Announcements of Interest 

Have an announcement? Email your opportunity to Emily Lucas at [email protected].

Call for Proposals - Institute for Advanced Israel Studies Fellowship 2026-27: Situating Israel in the Middle East

The Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University invites proposals for the 2026-2027 Institute for Advanced Israel Studies, on the theme of Situating Israel in the Middle East. The last day to submit proposals is May 31, 2026.

This hybrid fellowship will feature a virtual workshop series throughout the year, and an in-person conference at Brandeis University. Throughout the program, fellows will present their work-in-progress and engage with theoretical texts that discuss Israel’s complex relationship to the Middle East. 

Applications are welcome from scholars at all career stages and across disciplines and methodologies, including but not limited to history, environmental studies, political science, geography, literature, sociology, international relations, anthropology, religious studies, law, sociolinguistics, musicology, and art. 

About the theme: Max Nordau described a future Jewish state in Palestine as “a piece of Europe in Asia.” The cultural Eurocentrism of many early Zionist thinkers long influenced Israel’s self-perception as well as the assumptions of and interests of much Israel Studies scholarship. The 2026-27 fellowship seeks to move beyond the paradigm of Israel as a Western exclave, an approach which both isolates Jewish-Israeli history from Middle Eastern history and perpetuates the separation between Israel Studies and Middle East Studies. Instead, it aims toanalyze Israel in a Middle Eastern context, whether through the prism of comparison, reciprocity and interdependency, entanglement, or transcultural exchange between Jews and Arabs or Israelis and Palestinians. It analyzes the motif of Jewish-Israeli indigeneity in Zionist thought and practice, explores how Israeli society was shaped by migration from the Middle East, and discusses the social, cultural, and political similarities between Israel and its neighbors.  

Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The role of Mizrahi Jews in Israel and the Middle East
  • Regional realignments including Israel, Iran, and the Gulf, both historical and contemporary
  • October 7, the war in Gaza, and its aftermath
  • The effect of the Abraham Accords on local and regional alliances
  • Palestinian and Arab culture in Israel
  • The Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Arab-Israeli conflict through the lens of Israel’s Middle Eastern context
  • Gendered analyses of the Middle East and Israel’s relationship to it
  • Transnational forces such as migration, the movement of labor forces, climate change, etc that affect Israel and the region
  • Israel’s relations with parts of the Middle East that are understudied in this context, such as Central Asia and North Africa.
  • The history of Israel Studies and its relationship with Middle East Studies
  • Languages and multilingualism
  • Modes of transmission between cultural networks and migration
  • Trans-border relationships among minority Israeli communities such as Bedouins, Druze, and Armenians.
  • Alternate regional models such as Mediterraneanism, Levantinism.
  • Addressing the value of the “Middle East” as a conceptual category  

Apply by May 31, 2026.  To learn more, visit https://www.brandeis.edu/israel-center/iais/call-for-proposals.html. 

Questions: Please send questions to [email protected], with the subject line, "IAIS 2026-27".

MECARC’s 2nd International Conference 2026

Contested Societies in The Middle East: War, Politics and Religion

May 26 - 27, 2026, Ariel University and at Daniel Hotel, Herzliya

 The events following the outbreak of the conflict on October 7, 2023, have significantly reshaped the Middle East. Iran’s proxy network has deteriorated; the Assad regime has collapsed under pressure from radical Sunni factions, with Turkey assuming a protective role over the remnants of that regime; and leadership structures within Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Hamas have weakened. At the same time, many Middle Eastern societies remain deeply contested, marked by fragmentation, weakened institutions, and eroding public trust. Heightened polarization, identity struggles, and limited religious and ethnic tolerance intensify internal threats. These upheavals also reshape external engagement, as the United States adjusts its posture, Europe confronts spillover effects, and Russia’s position weakens.

The Middle East and Central Asia Research Center (MECARC) invites scholars from Israel and abroad – specializing in Middle East Studies, Political Science, Israel Studies, International Relations, Sociology, Law, and related disciplines – to submit papers for presentation at our expanding scholarly forum. Submissions for organized panels are warmly welcome.

Learn More