“Zionism in the Twenty-First Century”
Brandeis University, February 2013
Israel Studies and Jewish Studies in America
February 17-18 (President’s Day Weekend)
Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Announcing an upcoming conference, "Zionism in the Twenty-First Century:
Contemporary Perspectives from and about Israel"
An academic conference on Sunday, February 17 and Monday, February 18, 2013
at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.
The conference is sponsored by the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies.
For more information please contact scis@brandeis.edu or call 781736-2154
Conference Chairs:
S. Ilan Troen, Stoll Family Chair in Israel Studies and Director, Schusterman Center, Brandeis University
Donna Robinson Divine, Morningstar Family Professor in Jewish Studies and
Professor of Government, Smith College
Conference Overview:
The conference will explore what Zionism has meant and might continue
to mean for the development of Israel’s highly sophisticated
and multicultural society. Academics have done a great deal to understand
Zionist ideas and policies in their early historical context. We have paid
less attention, however, to how Zionism has continued to influence Israel
through more recent years of military dangers, economic upheaval, and
social and cultural transformations. Less still have we explored the
potential role of Zionism in the future of Israel. The leading scholars in
the field will discuss their views regarding the continuing relevance and
role of Zionism.
Conference Speakers:
*Keynote Address: Anita Shapira* *– *(Tel-Aviv University, Ruben Merenfeld
Professor of the Study of Zionism and head of the Weizmann Institute for
the Study of Zionism)
*Zionist Theory*
*Allan Arkush- *(SUNY, Binghamton) “Cultural Zionism Today and Tomorrow”
*Rachel Fish- *(Brandeis University) “Visions for the Construction of the
State of Israel”
*Chair and Commentator: Eugene Sheppard *(Brandeis University)
*Culture: Literature and Music*
*Alan Mintz*- (Jewish Theological Seminary) “Jewish Literature in Israel
and Israeli Literature in America: Some Reflections”
*Edwin Seroussi*- (Hebrew University) “Zionist Soundscapes: The Sonic Past
of the Israeli Nation and Its Future”
Chair and Commentator:* Rachel Rojanski *(Brown University)
*Cultural Orientations and Dilemmas*
*Tuvia Friling*- (Ben-Gurion University) “The Evolution of Holocaust Memory”
*Aziza Khazoom*- (Indiana University and Hebrew University) “Internal
Ethnic Relations and Orientation of Israeli Culture”
Chair and Commentator:* Maoz Azaryahu *(Tel Aviv University)
*Politics and Law*
*Donna Robinson Divine*- (Smith College) “Zionism and the New Politics of
Authenticity in Israel”
*Suzanne Last Stone*- (Yeshiva University and Shalem Center) “Legal
Discourse – Law and Human Rights”
Chair and Commentator:* Pnina Lahav *(Boston University)
*Economics and Land*
*Kobi (Jacob) Metzer-* (Hebrew University) “Economy and Society in Israel:
Past Experience, Current Issues, and Future Prospects”
*Ilan Troen*- (Brandeis University) “Competing Concepts of Land in Eretz
Israel”
Chair and Commentator:* Alan Dowty *(Notre Dame University)
*Israel’s Relationship with its Neighbors and the Palestinian Arab Citizens*
*Elie Rekhess-* (Northwestern University)“Jews and Arabs in Israel:
Reconsidering the 1948 Paradigm”
*Asher Susser*- (Tel Aviv University) “Israel’s Place in the Middle East”
Chair and Commentator:* Shai Feldman *(Brandeis University)
*Religion and Society*
*Eliezer Don-Yehiya*- (Bar-Ilan University) “The Political Transformation
of Religious Zionism”
*Yoel Finkelman*- (Bar-Ilan University) “The Ambivalent Ultra-Orthodox Jew”
Chair and Commentator:* Yehudah Mirsky *(Brandeis University)