Monmouth U. receives Fulbright to host Israeli, Palestinian scholars

by Jill Huber
NJJN Bureau Chief/Monmouth

Monmouth University in West Long Branch has received a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence grant to bring Israeli psychologist Dan Bar-On and Palestinian educator Sami Adwan to campus for the spring 2007 semester.

The two scholars, who are co-directors of the Peace Research Institute in the Middle East, will enhance the university’s curriculum in global education and peace through their teaching and co-teaching of various courses.

The two will also act as resources to faculty members, students, and members of the on- and off-campus communities, according to Monmouth University president Paul G. Gaffney II.

“This is a unique opportunity to bring together peace builders from a chronically troubled region,” Gaffney said. “I could not be happier that our students and faculty members will be able to participate in the rich dialogue that will surely ensue.”

At PRIME, Bar-On and Adwan focused on a joint effort among Israeli and Palestinian teachers to write and test a new history curriculum for use in Israeli and Palestinian schools. Rather than having them revise existing texts, the project engages teachers on both sides in a “dual-narrative” approach to teaching the history of the region, the educators explained.

“It recognizes that given the current polarized conflict, there is not enough common ground for Israelis and Palestinians to create a single, historical narrative,” they said in a joint statement.

The two are eager to bring their insight and experience to Monmouth University.

“I am very happy to have this opportunity to come to Monmouth University and collaborate with Dr. Adwan and the community on some common issues which we all share,” said Bar-On, a professor of psychology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s Department of Behavioral Sciences. “For instance, what can we do to reduce tension and hostility between Jews and Palestinians?”

Adwan also envisions prospects for peace.

“I look forward to being at Monmouth University and working with my colleague and partner,” he said. “This is an important step toward peace-building by using education, research, and project cooperation among Israelis, Palestinians, and American scholars.”

Bar-On was born in Haifa in 1938 and was a member of Kibbutz Revivim for 25 years. He received a master’s degree in psychology from Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1975 and began working in the kibbutz clinic, where he conducted therapy and research among the families of Holocaust survivors. He received a doctoral degree from Hebrew University in 1981, and in 1985, launched field research in Germany that studied the psychological and moral aftereffects of the Holocaust on the children of the perpetrators. He also has authored a series of the books on these subjects.

In 1998, Bar-On was the Ida E. King Chair for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

Adwan was born in 1954 in Sourif, a small village northwest of Hebron. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Jordan in 1976, he earned a master’s degree in educational administration from San Francisco State University in 1982 and a doctorate in educational administration from the University of San Francisco in 1987.

Adwan has taught and served as chair of the education program at Hebron University and has been a faculty member at Bethlehem University since 1993. His research has focused on the role of education in building peace, and he has authored numerous publications on the Middle East conflict.

The Fulbright scholar-in-residence program brings visiting scholars and professionals from other countries to lecture at U.S. colleges and universities for one semester or one academic year. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of State and the Council for International Exchange of Scholars.