Media

Oxford appoints its first Chair in modern Israel studies

26 May 2011

The University of Oxford has appointed a scholar of international standing to a new Chair to study modern Israel. Professor Derek Penslar, currently the Samuel J Zacks Professor of Jewish History at the University of Toronto, is due to become the first Stanley Lewis Professor of Israel Studies in 2012.

The Chair has been created thanks to a generous benefaction of £3 million from the Stanley and Zea Lewis Family Foundation. It will carry out research on a range of topics related to the economics, sociology, politics and modern history of Israel.

Professor Penslar will be jointly appointed by the School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies, (SIAS) and the Department of Politics and International Relations. He will also build links with relevant groups and disciplines across the University.

Professor Roger Goodman, Head of the Social Sciences Division at the University of Oxford, said: ‘We are thrilled that due to the generosity of the Stanley and Zea Lewis Family Foundation, we can build on our existing strengths in teaching and research on the Middle East region. Israel plays a key part in the debate about the Middle East, and Professor Derek Penslar is a foremost scholar of its history and politics. This Chair and his appointment give Oxford a fantastic opportunity to expand its research into this important area of the world and to become a major global centre for the study of contemporary Israel.’

Commenting on his new appointment, Professor Penslar said: ‘I am honoured and delighted to be the inaugural holder of the Lewis Professorship. Oxford is the ideal place for the study of modern Israel in all its aspects, and as the meeting point of Jewish, Middle Eastern, and European civilizations.’

Derek Penslar studied at Stanford University where he was awarded a BA with Distinction in History, before taking an MA and PHD in Modern European History at the University of California at Berkeley. He taught at Indiana University in Bloomington from 1987 to 1998, and then moved to the University of Toronto to take up the Samuel J Zacks Chair in Jewish History. Between 2002 and 2008 he directed the University of Toronto’s Centre for Jewish Studies.

He has written many scholarly articles and books, including Israel in History: The Jewish State in Comparative Perspective (2006); and Zionism and Technocracy: The Engineering of Jewish Settlement in Palestine, 1870-1918 (1991, Hebrew version 2001).
Oxford University has a world-leading reputation for the study of the Middle East with over 70 academics conducting research on all the major countries from within the region.

The creation of a new Chair in the School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies strengthens the University’s commitment to area studies. The School offers research and teaching that attempts to understand the complexity of society through a prism of anthropology, economics, politics, history, sociology and culture. Other Chairs in the School include the Nissan Professorship of Modern Japanese Studies and the Professorship for the Study of Contemporary China.

Professor Penslar will become a Fellow of St Anne’s College.

For a photograph of Professor Derek Penslar, please contact the University of Press Office on +44 (0)1865 280534 or email press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk

Notes for editors

Middle East studies across the University:
The Middle East Centre at St Antony’s College has existed for more than 50 years as a centre for the interdisciplinary study of the modern Middle East.

The University’s Faculty of Oriental Studies has a multidisciplinary approach to studying this part of the world, offering both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The Faculty is also teaching and carrying out highly innovative research into the material culture of the Middle East at its Khalili Research Centre.

Other Oxford University social science departments are also carrying out research that addresses some of the core issues confronting the Middle Eastern region, including the Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource-Rich Economies (OxCarre), within the Department of Economics; and the Refugee Studies Centre, within the Oxford Department of International Development.
Since 2007, the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies (a recognised independent centre of the University) has funded a Research Fellowship in Israel Studies with an appointment at the Faculty of Oriental Studies and the Middle East Centre at St Antony’s College. In 2012, this post will be upgraded to a University Research Lecturership in Israel Studies. The objective of this post is to support and collaborate with the new Chair in Israel Studies; advance knowledge about Israeli politics, religion, society, and culture; provide tuition for degree courses in Middle East Studies; and serve as a resource in Israel studies throughout the University.

The School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies
The Chair of Israel Studies will sit jointly in SIAS and the post holder’s disciplinary department within the Social Sciences Division. SIAS demonstrates the University of Oxford’s commitment to the importance of interdisciplinary social science work in area studies. The School brings together six units: African Studies, Latin American Studies (including Brazilian Studies and Mexican Studies), Japanese Studies, Contemporary China Studies, Russian and East European Studies, and Contemporary Indian Studies. It also provides a home for the British Inter-University China Centre and for the interdisciplinary network Italian Studies at Oxford. It is devoted to research and graduate teaching in academic disciplines which attempt to understand the complexity and the inter-relatedness of society through anthropology, economics, politics, history, sociology and culture.