Center for Israel Studies to host international research symposium Nov. 8 and 9

Research topics in the field of Israel Studies are often politically charged. But the aftermath of the events of Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing wars in the region are posing new and difficult scholarly questions in terms of terminology, perspective, and sources.

Scholars aim to perform rigorous analysis in an independent, non-partisan space — a commitment reflected in the mission of Binghamton University’s Center for Israel Studies. 

“We are finding ways for scholars to convene and discuss difficult questions,” said Associate Professor of Israel Studies Lior Libman, the Center’s director. “How do you conduct research in the face of events that are so major, that are still ongoing and that have so many implications and echo all over the world?”

An international research symposium on the Binghamton campus will tackle these tough issues directly. Quests and Questions in Israel Studies Today kicks off on Sunday, Nov. 8, with an academic publishing workshop. The symposium proper runs from 9 a.m.-3:15 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, with sessions on Israel Studies Post-October 7; Israel and Palestine Studies: Borders and Boundaries; and Comparative and Transnational Perspectives in Israel Studies. Events will take place in the IASH Room (LN 1106).

The event features five Binghamton Fellows in Israel Studies. New this year, the fellowship provides support for summer research in Israel. The program received more than 50 applications from around the world, Libman said.

The Summer 2026 Binghamton Fellows in Israel Studies and their projects are as follows:

• Cambridge University cultural sociologist Sari R. Alfi-Nissan, who is exploring the phenomenon of memorial stickers for fallen soldiers in everyday public spaces in Israel after the Oct. 7 attacks
• New York University doctoral student in history and Judaic Studies Ella Chissick, who is looking into the role of Orient House and the Arab Studies Society, two leading Palestinian institutions established and active in East Jerusalem during the 1980s and 1990s
• Dan Chyutin, a teaching fellow at Tel Aviv University’s Steve Tisch School of Film and Television and New York University's Tel Aviv Global Center, who is researching Arab and Indian films in Israeli fan magazines during early statehood
• Nidal Dawd, a doctoral candidate at the University of Haifa Faculty of Law, whose research examines land expropriation for public purposes in the West Bank since 1967
• Clemson University Associate Professor of History Rebecca Shimoni Stoil, who is investigating the development of US-Israel relations through the lens of agricultural knowledge exchanges in the first three decades of Israeli statehood

In addition to the fellows, speakers will include Olga Gershenson from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Jonathan Gribetz of Princeton University, and Aziza Khazzoom of Indiana University, Bloomington.

Established in 2015, the Center for Israel Studies offers six core courses and a minor in Israel Studies. Each year, the center offers a variety of classes and programming, bringing in artists, filmmakers, academics and more. 

“What many scholars need today is a community, a place to air out all of these fears, debates, doubts, and questions that we have. That’s what we hope to achieve,” Libman said of the symposium. “I’m happy that Binghamton University is able to be a home for discussions and deliberations that help both the scholars and the scholarship itself.”