NEWS FROM THE JEWISH STUDIES PROGRAM AND THE CENTER FOR ISRAEL STUDIES
■
FALL 2014
ISRAEL AND WATER CONFERENCE In the Middle East, water scarcity is not just a problem; it is a way of life. Yet Israel, located in one of the driest regions in the world, is recognized not for its water scarcity, but for its creative and innovative approaches in addressing this challenge. These approaches—as well as their potential for facilitating peacemaking in the region—were the focus of the conference “Israel and Water: Scarcity, Innovation and
Clive Lipchin, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and Monther Hind, Palestinian Wastewater Engineers Group
Cooperation”, organized by AU’s Center for Israel Studies. Held at AU on March 4, 2014, the conference brought together academics, scientists, entrepreneurs, and policy-makers to learn and reflect upon diverse Israeli methods of water management and collaboration. Entrepreneurs like Asaf Barnea, founder of Kinrot Ventures, highlighted Israel’s success in desalination and waste water re-use. Keynote speaker, Alon Tal of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, heralded Israel’s innovations but addressed “the perils of viewing water technology as a panacea in resolving conflict in the Middle East”. “To facilitate peacemaking it is not enough to simply increase quantities of water in the region, even with the most sophisticated technologies. That part of it cannot be divorced from water governance and building relationships of trust and equity between conflicting parties,” said AU professor Eric Abitbol, a speaker at the conference.
I had feared that WATER would be a reason that peace could not come to the Middle East. At the conference I learned that to the contrary, water may be a major basis for cooperation among the countries in the area.” —Lee O, conference attendee The Jordanian water minister, His Excellency Dr. Hazim El-Naser, joined the conference via Skype to discuss the historic Red Sea Dead Sea Water Conveyance project agreement he signed in December 2013. The first ever regional project endorsed by Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians aims to create a pipeline between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea to address the drying of the Dead Sea and drastically bolster the area’s water supply. Because of the urgent need for water by all parties, says El-Naser, “It opens the gates for major regional cooperation.” cont’d on page 4
AU DEBUTS ROTHFELD COLLECTION OF CONTEMPORARY ISRAELI ART Last fall the American University Museum in the Katzen Arts Center and the Center for Israel Studies were thrilled to exhibit the Rothfeld Collection of Contemporary Israeli Art to the public for the first time. The collection, a gift of Donald Rothfeld of New York City, NY, in 2011, is dedicated to former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren,
Israeli pianist Alon Goldstein performs in the AU Museum Galleries
who attended the exhibition opening. It includes 165 pieces of contemporary, mixed media Israeli art and chronicles Israel’s history. The numerous prominent and emerging Israeli artists represented include Moshe Kupferman, one of the most prominent Israeli painters as well as a Holocaust survivor and a founder of the Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetaot; Elad Lassry, whose work was shown at MOMA; Siglat Landau; and Yael Bartana. “The Rothfeld Collection is stunning,” says museum director and curator Jack Rasmussen, “Don Rothfeld pursued artists who were technically sophisticated (whether with video, photography, sculpture, or paint) and had something to say about Israel and the world we live in. Viewers are deeply engaged from the moment they look beneath the beautiful surfaces and find reality looking back.”
Michael and Sally Oren and Donald Rothfeld at the Rothfeld Exhibition opening
Peter Starr, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences added, “We are honored to provide a home for this outstanding collection. What Don Rothfeld has assembled, with great passion and aesthetic acumen, is a testament to the vitality of contemporary Israeli art, and of the culture in which it thrives.” Yediaut | Fall 2014
1
FOCUS ON:
HISTORY, POLITICS & CULTURE
USA, GERMANY AND ISRAEL: TRANSATLANTIC TRIANGLE UNITED BY VALUES & CHALLENGES? In April CIS hosted the conference “USA, Germany and Israel: Transatlantic Triangle United by Values and Challenges?” The conference, co-sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, discussed the political, economic, and cultural relationships between these three countries. In panels on the rule of law, the economy, religion, and Israel’s relationship to the West, experts identified affinities and shared values, while simultaneously highlighting differences and challenges.
