Fall 2017 Courses
Comparative Politics: Democracies, Dictatorships, and Hybrid Regimes in the Middle-East and North Africa
Political Science 140Z
Prof. Rami Zeedan, The Open University
This course will provide the students with the knowledge about basic concepts in political science – politics, government, state – emphasizing the fundamental division between liberal democracy, illiberal democracy and dictatorship regimes (fascist, theocratic, communist). The course is set on theoretical comparative approach that does not intend to discuss each country individually, but to analyze and interpret the similarities and differences between the political systems in order to better understand the political processes taking place actually, beyond what is stated formally and legally in their constitution. The course deals with the central institutions in any political system: the legislature, executive, judiciary, elections, political parties, interest groups, and examines key concepts such as political culture, political communication, political participation, religion-state relations, relations between the army and the country, to understand the internal dynamics of political systems and research data. The course gives a special attention to the regime in Middle-Eastern countries.
Social Structure, Inequality, and Political Cleavages in Israel
Jewish Studies 123
Prof. Michael Shalev, Hebrew University
This course maps diversity and inequality in Israel, and their expressions in politics. It covers not only well-known identity conflicts based on religion, ethnicity, and nationality (i.e. Arab versus Jewish citizens), but also economic and political differences based on gender, race and citizenship. Students will be introduced to relevant concepts and theories that aid understanding and place Israel in a broader perspective.
Spring 2018 Courses
Comparative Constitutional Law: The Case of Israel
Legal Studies 174
Prof. Amnon Reichman, University of Haifa Faculty of Law
The Political Economy of Israel
Political Science 149S
Prof. Michael Shalev, Hebrew University
Political economy analyzes linkages between the economic and political spheres. It asks about the role of the state and politics in the economy; and conversely, how economic interests and power shape politics. The political economy of Israel today is similar to other capitalist democracies in having strong neoliberal or “free market” features. Yet at the same time, the Israeli state pursues an ambitious and expensive agenda related to territory, demography and national identity. The state also has unusual capacities to shape economic activity through war preparation, occupation, and by attracting resources from abroad such as immigration and foreign aid. The course addresses this and other puzzles posed by the Israeli case. They include the unusual meaning of left and right in Israeli politics, a clash between “hawks” and “doves” that is seemingly all about ideology and identity politics, not “pocketbook issues” and the economy. On these issues Israeli public opinion has a clear preference for equality and the welfare state over unbound capitalism. Yet inequality is high and rising, in part because of government policies. Another seeming paradox is that Israel’s economy performs well, led by a dynamic and entrepreneurial hi-tech sector. Yet despite structural reforms to encourage competition, large sectors are sheltered from competition, and so-called “tycoons” control many of Israel’s largest businesses and enjoy vast personal wealth.
Palestinian Society in Israel: Integration vs. Segregation
Political Science
Prof. Rami Zeedan, The Open University
This course addresses challenges faced by States with culturally or ethnically heterogeneous populations within their borders, and challenges faced by these minorities within the nation-state. The course adopts a multi-disciplinary approach, thus it will consider the moral, political, and legal responses to these challenges. Issues such as democratic theory, ethnicity, group identity formation, autonomy, self-determination, indigenous rights, minority rights, and non-discrimination will be addressed. This will be done by focusing on the Palestinian society in Israel. The Palestinians society in Israel, which constitutes 20% of Israel’s population, is an ethnic minority within the “Jewish and Democratic State” living since 1948 in cities with ethnically diverse populations but mainly in ethnically homogenous cities, towns and villages. This course introduces students to the study of Palestinians in Israel, by exploring the construction of Palestinian identity under Ottoman, British, and Israeli rule and the crystallization of the Palestinians as a national minority in Israel. In addition, it is meant to introduce some of the complexities in the Palestinian society in Israel in themes such as culture, education, media, economy, and politics.
Comparative Criminal Justice Reform
Legal Studies
Prof. Hadar Dancig- Rosenberg, Bar-Ilan University
Modern criminal law has changed its face in the last decades. Plea bargains have become a common practice, pushing aside evidentiary hearings. The adversarial model has been criticized and diluted by the inclusion of the victim as an acknowledged stakeholder in criminal proceedings. The role of the State as the sole authority for responding to crime has also been questioned, emphasizing the interest of the community in resolving conflicts. Concurrently, debate about the emotional effect of crime, and the resulting psychological needs of victims and offenders, has initiated reforms that promote apology and dialogue between victims and offenders. This seminar will introduce current criminal justice reforms, focusing on examples from the Israeli and American criminal justice system. We will examine a variety of punitive and non-punitive justice mechanisms that have proliferated in recent years as social responses for crime, including Pre-Settlement Conferences, Restorative Justice, Community courts, Drug Courts, Diversions and even Social Media as an arena for seeking justice. We will discuss the background for their emergence, explore their characteristics and look into their perils and promises. The students will conduct non-participant observations of various criminal justice processes at the courtroom, comparing between their traits. The seminar will also examine the influence of American criminal justice reforms and the deepening legitimacy crisis of mass incarceration on Israeli criminal justice system, and the ways Israeli criminal justice system embraced, as well as resisted and transformed American reforms in light of the specific history, culture and challenges of the Israeli context.
