Non-partisan organization hopes to boost study of Jewish state via new programs, financial resources and academic partnerships
In the crowded alphabet soup of Washington, DC, Jewish think tanks, advocacy groups and associations (AIPAC, WINEP, APN, JCPA, JINSA…), a new institute opened its doors last week with a novel mission: to advance the scholarly study of modern Israel in the United States and around the world.
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Former diplomat and Tel Aviv University leader Itamar Rabinovich serves
as president of the new Israel Institute. (Courtesy of Puder PR) |
The
Israel Institute,
established by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, aims
to be something of an academic clearinghouse for scholars pursuing
Israel-related research and schools looking to expand their offerings of
Israel studies courses and programs.
“We are a compass and catalyst for Israel studies,” says
Itamar Rabinovich,
the Institute’s president. “We don’t have lecture halls or a faculty.
Rather, we provide funding and structural opportunities for people and
existing institutions interested in deepening the study of modern
Israel.”
As part of its mission, the Israel Institute
is already supporting a partnership linking the Jewish studies and
Israel studies departments of Tel Aviv University and the University of
Maryland. At the University of Arizona, it is working to establish a
professorship in Israel studies and, overseas, is facilitating
collaborations between Israeli universities and schools in China, Great
Britain, Germany and Latin America.
‘We don’t take positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and we don’t have any intention of lobbying’
Rabinovich brings a wealth of experience to
his new role. The 70-year-old is a former Israeli ambassador to the US
and chief negotiator with Syria in the 1990’s. He is also a pioneer in
the field of Israel studies, the former president of Tel Aviv University
and currently serves as a
Global Distinguished Professor at New York University.
“It’s important to stress that the Israel
Institute is non-partisan and is not a political advocacy group,” he
says. “We don’t take positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and
we don’t have any intention of lobbying.”
Rabinovich says the institute will focus on
supporting rigorous scholarship in an array of academic and cultural
disciplines, including history, politics, international relations,
economics, society, art, culture and literature. He adds that
Palestinian scholars, insofar as their work naturally intersects with
studies of modern Israel, will be invited to participate in the
Institute’s programs, and a significant number of Israeli Arab academics
will “for sure” be involved.
Ariel Ilan Roth, who, as executive director of
the new group, will oversee its day-to-day operations, has said it
intends to “bring coherence” to the “jumbled” but growing field of
Israel studies.
According to Rabinovich, the nearly 70 percent
increase in the number of Israel-related courses taught at American
universities over the past eight years is a reflection of the Jewish
state’s dynamism.
“Israel is an intellectual, scientific, artistic and technological hub,” he says.
‘The Israel Institute is non-partisan and is not a political advocacy group’
To broaden awareness of these aspects of
modern Israel, the new institute is launching an array of initiatives,
including Visiting Israel Artists, an initiative that enables Israeli
artists to spend a semester at North American universities. It will also
fund doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships in Israel studies, foster
long-distance learning in collaboration with Israel’s Open University
and establish residencies for Israeli artists to teach, exhibit and
expose audiences to the diversity of Israel in the US and abroad.
The institute also aims to award research
grants to scholars, fund internships at Washington, DC, think tanks and
establish visiting professorships on US and European campuses for senior
Israeli academics and policy experts.
For now, the Israel Institute shares office space in Washington, DC, with its patron, the
Schusterman Foundation,
which describes itself as committed to opening up opportunities for
students to study modern Israel in academic environments that promote
high-quality teaching and scholarship. But, as interest in modern Israel
continues its rise on American campuses and around the world, the
institute might soon need a building of its own.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-dc-institute-aims-to-put-israel-in-the-ivory-tower/
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