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Alumni spotlight: Malia Sayad
Malia Sayad graduated from Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in political science with a concentration in International Relations. During her junior year, Malia was dismayed to see a sharp rise in antisemitism and enrolled in Dr. Eugene M. Avrutin’s Jewish history course. She says Dr. Avrutin’s passion for the subject left her taken with how beautiful and diverse she found Jewish history and culture to be. It was his class, in addition to seeing those around her be radicalized, that led her to want to understand how history informs contemporary hate. Malia’s senior thesis studied...
Making of the Jewish Nation
"Making of the Jewish Nation" traces the development of different forms of Jewish nationalism (diaspora nationalism, Zionism, territorialism, etc.) and the origins of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
American Jewish History: The Case of Central Illinois
The course offers an opportunity to learn the nuances of archival work using the collections available locally—the University of Illinois Library!
The Holocaust in Context
Examines cultural representations of the Holocaust in literature, film, and critical essays.