Trauma in Contemporary Israel
Medical Anthropology
Prof. Keren Friedman-Peleg, The College of Management – Academic Studies
What happens when Jewish-Israeli mental health experts — psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and psychotherapists — become engaged in shaping the meaning of national belonging within a context of ongoing violent conflict? What happens when the diagnostic categories of trauma and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) become the dominant tools used to shape this meaning? And what happens when clinical questions of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of security-related trauma and PTSD are intersected with socio-political questions of national belonging, class, ethnicity, and inequality?
Relying upon contemporary ethnographic research from the field of medical and psychological anthropology, the course addresses these questions, with two main goals:
To explore the effects of the diagnostic categories of trauma and PTSD on the discourse of violence and social suffering in conflict and post-conflict areas around the globe, and how PTSD has come to be a new axis of power between Western and non-Western countries.
Drawing upon ethnographic case studies from “behind the scenes” at leading Jewish-Israeli NGOs, we will examine how a peculiar combination of individual psychopathology and collective markers of Jewish-Israeli identity have affected mental health practices in contemporary Israel. Through a sensitive and nuanced observation of clinical meetings, marketing activities, and professional interventions among diverse “target groups” such as the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers, the Bedouin community in the Negev, or bereaved Druze parents, we will focus on how contested experiences of mental vulnerability and national belonging, as well as new dynamics of power, and new forms of dialogue, are expressed within the mental health field in contemporary Israel.
Jewish Thought: Theological Challenges in Contemporary Judaism
Jewish Studies 122
Prof. David Kasher, Kevah
Jewish Food Journey: the Old, the New, and Everything In-Between (Jewish Studies 198-001)
Facilitated by Anna Manevich, Course #26120 Thur 6:30-8:30 PM, 106 Dwinelle
Jewish identity and food could not be more intertwined as Jewish food plays and has played a formidable role in shaping culture, religion, and even unique geographic identities of Jewish communities.This DeCal will cover topics from Jewish fusion food and delicacies; kashrut food and process based on a local farm; historical glimpses into where Jewish heritage, culture, and food collide; and will feature guest speakers in the bay area food industry with a variety of specialties and interpretations of what Jewish food means. We will explore Jewish food through a multi-faceted lens, incorporating spirituality, religious law, history, and cultural variations of Jewish food within ethnic divisions of Jewish groups once geographically separated during the diaspora. With logistics permitting there will be class field trips and experiential learning through cooking to contribute to an immersive experience of diving into the journey of Jewish food. We will use modern texts to understand the various meanings and interactions of Jewish food with modern day Jews, who can range from secular, religious, or culturally Jewish. Additionally, we will review historical and lawful texts to grasp the development of Jewish food and its influence on society today. By exploring so many facets of Jewish food, we will come to a better understanding of how food can be so intertwined with Jewish religion and culture.
What is Israel?
Jewish Studies 198
Facilitated by Adah Forer
Graduate Courses
Israeli Supreme Court
Law
Prof. Amnon Reichman, University of Haifa Faculty of Law
Interested in learning more about the Israeli constitutional system? This spring, Professor Amnon Reichman will lead a 1-unit 298 reading group which will focus on leading Israeli constitutional cases. Among the topics covered will be questions of state and religion (such as who is a Jew, exemptions from military service to the Haredi community, Shabbat and Kosher laws), the Arab minority in the Jewish state (access to politics, land use, distributive and corrective justice, language rights), gender and sexual orientation, free speech, social and economic rights and the legal debates surrounding the Territories (the application of Israeli constitutional norms, and laws of belligerent occupation). We will also be discussing institutional questions, such as the debate surrounding judicial review, the role of courts and judicial independence in a Jewish Democracy. The group will meet 7 times, for an hour and 40 minutes, to discuss and analyze the leading cases. The evaluation is on credit/no-credit basis.
The Power of Failure: Rethinking Hebrew Literary History
Comp Lit [Intensive Mini-Seminar]
Prof. Michael Gluzman, Tel Aviv University
Jewish Law
Law
Prof. Kenneth Bamberger, The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Professor of Law, and Prof. David Kasher, Kevah School of Law