October 28-29: “Reinventing Israel” conference at American University

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“Reinventing Israel: Transformations of Israeli Society in the 21st Century”

American University,
Washington, DC
October 28-29, 2015

Travel Subsidies for Junior Faculty Available

RSVP FOR SESSIONS:

Scholars are invited to attend “Reinventing Israel: Transformations of Israeli Society in the 21st Century,” an international academic conference on October 28-29, 2015 at American University in Washington, DC. The conference is sponsored by American University’s Center for Israel Studies and Jewish Studies Program. A limited number of travel subsidies are available for junior faculty and advanced graduate students. Applications for travel subsidies are due September 25, 2015. Notifications will be made on a rolling basis by October 1, 2015.

Conference Chairs:

Michael Brenner, Seymour and Lillian Abensohn Chair in Israel Studies, American University and Chair of Jewish History and Culture, Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich
Pamela Nadell, Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women’s and Gender Studies, American University

Conference Summary:
The 1967 Six-Day War, with its resulting control of significant new territory, compelled profound changes in Israel’s self-definition. Demographically, Israel’s society has become more religious. Politically, it has gradually moved to the right. The transformation of Israeli society has been ongoing ever since.

This conference will examine the more recent aspects of the transformation of Israeli society in the 21st century, including the birth of the start-up nation and the growing economic inequality, changes in Holocaust memory and in Israel-diaspora relations. Scholars from the United States and Israel will present new insights in the fields of politics, law, economy, art, and literature. They turn our attention to the immigrants from unexpected destinations like Nigeria and Burma, who claim to derive from “the lost tribes,” as well as to the growing Israeli diaspora in America and Europe, and to the changing self-definition of Israeli Arabs who regard themselves increasingly as Palestinians. A concluding panel addresses the question of how Israel will look twenty years from now.

Link to application, with program:

Questions: American University Center for Israel Studies, israelstudies@american.edu, 202-885-3780