History and Goals:

In September 2001 the U.S.-Israel Educational Foundation (the Fulbright
Program in Israel) awarded the University of Haifa a grant to establish
a Center for the Study of the United States. The Center took into
account local conditions and opportunities in assessing its goals: The
University is situated in the midst of one of the most religiously
diverse communities in Israel, made up of Jews, Moslems, Christians,
Druze and Bahais and it also has a more ethnically mixed student
population than any other university in Israel. The student population
includes many from Russia, Ethiopia, and the Israeli Arab community
(who make up over 20% of the students). Given this rich mixture, the
Center chose to approach the study of the U.S. through concentration on
issues of ethnicity, race, and cultural diversity in the United States,
and compare them with such issues in Israeli society. Public forums,
talks, roundtables, seminars and research workshops have been and will
continue to be held on these topics.

The Center also seeks to enrich the ongoing program in American Studies
that is offered at the University of Haifa. Sponsored by the History
Department, this program includes course offerings in American
Literature, History, Art, Philosophy, Geography and Political Science.
Undergraduate students can take this program as an “area of
concentration” while they major in History, English or Political
Science. Graduates from all of these departments are welcome to study
in the Graduate Program in American Studies. The chief contributions
of the Center to this program are the on-going lectures, research
workshops, seminars, and international conferences in which American
and Israeli scholars participate. In addition, through a cooperative
arrangement with the University of Iowa, Graduate students doing
research on American history and culture are offered the opportunity to
study in Iowa for one year, with their courses credited towards their
degrees at Haifa.

The Center also has an outreach to the wider community, inviting high
school students and community members to attend and participate in
roundtables on history and culture. Programs on African American
history, folk culture, and music have proven very popular and are part
of an ongoing series directed in part to those outside the university
community. Ethnicity, race and cultural diversity have been the themes
of other programming at the center, such as films, music, dance
recitals, and artwork. These are an important part of the Center's
activities.

The Center also works to facilitate contacts between visiting scholars
and local academics interested in the same areas of research. Other
lines of contact are being developed, primarily through the initiative
of Professor Hasia Diner of New York University, who is the chair of
the Center’s Board of Directors, and who has implemented programs
involving faculty in Haifa and the U.S.

The Center also provides some support for ongoing research by graduate
students and junior faculty, and hopes to expand such research
opportunities in the coming years. Overall it is dedicated to
enriching the cultural life of the university community through new
contacts and new approaches to American history and culture.