending the academic year 2013-14 in Europe and Israel researching the reconstruction of Jewish family life in Israel among Czechoslovak Holocaust survivors. Proficient in Hebrew, she is pursuing Slovak during the summer of 2013 as a FLAS fellow through the U.S. Department of Education. 

 

Amber Taylor, NEJSAmber Taylor

Amber graduated Cum Laude from Brigham Young University in Spanish Translation, and completed her MA at Brandeis in 2012, with her thesis, “Ezra Taft Benson and the State of Israel: A Mormon American Leader's Support for the Jewish State.”  Her doctoral studies will continue to examine the history of American Christian relations with Israel.  In addition to Spanish, Amber knows modern Hebrew, and plans to master Biblical Hebrew for her research.

Click here for updates on Schusterman Scholars that have completed their doctoral degrees.