Schusterman Center for Israel Studies

Promoting exemplary teaching and scholarship on the modern state of Israel

The Schusterman Center is unparalleled in the depth and breadth of its ambition and in the intellectual resources available to realize its goals.

Like the best Israel studies centers, the Schusterman Center is dedicated to advancing knowledge and understanding of Israeli history, politics, culture and society. But its mission goes far beyond scholarship itself. The center is committed to creating and disseminating knowledge about the modern state of Israel, not just at Brandeis, but to a global audience.

The center is shaping and safeguarding the future of Israel studies by training the next generation of scholars in the field. Through innovative research and teaching programs, lectures, conferences, grants, publications, films and art exhibitions, complemented by a unique online resource site, the center is nurturing a worldwide community of people who are knowledgeable about Israel.

SIIS 2019 concludes

A woman in flowing dress and summer hat stands pointing to artworks in a museum speaking to a group of people listening.

The 2019 Summer Institute for Israel Studies (SIIS) has come to an end. It has been three weeks of intensive immersion in Israel studies, covering a huge spectrum of disciplines, learning from the top experts and scholars in the field, and engaging directly with individuals on the ground who represent the diversity of Israel's ethnic, religious, political, and cultural makeup. Our 23 fellows leave the Institute with deep knowledge of a complex and nuanced subject, pedagogical tools to help translate that knowledge into their teaching, and an international network of Israel studies scholars. Now, the piece de resistance: each participant emerges with a syllabus they designed here at Brandeis for a course that they will teach at their home institution. So congratulations to our SIIS 2019 fellows! You have worked hard. We look forward to your contributions to the field of Israel studies, your institutions and your students - we know they will be immense.

Live on Al Jazeera "The Stream"

Shayna Weiss looking thoughtfully off-camera with a Brandeis University banner in the background.

Our associate director Shayna Weiss spoke about Eurovision and Israel live on Al Jazeera English's live The Stream, on May 16, 2019. The show focuses on gloabl stories, and they field questions via social media from an international audience. Missed the live stream? Watch the recording. Then, go deeper with Weiss's excellent article in the Jewish Review of Books, Pop Toys and Power Politics: Israel and the Eurovision Song Contest.

Innovation in Israel conference videos have arrived

Moderator Yehudah Mirky listens as panelist Shana Krakowski speaks.

Video recordings from the Innovation in Israel: Economy and Society conference are now available for viewing. The conference, presented by the Asper Center for Global Entrepreneurship at Brandeis International Business School and the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, featured experts in economy and technology, entrepreneurs, and scholars helping to contextualize and interrogate the topic. Watch select sessions or stream them all for stimulating content you will want to share with friends and colleagues.

Congratulations to Maham Ayaz!

Congratulations to Maham Ayaz! Schusterman doctoral fellow Maham Ayaz was one of seven graduate students selected for a 2019 University Prize Instructorship. Awarded by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), the grant enables recipients to design and teach their own courses for undergraduate students. Read more about the award and Maham's course.

Now trending

Young woman, Netta Barzilai, with pink-streaked hair in an elaborate bun, singing with a huge smile into a microphone with obvious enthusiasm and energy.

Jewish Review of Books editor Abe Socher has your recommended reading for the week, and it's an article by our very own associate director Shayna Weiss: "The semifinals of the Eurovision start today (May 14) in Tel-Aviv, and if you—like me—just thought of it as a kitschy European song contest that Israel occasionally, improbably won, then you really should read Shayna Weiss’s Pop Toys and Power Politics: Israel and the Eurovision Song Contest. Weiss celebrates the absurd fun of the event while making clear just how much is at stake for Israel on the international stage." Enjoy the article! (Pictured: Netta Barzilai. Photo courtesy of the Jewish Review of Books.)

Exciting news from alumnus Mostafa Hussein

Massive congratulations to Mostafa Hussein '17, a former Schusterman Doctoral Fellow who graduated with a PhD in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies in 2017. In fall 2019, Mostafa will start a new position as LSA (College of Literature, Science, and the Arts) Collegiate Fellow in the Judaic Studies Program at the University of Michigan! The purpose of this unique postdoctoral program is to "support exceptional scholars in all liberal arts fields who are committed to diversity in the academy and to prepare those scholars for possible tenure-track appointments in LSA at the University of Michigan." Mostafa has also just signed a book contract for his revised dissertation manuscript with Princeton University Press. The book, tentatively entitled “Islam and Jewish Culture in Palestine,” explores Hebrew/Jewish scholarship on matters Arab and Islamic in Palestine from the 1890s until just after the birth of the state of Israel. We are immensely proud of Mostafa and are confident that this book is but the first of many important contributions he will make to the field of Israel studies scholarship. Wa alf mabrûk!

Israel literacy for all

"Essential Israel," ed. Ilan Troen and Rachel Fish

An innovative and engaging volume of essays, "Essential Israel" is designed for American readers who want to be better-informed about Israel.