The Open University of Israel
Prof. Aviva Halamish

Prof. Aviva Halamish

Department of History, Philosophy and Judaic Studies

Professor Aviva Halamish is a historian at the Open University of Israel, and Editor-in-Chief of the Open University of Israel Press.
Her research encompasses the history of the Jewish people and of Palestine in the twentieth century, focusing on the history of Zionism; Jewish immigration in the twentieth century including illegal Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine; history of the Yishuv (Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine) and of the state of Israel; the kibbutz; youth movements; historical biography.
She authored or edited over a dozen books and published scores of articles on various aspects of her fields of expertise.
She has been involved for many years in history teaching at the education system as a teacher, lecturer at courses for teachers, member of The Ministry of Education committees and academic consultant to textbooks for junior and high schools.
Served as Head of Modern History Studies at the Open University of Israel.

Updated: February 2016
 

Personal

Tel: Home: 972-3-5442229 ; Office: 972-9-7781383; Mobile: 972-54-492-5572

Fax: 972-9-7781416

E-mail: avivaha@openu.ac.il

Born in Haifa, Israel
Mother of two

Back

Professional Education

1973 B.A., History of the Muslim Countries, History and History of the Jewish People; The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, (summa cum laude)
1976 M.A., Jewish History and Middle East Studies; Columbia University, New York, USA
1982 High School Teaching Certificate, Department of Education; The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
1996 Ph.D., Jewish History; Tel Aviv University, Israel
Back

Academic Appointments

2000 Senior Lecturer, Netanya Academic College
2004 Senior Lecturer, The Open University of Israel
2006 Associate Professor, The Open University of Israel
2012 Full Professor, The Open University of Israel
Back

Professional Experience (since 2004)

1982 – 2004 The Open University of Israel, junior-staff member
2000 – 2006 Netanya Academic College, Senior Lecturer
2004 – 2006 The Open University of Israel, Senior Lecturer
2006 – 2012 The Open University of Israel, Associate Professor
2012 – 2014 The Open University of Israel, Full Professor
Back

Administrative and Other Academic Activities (partial list; since 2000)

1998 – 2001 Member of the Academic Board of the Institute for the Study of Zionism, Tel Aviv University
2000 – 2006 Member of the Academic Board, Illegal Immigration Museum, Athlit.
2003 – on Member of the Board of Overseers, Hebrew Union College, Jerusalem
2004 – 2009 Member of the Executive Board, Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv; and of its Academic Committee
2005 – 2008 Head of the Center for the Research of Eretz-Israel and Its Yishuv of the Open University of Israel and Yad Ben-Zvi
2005 – 2008 Head of the Center for the Research of Eretz-Israel and Its Yishuv of the Open University of Israel and Yad Ben-Zvi
2005 – on Merd of Dmber of the Boairectors of the Association for Israel Studies
2006– 2008 Chair, The Ministry of Education Committee for re-writing and updating C-V Aviva Halamish, February 2016, p. 2 2 History curricula for grades 6-9 in the General School System.
2007-2014 Member of the Senate, The Open University
2007-2011 Member of the Board of Directors, The Historical Society of Israel
2007 – 2009 Vice-President of the Association for Israel Studies
2007 – 2008 Head, Academic Development, The Open University
2007 - on Member of Yad Yaari's Academic Committee
2008 – 2014 Head, Modern History Studies, Dep. of History, Philosophy and Judaic Studies, The Open University
2007 – 2011 Member of the Board of Directors, The Historical Society of Israel
2008 – 2010 Member of the Ministry of Education Committee of History
2007 – 2008 Head, Academic Development, The Open University
2007 – on Member of the Academic Committee of Yad Yaari
2007 – on Head, Modern History Studies, Dep. of History, Philosophy and Judaic Studies, The Open University
2008 – 2010 Member of the Ministry of Education Committee of History
2008 – 2011 Member of the Open University Council
2008 – on Member of the Academic Committee of the Lavon Institute
2009 – 2011 President, The Association for Israel Studies
2009 – 2011 President, The Association for Israel Studies
2009 – on Chair of Yad Yaari's Academic Committee
2009 – on Member of Machon Avshalom's Board of Directors
2009 – on Member of the Higher Education Council's committee for the approval of B.Ed in History at the Sha'anan Religious Academic College for Education
2010 – on Member of Machon Avshalom's Academic Committee
2011 – 2014 Chair, Academic Committee of the Kibbutz Researchers' Forum
2011 – on Member of the Academic Committee of the School for Jerusalem Studies, Yad Ben Zvi, Jerusalem
2012-2014 Chair, Accreditation Committee, The Open University of Israel
2012-2014 Member of the Open University appointment committee for lecturer and senior lecturer
2013-2014 Member of the Open University appointment committee for associate professor and full professor
2013-2014 Member of the Open University selection committee of potential senior faculty members with exceptional research record
2013-on Head and Editor-in-Chief, The Open University of Israel Press
Back

