Reasearch Units

Africa
The African Unit at the Truman Institute is dedicated to research on Africa, its inclusion in the global agenda and its promotion within the Israeli academia. Its scholars come from various disciplines, including religious studies, development studies, anthropology, folklore, history, economics, history and politics. In the past year, the unit has been reinvigorated through the involvement of a committed group of young scholars from the Hebrew University and beyond, and has produced a series of events, conferences and, most notably, an interdisciplinary workshop series focusing on Africa called “Africounters”. 

Asia
The Asia Unit scholars' research fields include modern history, anthropology, linguistics, political, intellectual and socioeconomic trends in Central, East and Southeast Asia. Seminars and events of late have covered broad-ranging topics, from an overview of the struggle over energy resources among China, the United States and India, to the contemporary remembrance of the Nanjing Massacre, the ethno-national conflict and international crisis in Abkhazia, a Methodological Seminar of Young Japan Scholars, as well as a special colloquium on selected issues in the study of modern Southeast Asia.

Latin America  
The Latin America Unit focuses on social and political processes in Latin America within broader theoretical perspectives. The Unit holds regular seminars with local and guest lecturers. Fellows of the unit cooperate with colleagues abroad on a variety of topics, mainly in relation to the process of democratization particularly in the Southern Cone (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay) and Brazil. Members of the unit have been working on civil society, collective identities, and the institutionalization of human rights, political exile, educational reforms and economic policies.

Middle East
The Middle East Unit is the largest research unit at the Truman Institute, reflecting both the Institute's regional location and the significance that the Institute has given to the region's past and contemporary history. The Middle East Unit comprises a diverse group of researchers who are studying the political, economic, social, ideological, and cultural trends in various parts of the Middle East from both historical and contemporary perspectives. The unit’s members include Jewish and Arab scholars, both Israeli and visiting. While some of the scholars are engaged in their own individual projects, some are also affiliated with various research groups that address the Middle East.