The panelists explored Israel’s relationship to the West. Each country learned different lessons from the twentieth century about militarism, nationalism, and religion. However, Israel, Germany, and the United States share three central elements: the rule of law, a market economy, and civilized, peaceful dispute about the role of religion. On the basis of these common values, the panelists concluded, these three countries will remain strong partners in the future.
THE FOUNDERS OF ISRAEL AND THEIR RELEVANCE TODAY Seymour and Lillian Abensohn Inaugural Lecture Series Capacity crowds turned out for The Center for Israel Studies Seymour and Lillian Abensohn Chair Inaugural Lecture Series: The Founders of Israel and Their Relevance Today. Three of the world’s leading scholars spoke about central figures who helped create the Jewish state and their legacy for the State of Israel today. The lectures were each introduced by the inaugural Abensohn Chair, Dr. Michael Brenner.
• Derek
Penslar, University of Toronto and Oxford University, discussed Theodor Herzl’s “Charisma and Leadership”.
• Anita Shapira, Tel Aviv University, Israel Democracy Institute, and the Itzhak Rabin Center, spoke on David Ben-Gurion in “Leadership and the Shaping of History”.
• Jehuda Reinharz, president of the ManEli Salzberger, University of Haifa and Dorit Beinisch, former president of Israeli Supreme Court
del Foundation and president emeritus, Brandeis University, spoke about Chaim Weizmann, “Statesman Without a State”.
SHLOMO BEN-AMI: GENEVA, THE ARAB REVOLUTIONS AND THE PROSPECTS OF AN ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE Former Israeli Foreign Minister and Tel Aviv University Professor Shlomo BenAmi gave a presentation on a range of Middle East foreign policy issues, including the Geneva interim agreement over Iran’s nuclear program, the impact of the Arab revolutions on the Middle East, and the current Israeli-Palestinian
Shlomo Ben-Ami
2
Yediaut | Fall 2014
peace negotiations. Ben-Ami participated with Prime Minister Barak in the Camp David Summit, after which he led the Israeli team in all phases of the negotiations with the Palestinians. His latest book is Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Arab-Israeli Tragedy.
Anita Shapira and Noah Nunez-Gross SIS’15
Derek Penslar
ARI SHAVIT’S MY PROMISED LAND
AU COMMEMORATES 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE RESCUE OF BULGARIA’S JEWS
A standing room only crowd filled the Abramson Family Recital Hall in the Katzen Arts Center to hear Israeli Journalist Ari Shavit discuss his book My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg and NBC’s David Gregory. In a private meeting afterwards, twenty Jewish student leaders asked Shavit questions about his presentation earlier in the day, and his views on some of the most pressing issues facing Israel and the Jewish people. Shavit also asked several questions of the students, seeking to “take the temperature” on campus and better understand the experience of Jewish students at AU. The program was co-sponsored by the Israel Institute.
AU’s Jewish Studies Program, Center for Israel Studies and the Embassy of Bulgaria presented a special screening of The Optimists: The Story of the Rescue of the Bulgarian Jews from the Holocaust, with Her Excellency Elena Poptodorova, Bulgarian Ambassador to the United States, and the film’s director, Jacky Comforty. The Optimists tells the dramatic story of Christians and Muslims from all walks of life who acted individually and together to foil the Nazis’ plans to send Bulgaria’s Jews to concentration camps. Ambassador Poptodorova notes that the film is “an illustration of a truly unique act of valor in the dark history of WWII, shrouded in secrecy during the Cold War era… While Hitler was imposing his Final Solution all over Europe, Bulgarians did what was deemed unthinkable under the circumstances of the time – they preserved the 50,000-strong Jewish population of ‘old’ Bulgaria, saving it from certain death.”
