Jewish studies has been a vibrant academic discipline for many decades, and since the establishment of the Association for Israel Studies in 1985 to engage in research on the history, politics, society, and culture of the modern state of Israel, the two disciplines have worked along parallel tracks in universities. This book focuses on the vibrant academic field of Israel studies and its complex and dynamic relations and intersections with its "older sibling" Jewish studies. Scholarly contributions from around the globe illustrate that the ongoing and growing interest in Israel studies, in particular since the early 2000s, must be analyzed and understood in its relationship to Jewish studies. Only this will allow scholarship to reflect on not only the intersections between the two fields but also on the prospects of cross-pollination between the disciplines for research and teaching. This will become ever more vital in an increasingly globalized world with shifting concepts, borders, and identity concepts.
Klaus Hoedl teaches the history of Israel and related topics at Graz University. His latest book, Jews inViennese Popular Culture around 1900, will be published in late 2019. Carsten Schapkow is L. R. Brammer Jr. presidential professor in history at the University of Oklahoma, where he also serves as the director of the Center for the Study of Nationalism. His most recent book is Role Model and Countermodel: The Golden Age of Iberian Jewry and German-Jewish Culture during the Era of Emancipation (Lexington Books).
Introduction: Carsten Schapkow (University of Oklahoma) Defining the Field: Bible Studies and Beyond David Ben-Gurion, the Bible, and the Case for Jewish Studies and Israel Studies, Alan Levenson (University of Oklahoma.) Meta-Halacha and Real Life: Using Jewish Thought Methodology in Solving Religion and State Issues in Contemporary Israel , Yossi Ben-Harush (Hebrew University Jerusalem) Defining the Borders of Israel Studies Israel, Palestine, and Holy Land Studies in Post-Soviet Territory: Views, Trends, and Prospects, Dzimitry Shavialiou (Belarusian State University) Israel in the Mirror of Iran: An Iranian Approach to Jewish and Israeli Messianism, Amir Rezaeipanah (Shahid Behesti University Tehran) Turkish Jews' Perspectives on Israel, OEzgur Kaymak (University of Istanbul) Israel Studies, the Jewish Challenge, Yaacov Yadgar (University of Oxford) and Yakov M. Rabkin (Universite de Montreal) The Place of Israel Studies Contested? Israel Studies, Intersectionality, and the Changing American College Scene, Aharon Klieman (Tel Aviv University) Intersections between Israel Studies and Israel Education: Language-use and Educational Programming, Shlomit Attias (Levinsky College of Education Tel Aviv) The Middle Eastern Angle Jewish Studies as Transdisciplinary Middle Eastern Studies: Notes from Tunisia, Achim Rohde (University Marburg) Methodological Canaanism: The Case for a Rupture between Jewish Studies and Israel Studies, Johannes Becke (Hochschule fur Judische Studien Heidelberg) The Future of Israel Studies Thinking Big: Connecting Classical Jewish Studies, Jewish Studies Past, Present, Presence, and Israel Studies, Dani Kranz (Bergische Universitat Wuppertal) Intersections of Jewish Studies and Israel Studies: Israeli Haredim , Tryce Hyman (University of Oklahoma) About the Contributors
This is a significant and timely volume of essays. Though much has been written on the field of Jewish Studies as an academic discipline, and a fair amount on the more recent cognate area of Israel Studies, this is the first truly wide-ranging discussion and thought-provoking debate regarding their interrelationship. I am sure that this collection will spur a great deal of further academic deliberation. -- Norman A. Stillman, Schusterman/Josey Professor of Judaic History, University of Oklahoma Jewish Studies and Israel Studies in the 21st Century: Intersections and Prospects is an insightful and exciting exploration of the growing interconnection between Israel Studies and Jewish Studies, from a variety of national and transnational perspectives. Remarkably varied in their approaches, disciplines, and perspectives about the ways Jewish Studies and Israel studies-might usefully be brought together, and the ways they might need to be held apart-the essays assembled here provide a rich intellectual mix of provocative questions and intriguing potential answers, which will generate vigorous scholarly conversations in both fields. -- Yael S. Aronoff, Director of the Michigan State University Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel and Serling Chair in Israel Studies
