University announces Penn Global Middle East Distinguished Visiting Scholar Initiative

Penn Global is pleased to announce the creation of the Penn Global Middle East Distinguished Visiting Scholar Initiative, and the appointment of the inaugural Distinguished Visiting Scholars, modern Middle East historian Shay Hazkani, political scientist Amal Jamal, and public opinion expert Dahlia Scheindlin. The new initiative will further the strategic priorities of In Principle and Practice, the University’s strategic framework. 

Fulfilling Penn Global’s mission to bring the world to Penn, the Penn Global Middle East Distinguished Visiting Scholar Initiative brings regional senior scholars to the University of Pennsylvania whose expertise and experiences enable a critical examination of the charged and complex issues shaping events in the Middle East. Through this initiative, the University will bring up to two scholars per year for a period of residency up to a semester during which time they will teach courses and participate in public dialogue- or community-based programming. 

“By bringing scholars from the region to the University, this program will foster deeper intellectual engagement of historical and contemporary issues facing the Middle East, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” says Ezekiel Emanuel, vice provost for global initiatives. “It fulfills the University’s strategic imperative ‘to strengthen the bonds of our community’ and implements a recommendation made by the Presidential Commission on Countering Hate and Building Community to establish a scholar program that focuses on talking across differences.”

Three Middle East experts and academics will inaugurate the program, which will formally launch in fall 2025 with the arrival of the first visiting scholar, Dahlia Scheindlin, followed by Shay Hazkani in spring 2026 and Amal Jamal in fall 2026. 

Dahlia Scheindlin is a public opinion expert and international political and strategic consultant based in Tel Aviv. Over two decades, she has advised on nine national campaigns in Israel and has worked on campaigns in 15 other countries and regions. She is recognized for her contributions to discussions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the peace process, and issues of democracy, human rights, and social justice. She conducts public opinion research related to the Israeli Palestinian conflict, including the Palestinian-Israeli Pulse survey, an ongoing project. She is a regular columnist at Haaretz newspaper (English), focusing on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Israeli politics, and foreign affairs; she is a founding member of +972 Magazine, an independent online magazine jointly run by Palestinian and Israeli journalists, and is a fellow at The Century Foundation. Her new book, “The Crooked Timber of Democracy: Promise Unfulfilled,” published in September 2023, critically analyzes Israel’s path to democracy. 

Shay Hazkani is an associate professor of history and Jewish studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. He specializes in the social and cultural history of Palestine/Israel. His first book, “Dear Palestine: A Social History of the 1948 War” (Stanford University Press, 2021), received the Korenblat and Azrieli-Concordia book awards and was longlisted for the Cundill History Prize. The book was also published in Hebrew and is forthcoming in Arabic in 2025. Shay is the co-creator of “The Soldier’s Opinion,” a documentary based on his research, which won the 2023 American Historical Association John E. O’Connor Film Award. Before his academic career, Shay worked as a journalist in Israel, covering the occupied Palestinian territories and the Israeli military.

Amal Jamal is dean of the faculty of social sciences and head of the Walter Lebach Institute for the Study of Jewish-Arab Coexistence at Tel Aviv University. His research focuses on applied political theory and comparative politics. He has written extensively on the dynamics and interplay of minority nationalism, state-minority relations, civil society, Indigenous rights, social movements, and political communication and mobilization. Amal is a respected voice in understanding the role of civil society in democratizing ethnic states and promoting equal citizenship for all citizens—an issue examined in his book “Reconstructing the Civic: Palestinian Civil Activism in Israel” (State University of New York Press, 2020), for which he won the best book prize of the Israeli Political Science Association in 2021.  

The initiative is made possible through a partnership with the School of Arts & Sciences’ Departments of Political Science and History, who will host the scholars during their periods of residency. Scheindlin and Jamal will join the Department of Political Science; Hazkani will join the Department of History.  

“Political Science at Penn is delighted to welcome Amal Jamal and Dahlia Scheindlin as Penn Global Middle East Distinguished Visiting Scholars,” says Brendan O’Leary, Lauder Professor and chair of the Political Science Department. “Universities need pathbreaking and credible scholars of their caliber precisely when atrocities and wars threaten to constrain or silence informed argument, analysis, and debate. We fully expect Amal and Dahlia to enlighten us, and to lead engaged discussion among our students and faculty, and aid in wider public outreach by Penn Global.”

Chair of the history department and Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History Sophia Rosenfeld adds, “the history department looks forward to Shay Hazkani, a distinguished historian, joining our exceptional cohort of teachers and scholars of the modern Middle East here at Penn in spring 2026.”

The Penn Global Middle East Distinguished Visiting Scholar Initiative is made possible by a generous unrestricted gift from Stewart Colton, W’62 and Judy Colton, given to the University last year in support of the work of Interim President J. Larry Jameson during a time of transition. 

The gift was entrusted to President Jameson to determine how best to use, reflecting both a goodwill toward Penn and faith in University leadership. President Jameson, in consultation with Emanuel, designated part of the gift to launch this initiative, which has the Coltons’ full support given its potential for positive impact on Penn’s future.  

“Thanks to the generosity and confidence of Stewart and Judy in Penn and President Jameson, the University can take this essential step toward rebuilding a welcoming, interconnected campus, while staying aligned with its core academic mission,” says Emanuel. “This initiative intends to engage the entire Penn community in much-needed critical conversations. By welcoming Dahlia, Shay, and Amal as the inaugural visiting scholars to campus, we will enrich our community with their expertise and inspire a deeper dialogue on Israel, Palestine, and the Middle East.”