Jeffrey Goldberg, Ari Shavit and David Gregory
HEARTBEAT Heartbeat kicked off a world tour with an uplifting concert in November at American University in the School of International Service Building Atrium. The performance featured Jewish Israeli and Palestinian musicians aged 17-21 performing a unique hip-hop blend, interweaving Eastern and Western music styles to amplify their message of cooperation, equality, and respect. Heartbeat unites musicians, educators and students to build mutual understanding and transform conflict through the power of music. It was founded in 2007 with a Fulbright-mtvU Fellowship by SIS
Social Enterprise Masters student Aaron Shneyer. Heartbeat empowers Israeli and Palestinian musicians by creating oppor-
tunities for them to hear each other and work together to build trust between their communities. In addition to performing original music, Heartbeat members shared their experiences of growing up amidst the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and their creative effort to build a better future in the region. “We believe that the silent majority of Israelis and Palestinians desperately wants the same thing yet has almost no opportunity to be heard and we understand that music is an incredibly powerful tool to amplify the voices of the silent majority,” Shneyer said.
Yediaut | Fall 2014
3
NEWS FROM THE FACULTY Lynn Addington, School of Public Affairs (SPA) was named editor of the international journal Homicide Studies. Dan Arbell, Israel Studies scholar in residence, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) just published The U.S.-Turkey-Israel Triangle (Brookings). Boaz Atzili, School of International Service (SIS) was promoted to Associate Professor. His Good Fences Bad Neighbors: Border Fixity and International Conflict (University of Chicago Press) won the Edgar S. Furniss Book Award from Ohio State University’s Mershon Center for International Security. Richard Breitman and Allan J. Lichtman, Distinguished Professors in the Department of History, (CAS) won the National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Studies for FDR and the Jews (Belknap/ Harvard University Press. Michael Brenner, co-edited an issue of Journal for Modern Jewish Studies. He was elected to the American Academy for Jewish Research and was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Erran Carmel, Acting Dean, Kogod School of Business (KSB) took students in his undergraduate business course on Israeli management practices to Israel last March 2014 to study firsthand Israeli businesses. Carmel co-chaired the March 2014 Israel and Water conference at American University. Max Paul Friedman, Department of History (CAS), is a 2013-14 John Simon Guggen-
heim Fellow and 2014 American University Scholar/Teacher of the Year. Gershon Greenberg, Department of Philosophy and Religion, was visiting professor to the Department of Jewish Thought at Hebrew University in spring 2014. Gail Humphries Mardirosian, Emerita, Department of Performing Arts (CAS) directed students and alumni in staged readings of a new drama Signs of Life. Alan Kraut, Department of History (CAS), completed his year as President of the Organization of American Historians. He is also chair of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island History Committee. Lisa Leff, Department of History (CAS), has a new book, The Archive Thief (Oxford University Press) scheduled for publication from Oxford University Press in 2015. Saul Newman, Department of Government (SPA), published “Faith and Fear: Explaining Jewish and Unionist Attitudes Towards Compromise in Israel and Northern Ireland,” in Peace and Change. Pamela Nadell, Department of History (CAS) was elected vice-president for program for the Association for Jewish Studies. New publications include “’Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend’” in Chasing Dreams: Baseball and Becoming Americans. Naima Prevots, professor emerita, Department of Performing Arts (CAS), contributed an essay about her father, Reuben Wallen-
WATER cont’d from page 1
A special thanks to the partners in and outside of the AU community who helped make Israel and Water: Scarcity, Innovation, and Cooperation a success: AU partners: Center for Israel Studies (CAS), Kogod School of Business, AU Global Environmental Politics Program (SIS), Department of Environmental Science (CAS), William K. Reilly Fund at Center for Environmental Policy (SPA), Center for En-
vironmental Film-making (SOC), AU Office of Sustainability. Non-AU partners: American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies Additional Support was provided by the Embassy of Israel, Maryland/Israel Development Center and Richard * and Lois England (*deceased).