Fields of Research

Back

Scholarships

1987 The Luba Datlow and Emma Rosenberg Ph.D. Fund, Tel Aviv University
1988 The Joseph and Ceil Mazer Post Doctoral Fellowship Fund, Tel Aviv University
1989 The Faculty of the Humanities, Tel Aviv University
1990 The Hannah and Zvi Brander Fund, The Institute for the Research of Zionism, Tel Aviv University
1991 The Rashi Fund for Distinguished Ph.D. Candidates, The Open University
1991 The David Ben-Gurion Fund for Research Promotion, General Federation of Labor
1991 and 1992 Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, New York, USA
1994 The Rothschild Yad Avi ha-Yishuv Fund
1999 Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, New York, USA
1999 and 2000 Rivlin Institute, Bar Ilan University
2000 The Eisenstadt Scholarship, Lavon Institute, Tel Aviv
Back

Prizes

2007 The Association for Israel Studies Annual Shapiro Award for Best Book in Israel Studies during the year 2006, for the book: Be'merutz Kaful Neged Hazman [A Dual Race Against Time: Zionist Immigration Policy in the 1930s] (Yad Ben Zvi).
2008 Hecht Prize of the Herzl Institute for the Research and Study of Zionism, University of Haifa, for a research book in History of Zionism, the Yishuv and the State of Israel, for the book: Be'merutz Kaful Neged Hazman [A Dual Race Against Time: Zionist Immigration Policy in the 1930s] (Yad Ben Zvi).
2010 Yitzhak Ben Zvi Award for research book in the History of Eretz Yisrael, for the book Meir Yaari: Biographya Kibbutzit [Meir Ya'ari: Collective Biography, the First Fifty Years, 1897-1947] (Am Oved Publishers).
Back

Sponsored Research and Grants

1984 – 1987 The Inter-University Project for the Research of Illegal Immigration in Honor of Shaul Avigur; Illegal Immigration Ship "Exodus 1947"
2001 – 2004 Yad Ya'ari, The Center for Research and Documentation of HaShomer HaTzair Movement and of the Kibbutz Artzi Federation: Biography of Me'ir Ya'ari
2009 – 2011 Grant from Yad Chaim Weizmann at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot and The Chaim Weizmann Institute for Research of Zionism and Israel at Tel Aviv University for a research titled: "Chaim Weizmann and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Ideology and Political Activity"
Three years grant from the Israel Science Foundation (240,000 NIS): "1934 - Profile of a Year: Toward an Integrative History of the Yishuv" [Application No. 36/12]
Back

Membership on Editorial Boards

1998 – 2001 member of the Editorial Board, Ha-Tzyonut
1998 – 2001 member of the Editorial Board, The Journal of Israeli History
2002 – on member of the Editorial Board, Aley Zayit ve-Herev
2003 – on co-editor, Cathedra for the History of Eretz Israel and its Yishuv
2003 – on member of the Editorial Board of Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi Press
2005 – on member of the Editorial Board, Iyunim Bitkumat Israel
2009 – on member of the Editorial Board of The Ben-Gurion Research Institute Press (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)
2012 – on member of the editorial board of Moreshet: Journal for the Study of the Holocaust and Antisemitism [English and Hebrew issues]
2013 – on Head and Editor-in-Chief, The Open University of Israel Press
Back

Membership in Professional Societies

Back

Visiting Scholar

Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University, August 2005-February 2006

The Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA., January-July 2010

The Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, October 2014-September 2015

Back

Teaching

The Open University
1986 – 1991 "Jerusalem throughout the Ages," Coordinator and instructor
2001 – 2005 "From National Home to a State in the Making: The Jewish Community in Palestine between the World Wars," Coordinator and instructor
Tel Aviv University
1987 – 1999, 2007, 2011 Courses in the history of the Yishuv and Israel
Menashe College (affiliated with Tel Aviv University)
1996 Courses in the history of Palestine / Eretz Yisrael
University of Haifa
1998 MA course on Jewish Immigration
Bar Ilan University
1999 BA and MA courses in Jewish history and history of Palestine
Netanya Academic College
2001 – 2005 History courses in the school for communication studies
Back

Other Professional Activities

Supervision of Ph.D. Theses
Tal Elmaliach, University of Haifa (with Prof. Daniel Gutwein).
Doron Nadiv, University of Haifa (with Prof. Daniel Gutwein).
Efrat Seckbach (Bar Ilan University, with Prof. Margalit Shilo).

Post Doctoral Instructor
Dr. Anat Kidron, 2009

Referee of MA Dissertations and Ph.D. Thesis and Proposals
Tel Aviv University; Ben Gurion University; Bar Ilan University; University of Haifa; The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Referee of Research Proposals
The National Foundation for Jewish Culture: Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships in Jewish Studies, 2007.
German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF), 2009.
Israel Science Foundation (ISF) 2009, 2011.

Referee for Prize Committee
Auschwitz Foundation Prizes, 2008.

