Near East University Near East Institute attended the Summer Institute for Israel Studies that held in Boston in the USA. Summer Institute for Israel Studies provided an interdisciplinary approach on Israeli history, culture, politics and society.
Organized by the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at the Brandies University, which is one of the most renowned universities of America on Israel studies, the Summer Institute for Israel Studies was realized with the participation of scientists carrying out research mainly on different aspects of Israeli studies at the elite universities of the United States of America. This year, four scientists from other countries were invited to the Summer Institute for Israel Studies.
With his studies that analyzing the processes regarding making and implementing foreign policy on Israel's global, regional and bilateral relations, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Umut KOLDAŞ, the Near East Institute Director of the Near East University, who participated in the Summer Institute for Israel Studies, contributed to the interdisciplinary scientific analysis studies carried out within the institute.
The past, present and future of Israel Studies was discussed in detail by scientists and field experts
In the context of Israel studies, seminars focus on Israel’s society, history, politics, culture, developments in the field of music, cinema and literature, foreign affairs and diplomacy, and the Jewish Diaspora’s relations with Israel were held during the meeting which gathered the world's well known scientists and field experts involved in history, politics, film, Jewish studies, law, theology, anthropology, linguistics, art history and security studies. Within the scope of the Summer Institute, topic-oriented group debates were realized. Besides, the participants exchanged ideas regarding the courses and curricula designed with interdisciplinary theoretical approaches and pedagogical methods in the light of the latest developments in the field of Israel studies. Interdisciplinary studies such as the nation-state construction processes, the ideological foundations of the state of Israel, Palestinian society and the Palestinian state-building process, origins and development of Zionist, cultural and political movements in Palestine, parallel discourses of Israeli and Palestinian societies during nation-state construction processes and the role and importance of the overall discourses, Israeli and Jewish literature, the place of music and cinema in culture construction and integration in Israel, the historical development of Israeli literature, the journey of Israeli art in time, the internal and external dynamics of Israeli and Jewish Diaspora relations, Israel's national and international security priorities, historical development of Israeli literature, the journey of Israeli art in time, internal and external dynamics of Israel and the Jewish Diaspora relations, the place and preeminence of the Judaism in the Israeli society and the Jewish Diaspora, the continuity and transformations in the structure of Israeli society, Israeli domestic political structure and state structuring, the place of different social segments within the Israeli social structure, the legal, economic and political status of Palestinians, who are Israeli citizens, gender politics in Israel, Israel’s relations with political Islam, and Israel's regional and international policy making and implementation processes were carried out with the participation of field experts.
Assoc. Prof. Dr.Umut KOLDAŞ: It is necessary to identify, define and discuss Israel based on systematic studies instead of defining it with de facto, shallow approaches.
Near East University Near East Institute Director Assoc. Prof. Dr. KOLDAŞ, who participated in the Summer Institute for Israel Studies on behalf of the Near East University, underlined that such interdisciplinary studies that realized within the body of the institute with the participation of renowned scientists and field experts were very useful for analyzing Israel properly. Providing contribution to the intellectual activities of the Summer Institute for Israel Studies that comprised Israel-focused international relations, political science and regional studies, Assoc. Prof. Dr. KOLDAŞ expressed his views. "Trying to understand and explain Israel, which is one of the most important countries of the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean, with shallow approaches based on de facto and slogans, can help to meet some populist needs. While analyzing Israel and making decisions concerning the future of the whole society, the politics and those who are effective in leading the social relations, need to take into account the systematic analysis fed by primary sources of information. Policies that are not supported by scientific studies, but based on prejudices and emotions will lead to wrong or missing information concerning Israel and this will cause incomplete and unilateral outcomes. Identifying, defining and discussing Israel with an interdisciplinary approach by using the latest systems of thoughts and theories in the light of scientific methods will lead us to much more accurate results. Israel studies constitute a significant part of our studies that we conducted within the body of the Near East University Near East Institute with a special focus on the relations of the regional countries with international bodies and the impacts of these relations on Cyprus. In this context, we had the opportunity to do this kind of work within the scope of the Summer Institute for Israel Studies. I believe that these studies will make a significant contribution not only to the theoretical, empirical, and methodological consistency of the Israeli scientific studies that we are conducting at our university, but also to the process of conducting these studies in an interdisciplinary approach and in a multidimensional manner" said he.