rod, and his immigration to Israel and then America to Summer Haven, The Catskills and the Holocaust. Maina Chawla Singh, scholar in residence, (SIS) spoke about her book Being Indian, Being Israeli in many U.S. cities as well as at the NIMOUD Conference in France. Myra Sklarew, professor emerita, Department of Literature (CAS) and former president, Yaddo Artists Community, is completing a book titled A Survivor Named Trauma: Holocaust and the Construction of Memory. Jeffrey K. Sosland, School of Advanced Professional Studies (SPEX), served as a panelist on “The Future of Water Cooperation in the Region” at the AU conference Israel and Water: Scarcity, Innovation and Cooperation. Russell Stone, Department of Sociology Emeritus (CAS), participated in the program planning committee for the 30th annual meeting of the Association for Israel Studies. Howard M. Wachtel, professor emeritus, Department of Economics (CAS) and Founding Director of the Center for Israel Studies, serves as a member of the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise’s Israel Scholar Development Fund Advisory Board. Thomas Zeitzoff, Department of Justice, Law and Society (SPA), published “Terrorism and Voting: The Effect of Exposure to Rockets on Voting in Israeli Elections.” in the American Political Science Review.
CAS DEAN’S AWARD Lillian Klein Abensohn, a scholar of Hebrew Bible, received the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Award at a dinner at AU President Neil Kerwin and Ann Kerwin’s home in recognition of her many contributions to the college. .
Michael Brenner, Lillian Abensohn, AU President Neil Kerwin, College of Arts and Sciences Dean Peter Starr
Keynote speaker Alon Tal, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
4
Yediaut | Fall 2014
RECORD NUMBER OF AU STUDENTS TRAVEL TO ISRAEL Four AU faculty from the School of International Service (SIS) and Kogod School of Business (KSB) accompanied their students to Israel on intensive academics experiences this year. These academic study trips were in addition to over six dozen students who studied for a semester at Israeli universities, went on birthright trips or travelled on their own this summer. Students were eager to speak about their experiences.
ENVIRONMENTAL PEACEBUILDING IN A CONFLICT ZONE SIS faculty members Eric Abitbol and Ken Conca traveled to Israel and the Palestinian West Bank from June 7-20 with seven SIS students to evaluate the environmental peacebuilding significance of cooperative household-level wastewater treatment systems. This was the second year of the SIS sponsored practicum, working with Israeli and Palestinian partner organizations, the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (AIES) and the Palestinian Wastewater Engineers Group (PWEG).
More than anything, I got context from my trip... without actually being able to go to Israel, I would have never been able to truly understand the environment. I was able to contextualize the differences and similarities between Arab and Jewish cultures; grapple with the discrimination, fear, and mistrust of communities in conflict; and begin to understand how people live in conflict environments.” —Matt Smither, MA/SIS International Peace and Conflict Resolution 2014
My biggest surprise was the contrast between the urban/young vibe of Tel Aviv and the tension of the conflict that can be felt in Jerusalem” —Kelsi Schegun, SIS MA’15
PROSPECTS FOR PEACE SIS Professor Guy Ziv, who teaches U.S./Israel Relations and Negotiating Israel/Palestinian Peace, led nine students to Israel this past summer to study the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as how security, environmental, and human rights issues converge to inform both domestic and foreign policy in Israel. The students described their study trip with SIS Professor Guy Ziv on “Prospects for Peace” as “a life changing experience”.
Guy Ziv and students
Reflecting on our time here, I can honestly say that my eyes have been opened. Though I have a much better understanding of Israel and the conflict with Palestine, I am no closer to having a solution. I think this trip has been one of the most enlightening experiences I have had.” —Ariel Ehmer SIS’15
INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES: ISRAEL
Matt Smither and Kristine Smith
Kelsi Schegun
KSB Dean Erran Carmel took 20 students from his class to Tel Aviv over spring break to experience Israeli entrepreneurship firsthand. The group spent time at a 3D printing firm, in the Weizmann Science Park, the Israeli stock exchange, and a major highend tire supplier owned by an AU alumnus’ family. They also visited with students of the Management College of Rishon; these students visited AU later in the year.
