Dr. Michael Feige

Dr. Michael (z"l) Feige was a Visiting Professor in the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies and the Departments of Anthropology and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandies University. He also taught at Ben Gurion University of the Negev. He received a BA, MA, and PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research focused on Israeli society, collective memory and political myth. 

In the 2006-2007 academic year, Dr. Feige taught the following courses at Emory as a visiting Israeli scholar at the Emory University Sociology Department:

Judaism in Israel: Religion, Politics and Ethnicity (Spring 2007)

Some consider Israel as "the Jewish state," demanding that the state be constructed according to the logic of the Jewish halacha; most Israelis are content to see "the State of the Jews", a place where Jews can hold their identity and strive without fear of persecution. This course will explore the meaning and various manifestations of the intersection between Jewish religion and the State of Israel. The main focus of the course would be on the main Jewish religious communities: the Haredim (Ultra-orthodox), the National Religious and Shas (the Mizrahi Haredim), and the new versions of modern Judaism that are currently developing and expanding. The Israeli case can exemplify how religions encounter the challenges of modernity and nationalism through processes of transformation and accommodation.

Visions and Divisions: An Introduction to Israeli Society (Fall 2006)

Built on the premises of Zionist ideology, Israeli state and society has to encounter to this day issues of inner and outer conflicts, multiple identity options and social divisions, some focused on the right way to define the national collective. This course will explore processes of identity formation in Israel, concentrating of the ideology, characteristics and social position of major social groups, such as the early Israeli pioneers, the second generation "Sabre", and various religious, national and ethnic groups. The effects of gender identity and of the protracted conflict on forming an Israeli sense of self shall also be discussed. The course portrays the historical development of "Israeliness" through the state years, and reaches issues concerning contemporary Israeli society.

Built on the premises of Zionist ideology, Israeli state and society has to encounter to this day issues of inner and outer conflicts, multiple identity options and social divisions, some focused on the right way to define the national collective. This course will explore processes of identity formation in Israel, concentrating of the ideology, characteristics and social position of major social groups, such as the early Israeli pioneers, the second generation "Sabre", and various religious, national and ethnic groups. The effects of gender identity and of the protracted conflict on forming an Israeli sense of self shall also be discussed. The course portrays the historical development of "Israeliness" through the state years, and reaches issues concerning contemporary Israeli society.