SHSS Course in Israel Focused on societies, cultures and conflicts in the Negev region

The Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS) offered a two week intensive course in Israel that focused on societies, cultures, and conflicts in the Negev (desert region) during the Spring 2006 Trimester. The course was led by Julia Chaitin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies at SHSS. Chaitin grew up in Detroit and immigrated to Israel in 1972.  She has been a member of Kibbutz Urim (a communal agricultural community situated in the Negev/desert) since 1973. 
 
The students visited kibbutzim, development towns, Ethiopian cultural center and absorption center, Dimona - the home of the Hebrew Israelites, unrecognized Bedouin villages and a Bedouin city, Ben Gurion University, Sde Boker (home of Ben Gurion) and desert university campus, Beer Sheva, and an environmental institute in the south of Israel. The group also went sightseeing in Jerusalem, Massada, Ein Gedi, Mitzpe Rimon (the Rimon Crater), and at the Mediterranean Sea. The students met with many people throughout the course including, educators, fellow students, scholars, social justice activists, and new immigrants. The course gave students a good look at the diversity and the conflicts that characterize the Negev, in particular, but also Israel, in general. 

For more information on the Department of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences please visit http://shss.nova.edu or call 954-262-3000.