PHOEBE BRADFORD RECEIVES ISRAEL WRITING AWARD Congratulations to Phoebe Bradford SOC ‘14 who received CIS’s award for the best paper or poem related to Israel for her paper “Meduzot’s Magical Multiplicity”. Phoebe’s paper examined the use of alternative narrative devices in Shira Geffen and Etgar Keret’s 2007 Camera D’Or winner, Meduzot (“Jellyfish”). The paper explored the contemporary female experiences in Israel using the backdrop of Tel Aviv and was an essay for her class on Israeli film. Phoebe, who graduated cum laude with a degree in film & media arts, stated that film is the most accessible medium for storytelling, and that the “Israeli
Identifies in Film” class taught her to question assumptions and learn to ask the right questions. “Unraveling identity issues about a complex culture like Israel was so much easier through film,” she said. “The images in the class also made me want to join a birthright trip.” Phoebe is currently a videographer and photographer in Brooklyn, NY, and also holds the position of Creative Director for Boundary Stone Films, a D.C. based production-company. The award was created by Literature Professor Emerita Myra Sklarew in honor of Benjamin and Eva Wolpe Reinkel and in memory of Harry Rinkel.
Phoebe Bradford SOC’14, pictured with Laura Cutler and Myra Sklarew
Yediaut | Fall 2014
5
ADDITIONAL LECTURES & PROGRAMS Sponsored by the Center for Israel Studies and the Jewish Studies Program “Ancient Jewish Sects: Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes” Smithsonian Resident Associates Program Evening Seminar by Pamela Nadell. “Beyond Ol’ Man River: Edna Ferber’s Novels,” Eliza McGraw, Department of Literature. Dove’s Cry screening followed by screening of Album 61 as part of the Washington Jewish Film Festival. Talkback with Director Ganit Ilouz moderated by Dan Chyutin, Schusterman Visiting Israeli Film Professor. Co-sponsored by WJFF and CIS. “Environmental Issues Transcend Borders: Water, Energy and Gas in Israel and the Middle East”, Arie Nesher, Tel Aviv University. Co-sponsored by CIS and SPA Center for Environmental Policy. “Environmental Peacebuilding” panel discussion with Directors of Friends of the Earth Middle East Gidon Bromberg, Nader al-Khateeb, and Munqeth Mehyar Co-sponsored by Washington College of Law, SIS Global Environmental Politics Program and CIS. “Final Solutions in Yugoslavia: The Holocaust and Other Genocidal Murder, 19411942” Holocaust Studies Forum Lecture by Emil Kerenji, Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies. Co-sponsored by JSP, US Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Department of History. “From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible”, Eric Cline, George Washington University.
Gallery Talk with Israeli artist Tzibi Geva co-sponsored by CIS and AU Museum. “Negotiating for Peace in the Middle East: Egypt and Israel in 1978” William Quandt, University of Virginia. Co-sponsored by American University Negotiation Project and CIS.
“The Future of the Jews, How Global Forces are Impacting the Jewish People, Israel, and Its Relationship with the United States” Amos Perlmutter Memorial Lecture by Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat. Co-sponsored by School of Public Affairs and CIS.
“Tel Aviv After Dark”, Eyal Rob, Tel Aviv University. Co-sponsored by CIS and AU Students For Israel. “Tensions Within Israeli Identity” Israeli film screenings (Peeping Toms, Ballad of the Weeping Spring, My Father, My Lord and Jaffa) with talkbacks by Dan Chyutin, Schusterman Visiting Israeli Film Professor. “Text and Traditions: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Visions of Afterlife” Panel Discussion with Pamela Nadell, Martyn Oliver, and Reverend Mark Schaeffer. Co-sponsored by Philosophy and Religion Department, JSP, and the Office of United Methodist Chaplains. “The Judaic Turn in Israeli Cinema”, Dan Chyutin, Schusterman Visiting Israeli Film Professor. “The Last Great Nazi War Crimes Trial’: Demjanjuk in Munich” Holocaust Studies Forum Lecture by Lawrence Douglas, Amherst College and Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, USHMM. Co-sponsored by JSP, US Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Department of History.
Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat
“The Phoenix Effect of Repression: Jewish Armed Resistance during the Holocaust”, Dr. Evgeny Finkel, George Washington University. Tinghir Jerusalem: Echoes from the Mellah film screening and talkback with director Kamal Hachkar. Cosponsored by Department of World Languages and Cultures, JSP and CIS.