Member of Prize Committees
The Goldhirsh Prize for Outstanding MA Thesis in Holocaust Studies, Ben-Gurion University (2005)
KKL [Jewish National Fund] Prize Committees for Doctoral Dissertations (2005, 2006 and 2007)
The Shimon Ben Shemesh Prize, KKL [Jewish National Fund] (2006).
The Ephraim E. Urbach Post-Doctoral International Fellowship for Jewish Studies of The Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture in co-operation with the World Union of Jewish Studies, 2009, 2011.

Chair of Prize Committees
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi Award for research book in the History of Eretz Yisrael, 2011
Mordechai Ish-Shalom Award for first research book in the History of Eretz Yisrael, 2011
Yizhak Sadeh Prize for book in Military History, 2011.
Association for Israel Studies' Yonathan Shapiro Award for Best Book in Israel Studies, 2012.

Referee of books
Ha-Kibbutz ha-Meuchad; Israel State Archive; Schusterman Series in Israel Studies (Brandeis University); Tel Aviv University and Am Oved series; The Ben-Gurion Research Institute Press (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)#; Yad Ben Zvi Press#; Yad Tabenkin.
# Prior to joining the editorial board

Referee of articles
British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies; Cathedra#;Ha-Tziyonut;Israel; Israel Studies Forum; Israel Studies Review; Iyunim bi'Tekumat Israel#; Journal of Modern Jewish Studies; Nations and Nationalism; Pe'amim; Studies in Zionism; The Journal of Israeli History; Zion; Zmanim.
# Prior to joining the editorial board

Back

Scientific Consulting

Mordechai Naor, Birkat ha-Hashmal [The History of Israel Electric Corporation], Jerusalem 2003.

Dosh: Karikaturist 1921-2000 [Dosh: A Caricaturist], Tel Aviv 2007.

Beno Rothenberg: Tzulam ve-nirsham 1947-1957 [Beno Rothenberg: Photographed and Reported 1947 1957], Tel Aviv 2007.

Yemima Rosenthal (Series Editor), Louise Fischer (Editing and historical notes), Moshe Sharett: The Second Prime Minister – Selected Documents (1894-1965), Jerusalem 2007 [State of Israel – Israel Archives / Commemorative Series: The Presidents and prime Ministers of Israel], scientific consultation to ch. 1-7, pp. 1-340 [Hebrew].

Zvi Zameret and Hannah Yablonka (eds.), The Third Decade: 1968-1978 [Idan Series of Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi], Jerusalem 2008.

Ruvik Rosenthal, Dictionary of Hebrew Idioms and Phrases [Hebrew], Jerusalem 2009: "Zionism".

Asaf Zeltzer, The Story of Mekorot: Israel National Water Company: The First 75 Years, Jerusalem: Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi, 2011 [Hebrew].

Back

Academic Advising to Open University Books

Between Zion and Zionism, Units 1 (1995) and 8 (1998)

Trends in Israeli Society, Unit 4 (2001)

Israel’s First Decade, Units 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 (2001 and 2002)

Introduction of Local Government, Unit 3 (2004)

Yemeni Jews: History, Society and Culture, Unit 7

National Myths in Israeli Culture (Temporary edition)

Mira Katzburg-Yungman (ed.), Ha-Havaya ha-Yehudit ha-Amerikanit [The American Jewish Experience, Hebrew] (2006)

Mira Katzburg-Yungman (ed.), The American Jewish Experience [a Collection of Articles in English] (2006)

Ariel Horowitz, The Holocaust, a unit in the course “Genocide” (2006)

Ariel Horowitz, The Holocaust, a unit in the course “Genocide” (2006)

Bat-Sheva Margalit-Stren, Women in the Jewish Society in Palestine (1882-1948) (2014)

Inbal Ofer, The French Revolution (2015)

Back

Referee for Prize Committee

Auschwitz Foundation Prizes, 6002

Back

Member of Prize Committees

The Goldhirsh Prize for Outstanding MA Thesis in Holocaust Studies, Ben-Gurion University (2005)

KKL [Jewish National Fund] Prize Committees for Doctoral Dissertations (2005, 2006 and 2007)

The Shimon Ben Shemesh Prize, KKL [Jewish National Fund] (2006)

The Ephraim E. Urbach Post-Doctoral International Fellowship for Jewish Studies of The Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture in co-operation with the World Union of Jewish Studies, 2009, 2011

Association for Israel Studies' Ben Halpern Award for Best Dissertation in Israel Studies, 2013

Association for Israel Studies' Yonathan Shapiro Award for Best Book in Israel Studies, 2015

Back

Chair of Prize Committees

Yitzhak Ben-Zvi Award for research book in the History of Eretz Yisrael, 2011

Mordechai Ish-Shalom Award for first research book in the History of Eretz Yisrael, 2011

Yizhak Sadeh Prize for book in Military Writing, 2011
Association for Israel Studies' Yonathan Shapiro Award for Best Book in Israel Studies, 2012

Back

Conference Activities

List of Publications

Back