| Country’s first Israel studies minors graduate BY SALLY ACHARYA  Photo by Jeff Watts
Micah Winograd, Elizabeth Detwiler, Ariel Boxman, and Esther Brilliant
When Ariel Boxman, SIS ’07, was considering a university, she looked for schools that offered a major in Israel studies. She didn’t find one. But AU had a Center for Israeli Studies and the chance to take some courses. It made the difference in her decision.
By 2006, the “couple of courses” had grown into the first minor in Israel studies in the United States. “It is a newly emerging academic field, and we’re on the leading edge,” said Russell Stone, director of the renamed Center for Israel Studies. While many universities, including AU, offer majors in Jewish studies, no U.S. university offers a major in Israel studies. Launched in summer 2006 at AU’s College of Arts and Sciences, the pioneering minor, said Stone, “focuses on contemporary Israel as a society, looking at all aspects of modern-day Israel. A lot of the interest [in the field] comes from political issues—the Israel-Palestine conflict, the internal political issues—but it also looks at cultural topics, social structural topics, economics, and the political science of the area.” Boxman is one of four students to graduate from AU with a minor in Israel studies. All four studied abroad for a year at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In addition to Boxman, two others also graduated from SIS. Elizabeth Detwiler ’07 is continuing at SIS as a master’s student in international peace and conflict resolution, and hopes, she wrote in her graduation questionnaire, “to influence U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East to be more informed and balanced.” Micah Winograd ’07 also hopes to work in an area related to the Middle East. For Esther Brilliant ’07, the year in Israel was life changing. The School of Public Affairs student had planned to go to law school; now she is moving to Israel. “It feels like my true home,” she says. “I just love the people there. It really feels like I belong.” Boxman, too, will be heading back to Israel—in her case, for another year of study. She’s studying to become a rabbi, and one year of the five-year program will be in Israel. Boxman, who chose AU because of the courses it offered in Israel studies, is thrilled that the program has become a minor. “I think it’s something students all across the country are looking for,” she says. “I think it would be great if more universities were to look at AU as a role model.” |
