Past Massada Seminars

Dr Ayman Agbaria (M) and Professor Daniel Statman (M), Education and Philosophy, Haifa University. Collaborating Fellow: Rev Dr Tess Kuin Lawton, Chaplain, Worcester.

‘From the Wells’: A Jewish-Arab educational initiative: Theory and Practice

Dr Omer Aloni (M), Peres Academic Centre. Collaborating Fellows: Professor Patricia Clavin, History, Worcester and Dr Michael Drolet, History and Politics, Worcester.

The League of Nations, International Law, and the Current Ecological Crisis

Professor Yemima Ben-Menahem (F), Philosophy of Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Collaborating Fellow: Dr Patrick Dűrr, Department of Philosophy.

Cleopatra’s Nose: Historical Contingency and Why it Matters

Professor Tovi Bibring (F), French and Judaism, Bar Ilan University. Collaborating Fellow: Dr Laura Ashe, English, Worcester.

Exceptional Medieval Story-tellers: How Three Jewish Writers of Hebrew in Europe Challenged the Dominant Culture of their Times

Dr Neta Bodner (F), Medieval History, The Open University. Collaborating Fellow: Dr Conrad Leyser, History, Worcester.

Naked in the Water: Medieval Architecture in the Service of Jewish Purification Practices

Professor Avishai Dekel (M), Astrophysics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Collaborating Fellow: Dr Sugata Kaviraj, Astrophysics, Worcester.

The Magic Scale of Galaxies: how the preferred mass and time for galaxy and black-hole formation originate from the physical processes of supernova feedback and gas heating in massive dark-matter haloes

Dr Yaacov Falkov (M) History, Tel Aviv and Reichman Universities. Collaborating Fellow: Dr Roderick Bailey, History and Wellcome Centre for Ethics.

‘Jews as a Nation are Exterminated’: Holocaust Through the Eyes of Soviet Intelligence, 1939-1945

Professor Oren Gazal Ayal (M), Dean of Law, Haifa University. Collaborating Fellow: Professor Julian Roberts, Law, Worcester.

Jews and Arabs in the Israeli courts: Exploring just treatment of ethnic minorities

Dr Amy Gelbart (F), Education, Herzog College. Collaborating Fellow: Dr Gabriel Stylianides, Education, Worcester.

How the fundamentals of improvisation and playback theatre can help you enhance creativity, cultivate listening skills and adopt a growth mindset that improves communication

Professor Chanita Goodblatt (F), Foreign Literatures and Linguistics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Collaborating Fellow: Professor Peter McCullough, Lincoln College.

‘The University is a Paradise: Rivers of Knowledge are There’: The Life and Work of Evelyn Simpson (editor of early modern English texts and first female Oxford DPhil)

Dr Alma Igra (F), Polonsky Academy for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. Collaborating Fellows: Professor Patricia Clavin, History, Worcester, and Dr Michael Drolet, History and Politics, Worcester.

Can Food Make the World Go Round? Scientific Nutrition, Environmental Thinking and Empire

Dr Irad Kimhi (M), Philosopher. Collaborating Fellow: Dr Steven Methven, Philosophy, Worcester.

The linguistic turn away from absolute idealism

Professor Menahem Kister (M), Bible and Talmud, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Collaborating Fellow: Professor Hindy Najman, Theology, Oriel.

Knowledge of Good and Evil and Divine Precepts Embedded within the Human Soul according to Some Ancient Jewish and Christian Texts

Professor Irad Malkin (M), Archaeology and Ancient History, Tel Aviv University. Collaborating Fellow: Professor Scott Scullion, Classics, Worcester.

Fairness, Equality, and the Founding of Four Hundred Ancient Greek Cities

Dr Martina Mampieri (F), Jewish Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Collaborating Fellow: Professor David Rechter, Oxford Center for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

Preserving Book Heritage Under Threat: Trade and Survival

Professor Ronen Perry (M), Law, Haifa University. Collaborating Fellow: Professor Donal Nolan, Law, Worcester.

Online Anonymous Speech: Technology, Law and Economics: problems and solutions arising from social networks

Professor Renee Poznanaski (F), History, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Collaborating Fellow: Professor Robert Gildea, History, Worcester.

Jewish? French? Transnational? Jews in the Resistance in WWII France

Dr Zohar Rubinstein (M), Medicine, Tel Aviv University. Collaborating Fellow: Professor John Parrington, Medicine, Worcester.

How urgent is the immediate, on-sight treatment of psychological casualties (or shock victims) in traumatic events? Testimony from the field

Also: a screening followed by Q&A with Dr Rubinstein of the award-winning film Streetscapes.

Professor Shlomi Segal (M), PPE, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Collaborating Fellow: Dr Zofia Stemplowska, Politics.

The Value of Equality: Positive or Negative?

Professor Daniel Statman (M), Philosophy and Political Theory, Haifa University. Collaborating Fellow: Dr Zofia Stemplowska, Politics, Worcester.

Can Preferential Treatment Discriminate Against its Beneficiaries?