UF Appoints Aviad Moreno Courtesy Associate Professor
BGU scholar Aviad Moreno is appointed courtesy associate professor at the University of Florida, deepening the universities’ academic partnership.
Dr. Aviad Moreno, a faculty member at the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, has been appointed a Courtesy Associate Professor at the University of Florida (UF). The appointment follows a sabbatical year during which he served as a visiting professor at UF’s Bud Shorstein Center for Jewish Studies.
The appointment caps a year of significant institutional collaboration between Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the University of Florida. Together with partners in the United States, Germany, Mexico and Canada, the two universities established the Consortium for Jewish Studies Across the Americas (CJSA), an international academic partnership bringing together universities and research centers to advance research and collaboration in the field.
The Consortium includes the Azrieli Center for Israel Studies at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; the Bud Shorstein Center at the University of Florida; the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University; the Martin Buber Institute for Jewish Studies at the University of Cologne; the Jewish Studies Program at Universidad Hebraica in Mexico; and the Centre for Jewish Studies at York University in Canada.
“This appointment reflects the exceptional partnership that has developed between Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the University of Florida over the past year,” said Dr. Moreno. “Through initiatives such as the Consortium, we are creating new opportunities for international research, both in practical and conceptual terms. At a time when Jewish history, the State of Israel and global Jewish life are attracting more attention than ever, partnerships like these help illuminate the study of Israeli society and its relationships with Jewish communities around the world from unexpected perspectives.”
Dr. Moreno is one of the Consortium’s founders and represents Ben-Gurion University of the Negev within it. The Consortium aims to advance interdisciplinary and comparative research on Jewish communities in North, South and Central America within a broad global framework, while fostering dialogue with fields such as Israel Studies, Middle Eastern Studies and migration research. It is also developing infrastructure for sabbaticals, conferences, joint publications, reciprocal visiting programs and support for graduate students.
According to Prof. Raanan Rein, a former vice president of Tel Aviv University and the current holder of the Alexander Grass Chair in Jewish Studies at the University of Florida: “The Bud Shorstein Center is becoming a leader in Jewish Studies nationally and internationally. Latin American Jewish Studies, Holocaust Studies and Israel Studies are the three pillars of our center. Through international collaborations, such as the one we forged this year with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, we hope to continue advancing research, teaching and student exchanges in these fields.”
The partnership between the two institutions was further strengthened during a visit to the University of Florida by Prof. Michal Bar-Asher Siegal, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s Vice President for Global Engagement. The visit concluded with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two universities.
“Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is committed to building meaningful international partnerships that expand research, academic collaboration and our global impact,” said Prof. Bar-Asher Siegal. “Our growing relationship with the University of Florida clearly demonstrates this vision, connecting leading scholars while creating new opportunities for students and faculty. Dr. Moreno’s appointment is both recognition of his academic leadership and another significant milestone in a partnership that we hope will continue to grow in the years ahead.”