IN APPRECIATION
MAY 1, 2013-APRIL 30, 2014
Donors to CIS and JSP
$2500-$4,999 Martin K. Alloy Robert P. Kogod ’62, and Arlene R. Kogod Jean P. Soman
$10,000 and above Lillian Klein Abensohn Carol Berman and Gary C. Berman Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Debra Friedmann and Peter Friedmann Lynn C. Greenfield ’79, P and Stephen E. Greenfield P Karen R. Keats ’62 and Robert M. Keats ‘62 Knapp Family Foundation Inc. Galia D. Reiss P and Ori M. Reiss P $5,000-$9,999 Lois H. England P and Richard England Sr. P + Jeffrey M. Berman ’83 and Elizabeth A. Berman Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation Cora and John H. Davis Foundation Stuart L. Bindeman ’70 Marc N. Duber ’81 and Nancy E. Duber ‘82
KEY 6
$1,000-$2,499 Marilyn Wolfson Armel ‘63 Joy H. Baxt and Leonard J. Baxt Miriam Benbassat and Eliezer H. Benbassat Dottie Bennett Michele Berman and Allan Berman Ryna and Melvin Cohen Family Foundation Ryna G. Cohen Laura Katz Cutler AU Michael C. Gelman Susie Gelman Carol V. Graham P Sylvia Kay Greenberg Ruby J. Halperin and Herbert Halperin
AU Current or former faculty or staff · P AU parent · + Deceased
Yediaut | Fall 2014
Toni Harris Paul ’71 and Ronald A. Paul Margot Heckman + Kenneth R. Heyman ’72 and Miriam Heyman Deborah Greenspan and Jerald B. Greenspan Jack Chester Foundation Norman H. Lipoff P Ron Kaplan Amy E. Krupsky and Kenneth Krupsky Stuart H. Lessans Lynne Myers and Donald J. Myers Annette G. Moshman and Jack Moshman + Melanie F. Nussdorf P and Lawrence C. Nussdorf P Arnold Polinger Robert Russell Foundation Norman H. Lipoff P Levi Shemtov Margaret A. Silver ‘94 and Sidney J. Silver Russell A. Stone AU and Rala Stone Howard M. Wachtel AU and Marie A. Tyler-Mcgraw
Diane A. Wattenberg Shari Weisfisch and Ryan R. Weisfisch $500-999 Judith M. Alembik ’60 Anonymous Gabriela Bebchick and Leonard Bebchick David Blumenthal MBA ’69 and Barbara Blumenthal Ronald Brown ’77 and Lisa S. Brown Jacqueline Cohen and Edward S. Cohen Beth Dozoretz and Ronald I. Dozoretz Michael A. Freeling ‘89 Jonah Gitlitz ’55 and and Sallie Gitlitz Judith N. Herr MA ‘96 Louis and Ruth Herr Foundation Cynthia F. Lubin P and David B. Lorsch P Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and Victor Mizrahi Susan Porter and Stephen W. Porter Jack A. Serber Myra W. Sklarew AU Peter T. Starr AU and Alice C. Hill $100-499 Ruth D. Bartfeld MEd ’82 and Charles Bartfeld AU Susan J. Becker MA ’82 Marlene Beckman and Ken Speckler Ellen Belkin and David H. Belkin Beth Berk Dava A. Berkman Bryna Berman P and Fred Berman P Marcia F. Billig MFA ’84 and George Spectre Herbert I. Bloom Barbara Bloomfield and John Bloomfield James David Blum Nathan Bluzer Fani B. Brandenburg Bernice Breslau and Joel Breslau Florence Brodkey and Robert M. Brodkey Kenneth S. Brown Chenia Carmel and Yuval Carmel Amira Chadwick and Richard S. Chadwick Herbert Cohen JD ’68 P and Brenda Cohen P Lynn F. Cohen ’71 and Arthur M. Cohen ‘71 Lois K. Cohen Jessica Trisko Darden AU and Keith Darden AU Eleanor Eilenberg David L. Eisenberg P ‘17 Jack J. Exelbert ’57 and Trudy Exelbert J. Casey Faiman ‘92 Eve Farber and David J. Farber Judith H. Friedman, MS ’72, JD ‘77 Craig I. Gardy ‘91 Janet Getz and Sidney Getz Barbara J. Goldberg MFA ’85 AU Stanley R. Goldberg ‘63 Louis W. Goodman AU and Nancy R. Goodman Samuel and Grace Gorlitz Foundation Gail W. Gorlitzz and Cris Smith Gayle Gross de Nunez P and Ramon Nunez-Hernandez P Martha W. Gross and Robert L. Tracy Brenda Gruss and Daniel Hirsch Jack Hahn Margaret Hahn and Stephen Stern Alan B. Hausman Andrea R. Herman ’92 and Moshe Herman Linda Herman and Jerry Herman Kay Klass and Mark Levitt Jill A. Klein MBA’91 AU and Frederick L. Klein Julia L. Kogut ’93 and Boris Kogut Joshua R. Kolchins ’94 MA ‘02 Jodi M Krame and Evan J. Krame Lillian Kremer
