Schusterman Center for Israel Studies

Call for Proposals

Apply for the Institute for Advanced Israel Studies Fellowship 2025-2026: Diversifying the Israeli Diaspora

The Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University is pleased to announce the theme for the 2025-2026 Institute for Advanced Israel Studies: Diversifying the Israeli Diaspora.

This hybrid fellowship will feature a virtual workshop series throughout the year, and an in-person conference at Brandeis university.

The 2025-26 fellowship seeks to transcend the typical focus on Israel as a migration-absorbing country in the context of Aliyah, ideologically motivated Jewish immigration. Instead, it aims to explore the dynamic and evolving experiences of Israeli identity beyond Israel, as it intersects with new trends of migration, and multilayered cultures in diverse destinations. It also analyzes the ways this identity intertwines with the increasingly diverse Jewish, Israeli, and Palestinian diasporas, as well as other diasporas of Israeli residents without Israeli citizenship.

Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

The experiences of Israeli expatriates who reconnect with immigrants and expats from their own non-Israeli ethnic backgrounds—communities bound by shared origins rather than by Israeli identity. Examples include the return migration of Israelis to their countries of origin in the former Soviet Union, Western Europe, the Americas, and even Ethiopia and Morocco.
Expatriation of Palestinian citizens of Israel, and the long-term influence of the Arab-Israeli conflict on Israeli and Palestinian expatriate communities abroad.
Asylum seekers and labor migrants who lived in Israel without citizenship or formal status
Proposals that intersect with larger emigration trends, such as historical Sephardi notions of return to Spain and Portugal
Middle-class migration to lower-cost destinations
Emigration following the events of October 7, 2023.

We particularly welcome proposals focusing on emerging Israeli communities outside the typically explored centers in North America, Western Europe, and Australia. Special attention will be given to destinations in the Mediterranean (e.g., Portugal, Greece, Cyprus), Central America (e.g., Mexico, Costa Rica), and East Asia (e.g., Thailand), as well as underexplored Israeli hubs in Africa.

We also value comparative approaches that situate Israeli migration within broader global frameworks, drawing connections with other diaspora and migration experiences.

Throughout the program, fellows will present their work-in-progress and engage with theoretical texts in diaspora studies, migration, and related fields. We welcome diverse methodologies, including but not limited to demographic, sociological and ethnographic studies, historical analysis, comparative research, and mixed methods.

Applications are welcome from scholars at all career stages and across disciplines, including but not limited to history, geography, literature, sociology, anthropology, law, sociolinguistics, musicology, and architecture, with particular encouragement for studies incorporating gendered perspectives. At the year's end, we expect all participants to have a publishable chapter or an article ready about their project, possibly for an inclusion in a special issue of the Journal of Israeli History.

Deadline to Apply

Applications must be received by May 31, 2025.

Apply now

Details and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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Eligibility

How to apply

Apply here. A complete application includes the following:

Curriculum Vitae
Research Proposal (Max: 1000 words). Please include what stage your research is at currently, and how it relates to this year’s theme and your overall research interests.
Short Description of Research Proposal (Max 100 words)
Short Bio (Max 100 words)
The name and contact details of one referee
Optional: One relevant previously published work relating to the fellowship theme

The above materials should be collated into a single PDF, which you will upload when completing the application form.

Honorarium and Travel

Responsibilities

Participants will be expected to participate in all fellowship meetings, attend the spring conference, and produce a 500-word reflection on their research at the end of the fellowship year.
Fellows may be expected to give up to one public talk or class visit as part of the fellowship. Upon mutual agreement, we may arrange for you to participate in additional Center events.
Any resulting publications are required to thank the Institute for Advanced Israel Studies at the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University.

Additional opportunities

Become a Visiting Fellow at the Schusterman Center

While the fellowship is hybrid, there is the possibility for fellows may be appointed as visiting scholars at the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, space permitting. Visiting Scholars are given desk space at the Schusterman Center, library access, parking and visa support. Scholars must make their own housing arrangements and are responsible for paying for their own living costs (housing, food, transportation, etc.), as well as medical insurance.

Further Questions?

Any questions not answered in the above FAQs should be addressed to scis@brandeis.edu, with the subject line, "IAIS 2025-26".