Join us for a talk about a new book on the American Jewish relationship with Israel focused on its most urgent and sensitive issue: the question of Palestinian rights. Author and MSU alum Geoffrey Levin will discuss the many ways that American Jews have grappled with challenging ethical and political questions stemming from the early decades of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His talk will also reveal the secret ways that Israeli, Arab, and American government actors shaped the limits of American Jewish discourse during Israel’s first thirty years.

Dr. Geoffrey Levin is assistant professor of Middle Eastern and Jewish Studies at Emory University in Atlanta and Director of Undergraduate Engagement at Emory’s Tam Institute for Jewish Studies. His first book, Our Palestine Question: Israel and American Jewish Dissent, 1948-1978, was released by Yale University Press in Fall 2023. Dr. Levin was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard’s Center for Jewish Studies in 2019-20. He holds a PhD in Jewish history from New York University and also studied at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Haifa. Most importantly, Geoff is a 2011 graduate of MSU’s James Madison College, where he earned a major in International Relations and minors in Political Economy and a specialization in Jewish Studies.

Channel Co-Sponsors: College of Arts & Letters, College of Social Science, Department of History, International Studies & Programs, James Madison College, Office for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, and Residential College in the Arts & Humanities.