Stuart S. Kurlander and David Martin Amy M Lampert ‘94 Luis Landau Joel L. Leibowitz ’62 Elihu Leifer Dina B. Levine Marvin R. Loewy ’58, JD ’60 and Toby G. Loewy Dalya Luttwak and Edward Luttwak Rona Mendelsohn and Allan Mendelsohn Irene Mendelson and Sander Mendelson Andrea Meyerhoff and Jacob G. Thiessen Judith Millman Rosen ’86 P Sidney I. Moskowitz ‘73 and Linda Moskowitz Pamela S. Nadell AU P and Edward Farber P Andrew S. Neft ‘86 Glenna D. Osnos and David M. Osnos Leslie L. Palmieri AU and Peter E. Palmieri Sandi Paul and Stanley Kogan Karen Pierce P and Carey Weiss P Norman Plotnick ’55 and Yetta G. Plotnick Sandra Pollen and Richard Pollen Sharon Rennert Wendy S. Rudolph Jeffrey S. Rum ’01 and Jessica Rum Stephen M. Shapiro ’69 and Susana F. Shapiro Leslie Shedlin and David Raim Stuart J. Sigel ’73 and Bonnie Sigel Myra Silberstein JD ’86 Stuart Sloame and Ellen Seeherman Richard P. Solloway Jeffrey Sosland AU and Mindy Sosland Carol L. Starley and Steven Starley Lillian Starr and Neil Starr Gil Steinlauf Jeremy S. Stock ’75 P and Merril Stock P Janet G. Stotsky AU Laura E. Udis Robin Weinberg and Matthew Weinberg Stanley J. Weiss AU and Joan Weiss Esther Wilner ‘98 Frandee R. Woolf ‘77 and Steven M. Woolf JD ’78 Olga Zabluoff and Sidney J. Zabludoff Under $100 Susan Arbuck Susan H. Barocas Jason Benkendorf ‘04 Renee Marlin-Bennett AU P and Charles Bennett P Israel B. Benzvi MSTM ‘76 Susan Bikoff and Russell Bikoff Joan E. Birnbaum ’71 MSTR ’76 MA ’77 and Philip Birnbaum Rayah Blumenthal and Robert P. Blumenthal SallyAnn Carr James F. Connors AU and Marlene Connors Belle Davis and Martin A. Davis Myra Deutsch and Stewart Deutsch Norma J. Fenves June Freeman and Ernest Freeman Elayne B. Flax Helen Goren and Isidore B. Goren Ada Green ‘74 Rachel Greenberg Shelly Guggenheim and Joseph Guggenheim Ellen G. Haber Mark W. Hart ’83 Toby R. Hyman Avital N. Ingber ’03 Lauren B. Kart ’98, MAT ‘00 Aviva Kempner Sandra Kloner and J.R. Franzen Alan Levine AU and Lynn Addington AU
Roseanne B. Lieber, ’71, MA ’73 and Gary L. Lieber ’71, JD ‘74 David J. Manchester ‘06 Warren A. Manison Elaine Mann + and Daniel Mann + Arlene F. Markowicz ’71 Naomi McNally Shereen L. Mendelowitz and Allan Mendelowitz Albert Nekimken Carol A. Oshinsky David Paulson Toba Penny Judy Ramoy Johnstone ’68 and William Johnstone ‘69 Sandra Robin and Gerald Robin June A. Rogul Joanne S. Rosendorf JD ’69 and Charles Rosendorf Irving Rosenthal PhD ’65 AU and Suzanne Rosenthal Jerry Rosenthal ’53 and Micheline Rosenthal Jane Rosov Craig D. Sager Alan Schlaifer Roberta Schneidman Susan M. Silverman ’99 MA ’00 Bruce H. Sklarew Gadi Soued ‘96 Judith D. Spector ’68 AU Cary S. Tepper JD ’85 Norma S. Tucker EdD ‘84 Norman Turkish Lisa D. Weiss P and Bernard M. Weiss P Ina W. Young Med ’75 and Joseph Young Special Thanks to our Community Co-sponsors and Partners America-Israel Cultural Foundation American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev American Friends of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies Embassy of Bulgaria Embassy of Israel Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Habonim Investment Club Israel Institute Konrad Adenauer Foundation Maryland-Israel Development Center Mcgraw-Hill Companies PNC Foundation Razoo Foundation United Jewish Endowment Fund
