SF State names Eran Kaplan to endowed Goldman Chair in Israel Studies

SF State names Eran Kaplan to endowed Goldman Chair in Israel Studies

SAN FRANCISCO, February 17, 2011 -- The San Francisco State University Department of Jewish Studies has appointed Eran Kaplan the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Professor in Israel Studies. Currently an Israel Studies lecturer at Princeton University, Kaplan will join the SF State faculty in August as an associate professor of Jewish studies.

The author of "Jewish Radical Right: Revisionist Zionism and Its Ideological Legacy" and co-editor of "From Settlement to Statehood: The Origins of Israel 1882-1949," Kaplan's scholarly focus is in Zionist political ideology and post-Zionist thought as well as the history of Israel and Israeli culture. His current research focuses on the post-Zionist debates in their historical, social and cultural context.

In addition to Princeton, he has taught at Boston University, University of Toronto and University of Cincinnati. "The addition of Dr. Kaplan to the Jewish studies faculty represents a quantum leap for the department, whose curriculum will now include a dedicated Israel studies component with courses taught by a specialist," said Fred Astren, chair of the Department of Jewish Studies. "His presence on campus will be a major contribution to student learning and will bring a new voice to on-campus conversations about Israel and the contemporary Middle East."

At SF State, Kaplan will expand the department's existing expertise in Jewish literature, pre-modern Jewish history and American Jewish history, while also contributing to scholarly conversations across the University in such departments as political science, history, international relations and Middle East and Islamic studies.

"I'm very grateful for this opportunity to help build a thriving Israel studies program at SF State," said Kaplan. "I hope to show students how to move past the black and white of the issues involving Israel and invite them to apply what they learn to other global issues." Kaplan said that he is impressed by SF State's commitment to community service, the collegiality among faculty and the fertile and energetic campus environment.

Kaplan earned a baccalaureate in history and philosophy at Tel Aviv University and a Ph.D. in comparative history at Brandeis University.

The endowed Richard and Rhoda Goldman Chair in Israel Studies was established with a $3.75 million gift from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund in 2008. A portion of this supported the reorganization of Jewish Studies into a university department. In 1997 the Fund established the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Chair in Jewish Studies and Social Responsibility with a $1 million gift followed by an additional $500,000 gift last year to augment this endowment.

Since its establishment in 1951 by San Francisco philanthropists and civic leaders Richard and Rhoda Goldman, the Goldman Fund has contributed more than a half-billion dollars to a variety of charitable causes in San Francisco, as well as nationally and internationally. The Fund supports programs that focus on improving the quality of life in the San Francisco Bay Area, the environment and Jewish affairs.

Founded as a program in 1993, the SF State Department of Jewish Studies is a unique, freestanding academic department devoted to the history, culture, contributions and religion of the Jewish people. It attracts a diverse group of students from many racial and ethnic backgrounds, including participants in the University's community outreach programs. The department offers a bachelors degree in modern Jewish studies, a minor in Jewish studies and a certificate in Jewish service learning.

Goldman Visiting Professor in Israel Studies

SAN FRANCISCO, June 25, 2007 -- The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Visiting Professor in Israel Studies at San Francisco State University is made possible by $90,000 in support from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, and is intended to advance Israel studies on the campus and to encourage relationship-building between the campus and community.

"This is a major step toward developing Israel studies as one of the emphases in the Jewish Studies Program's curriculum," said Fred Astren, professor and director of Jewish Studies at SF State. In addition to the Israeli democracy class introduced in spring 1998, the program added an Israeli Cinema class last year. "Israel studies is a natural component of the Jewish studies major and offers both a complement and counterweight to our strong offerings in Holocaust studies," Astren said.

Goldman Visiting Professors:

    Fall 2010 - Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Gideon Aran, expert in sociology of religion and Israeli society.
    Spring 2010 - Mandel Institute scholar Daniel Marom, expert in Israeli education, and the history and philosophy of Jewish and Zionist education in Israel and the United States.
    Fall 2007 - Spring 2009 Haifa University scholar Uri Bar-Joseph, expert in security studies and intelligence.

A $1 million gift to SF State from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund in 1997, at the time the largest donation in the University's history, established the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Chair in Jewish Studies and Social Responsibility, held by Mark Dollinger since 2002.

Scholarships in Jewish Studies

Leonard Bernstein Scholarship -- 2000.00 awarded annually to a Jewish Studies major or minor who demonstrates a high degree of community involvement and activity in the Bay Area Jewish community. This scholarship is a gift from the B'nai Brith of San Francisco and will end in 2011.

Recipient of the First Leonard Bernstein Scholarship, 2009-2010, Aaron Ilan Horn (JS 2010)

Alumni and Student Accomplishments

Yulia Paluy ('08) receives a doctoral fellowship to Stanford, Dept. of Psychology.
Matt Dillon ('08) receives a graduate fellowship to pursue a doctorate in Religious Studies at Rice University. Matt will continue his studies on Kabbalah and Adam Kadmon from a comparative perspective.
Barton Creeth ('09) receives a graduate fellowship to pursue the M.A. in Sacred Music and Literature at Yale University. Barton will specialize in Holocaust Ethics.
Joshua Bishop ('05) has received a graduate fellowship to Fordham University's School of Divinity. He intends to pursue an M.A. in Theology, comparing Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
David Stanton ('09) receives a graduate fellowship to pursue studies at UC Berkeley in Education.
Shawna Vesco ('07) receives a graduate fellowship to pursue a doctorate in Literature at UC Santa Cruz. Shawna intends to specialize in Comparative Jewish Literatures.
Anton Sousa ('07) and Adam King ('08) enter the DaLet Jewish Education Program.

Recipients of University and College Scholarships/Awards:

Katie Lally, Kaufmann Undergraduate Scholarship, 2009-2010

Recipients of the Sara Ruth Award for Best Essay in Jewish Studies:

Daigan Gaither, 2008-2009
Rose Kleiner and Luis Cardona, 2007-2008.
Matt Dillon, 2006-2007.

Donations to the Department of Jewish Studies
To donate to the Department of Jewish Studies, please contact either Professor Fred Astren or follow the above link, "Donations."