Schusterman Center for Israel Studies

Events and Conferences

A woman and man sit on a couch with a large TV camera trained on them.

Image courtesy of the Edut 710 project.

Events

The image of a man's face with red ink scrawled over it
Upcoming Events
Four dancers posing together on a wooden dance floor
Past Events
See a list of past events and access links to recordings of many of them, which you can view on our YouTube channel. Subscribe if you would like to be notified when new recordings are posted.
People gathered around an oval conference table, indoors
Seminars
Read about the evolution of the Schusterman Seminars.

Conferences

Abstract figures in shades of blue and green huddled together
Democracy and its Alternatives: The Origins of Israel's Current Crises

April 7, 2024

Sunday, April 7 - Monday, April 8, 2024

Since 2023, Israel has faced two of its biggest crises since its establishment 75 years earlier. The year began with the massive social upheaval over a proposed judicial reform that would alter the nature of Israeli democracy. Subsequently, the Hamas attacks on October 7th and the ensuing war in Gaza have had brutal consequences for Israelis and Palestinians, as well as global ramifications. “Democracy and its Alternatives: The Origins of Israel's Current Crises,” the annual conference of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University, offered a scholarly understanding of a country and a region in crisis, and places these pivotal events in their larger historical, regional, and political contexts.

This conference is the culmination of the inaugural cohort of a new fellowship program, the Schusterman Center’s Institute for Advanced Israel Studies (IAIS). The only program of its kind, each year the Institute convenes a cohort of scholars from around the world to work together on an important theme in the field of Israel studies. Our fellows will be forming the panels on the second day of the conference. This year the Institute was co-hosted by our partner, the Center for Jewish History in New York City, and we thank them for their generous participation. (Learn how you can apply for the 2024-25 fellowship, when our theme will be Digital Humanities in Israel Studies.)

LEARN MORE     


Image: Detail from Lisa Reinke's "Hymn to the Masses"

Highly-stylized digital collage and drawing of two heads in futuristic looking gear, in bold shades of green, purple, and yellow
Ethiopian Israelis and the Creation of Knowledge

April 24, 2023

The conference offered a fresh perspective on Ethiopian immigration to Israel. Instead of the traditional narrative that focused on the "rescue" of African Jews, it brought Ethiopian scholars, activists, and artists to the forefront. It shifted the focus to the malleable and contingent nature of this encounter, and the event explored not only the impact of Israel on Ethiopian Jews but also how these immigrants influenced Israeli society. 

Image: Rina Ingidau, from "Ethio Afrofuturism" series, 2020. Digital collage and drawing.

Stylized image of a Star of David with the title of the conference, Innovation in Israel: Economy and Society, and the wordmarks for the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies and the International Business School at Brandeis University
Innovation in Israel

April 1, 2019

The Asper Center for Global Entrepreneurship at Brandeis International Business School and the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies jointly presented an event where attendees learned from experts about the roots and future direction of Israel's innovation economy and its societal impact.