THANKS TO OUR GENEROUS DONORS, THESE STUDENTS RECEIVED JEWISH STUDIES SCHOLARSHIPS: Judaic Arts and Studies Scholarship Claire Bailey Eliza Burbank Lucas Chapman Estelle Seldowitz Endowed Scholarship Fund Martha Cramer Hannah Ehlers Aggie Grossman Benjamin Hirsh Ariel Mond Yediaut | Fall 2014
7
American University 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20016-8012
FROM THE DIRECTORS
CENTER FOR ISRAEL STUDIES
Left to Right: Pamela Nadell, Director, Jewish Studies; Michael Brenner, Director, Center for Israel Studies; Laura Cutler, Managing Director, Center for Israel Studies
This was an exciting year for the Jewish Studies Program and Center for Israel Studies. The Center celebrated its 15th anniversary year with a whole range of public events exploring Israel in all its complexity. Our explorations continued this fall, highlighted by an October 28 talk by scholar and philosopher Moshe Halbertal capping our conference, “How Jewish is the Jewish State? Religion and Society in Israel”.
To the Gates of Jerusalem is based on the diaries of James G. McDonald, first U.S. ambassador to Israel. Ziv’s book asks Why Hawks Become Doves: Shimon Peres and Foreign Policy Change in Israel. Our scholarship and work in the classroom is augmented by regular public programs open to the community exploring Jewish civilizations and the Jewish experience in its historical and contemporary contexts.
Upcoming books by our faculty exemplify cutting edge scholarship. In the spring semester Richard Breitman and Guy Ziv will speak about their new books. Breitman’s
Our accomplishments rest on your continued generous support. Please consider gifts to CIS and JSP to sustain these vital efforts.
WE COUNT ON DONOR SUPPORT TO ENSURE THE VIBRANCY OF OUR PROGRAMS. To contribute to our programs please contact:
CENTER FOR ISRAEL STUDIES
American University’s Center for Israel Studies is one of the nation’s premier centers for educating about today’s Israel—its achievements and its challenges. Our approach is multidisciplinary, going beyond the Arab-Israeli conflict to study modern Israel’s history, vibrant society, culture, multiethnic democracy, and complex geopolitical issues. The center’s goal is to enhance scholarship and knowledge in the university and the wider community about a multifaceted Israel. Using AU’s expertise in global education, and its central location in Washington, D.C., CIS seeks to connect Israel to the next generation of young leaders and to serve as a national and international hub for nurturing and catalyzing Israel studies.
JEWISH STUDIES PROGRAM American University’s commitment to the Jewish Studies Program dates back to the early 1970s. Since then, AU’s Jewish Studies Program has included a major and a minor and offered courses across the curriculum, including in our General Education Program, for all AU students. The program takes great pride in being the first in the nation to offer a minor in Israel studies.
202-885-3780 | cutler@american.edu | www.american.edu/cas/israelstudies
JEWISH STUDIES PROGRAM 202-885-2425 | pnadell@american.edu | www.american.edu/cas/js An equal opportunity, affirmative action university. UP12-181