Testimonials

Alumni Spotlight: Daniella Wenger – Fulbright Scholar, MPhil, University of Cambridge

The Alumni Spotlight highlights former Undergraduate Fellows of the Berkeley Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies who are agents of change in their communities and careers.

Daniella Wenger, Class of ‘18, has kept busy since her years as an Undergraduate Fellow at the Berkeley Institute. After graduating with a degree in Business Administration from Haas School of Business, a Minor in Public Policy, and a Certificate of Entrepreneurship and Technology from the College of Engineering, Wenger packed up everything and moved to New York City.

Wenger moved to NYC...

Faculty Spotlight: Ethan Katz, Associate Professor of History

Ethan Katz is an Associate Professor of History at UC Berkeley and a member of the Helen Diller Institute’s Faculty Executive Board. His scholarship focuses on the history of Jewish-Muslim relations, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and the nature of belonging and exclusion in modern France and the Francophone world.

Why did you choose to join the Institute’s Faculty Executive Board? What has your experience been like?

I joined the Institute’s Faculty Executive Board because I think the work they are doing is extremely important. It also intersects...

Faculty Spotlight: Rami Zeedan, Visiting Professor 2017–18

Dr. Rami Zeedan is a political scientist and historian whose research interests include Israeli politics, Middle Eastern politics, history of modern Israel, and ethnic politics. Dr. Zeedan is the author of two books focusing on Israeli Arabs. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Israel Studies at the University of Kansas. Zeedan was a visiting professor with the Institute during the 2017–18 school year, and taught two courses during his time at Berkeley: Comparative Politics: Democracies, Dictatorships, and Hybrid Regimes in the Middle East and North...

Alumni Spotlight: Nick Shafer – John Gardner Public Service Fellow, Middle East Bureau, USAID

The 10th Anniversary Spotlight Series highlights alumni, faculty, students and friends of the Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies who are agents of change in their communities and careers and have contributed to the vibrancy of the Institute.

Nick Shafer, Class of ’19, an alumni of the Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies’ Undergraduate Fellowship, graduated from UC Berkeley with a double B.A. in Anthropology and Arabic Language and Minors in Public Policy and Global Studies. In 2019, he studied at the Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman...

Student Spotlight: Talia Harris, Undergraduate Fellow, Class of ‘22

The 10th Anniversary Spotlight Series highlights alumni, faculty, students and friends of the Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies who are agents of change in their communities and careers and have contributed to the vibrancy of the Institute.

Talia Harris, Class of ‘22, has been a fellow at the Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies since early 2020. She is a political science major and has held internships at the U.S. House of Representatives, Superior Court of California, and most recently, the U.S. Department of State in the Near...

Faculty Spotlight: Itay Fischhendler, Visiting Professor 2014-15, 2018

The 10th Anniversary Spotlight Series highlights alumni, faculty, students and friends of the Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies who are agents of change in their communities and careers and have contributed to the vibrancy of the Institute.

Professor Itay Fishhendler is the Chair of the Department of Geography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is a leading scholar on transboundary water institutions and Middle Eastern water policy, and has published over 50 articles in leading public policy, conflict resolution, peace studies, geography...

Student Spotlight: Samantha Behar and Randy Cantz, Undergraduate Fellows

The 10th Anniversary Spotlight Series highlights alumni, faculty, students and friends of the Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies who are agents of change in their communities and careers and have contributed to the vibrancy of the Institute.

This spring, Undergraduate Fellows Randy Cantz and Samantha Behar co-taught a student-led course: The Dangers of Online Hate. The course investigated various forms of online hate and empowered students to act as agents of change and critical consumers of online content by learning to spot misinformation,...

Student Spotlight: Rebecca Steinberg, Undergraduate Fellow ’22

Rebecca Steinberg, Class of ’22, has been an Undergraduate Fellow since the summer of 2020. She is an English major and Human Rights minor, and currently sits on the Executive Student Board of Berkeley’s Hillel. Having gone to Catholic school for most of her life, she is especially interested in interfaith programming. In the future, she plans to pursue her Masters in English and eventually practice as an in-house IP lawyer in the television and film industry. She encourages all Cal students to get involved with things outside of their comfort zone.

Why did you choose to be an...

Student Spotlight: Nir Maoz, Class of ’15

Nir Maoz, Class of ’15, graduated from UC Berkeley with a major in Political Science and Legal Studies. He then attended Berkeley Law, receiving his J.D. in 2019 with a Certificate in Business Law. Maoz is currently an associate with KTBS Law LLP, a Los Angeles-based law firm that focuses on corporate restructuring. Maoz has the longest-standing affiliation with the Institute of any student, having been in the first cohort of Undergraduate Fellows; he remained involved as a law student, helping facilitate the Undergraduate Fellows Program. He currently sits on the Institute’s advisory...

Student Spotlight: Mia Szarvas, Class of ’15

Mia Szarvas, Class of ’15, graduated from UC Berkeley with a major in Conservation and Resource Studies with a focus in Political Ecology. After traveling the world for two years, Szarvas moved to Germany, where she currently works as a data visualization specialist. Szarvas is also a writer and has had several columns published in The Times of Israel and the German Magazine Aviva Berlin. She currently resides in New York City.

What have you been up to since graduating from Cal?

After I finished my undergrad in 2015, I spent a few years traveling and doing...