Published October 3, 2023
MONROE, LA– Jennifer Dumas, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Political Science, has been named
a member of the 2023-2024 cohort of the Charles E. Scheidt Faculty Fellows in Atrocity
Prevention Program, sponsored by Binghamton University's Institute for Genocide and
Mass Atrocity Prevention (I-GMAP).
The Faculty Fellows program, which includes 46 scholars from over 30 colleges and
universities around the country, is dedicated to bringing together faculty members
to review scholarship on mass atrocities, identity-based violence, and human rights,
and discuss ways to incorporate this research on mass atrocity and genocide prevention
efforts through innovative pedagogical efforts in their classrooms.
Faculty Fellows will hear directly from experts in the field, including I-GMAP's sister
organization, the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities
(AIPG), a non-governmental organization operating worldwide to facilitate atrocity
prevention.
The Faculty Fellows program is a multidisciplinary approach with faculty coming from
a variety of programs, including Political Science, Theater, Business, Nursing and
Computer Science, among others.
Fellows attend trainings, briefings and lectures on mass atrocities as well as prepare
course syllabi that demonstrate integration of insights on violence prevention in
the classroom. They receive a $2,500 reward and travel expenses to attend the 2024
Frontiers of Prevention international forum at Binghamton University in the spring
upon completion of the program.
“I’m thankful for the opportunities provided by the Israel Institute and I-GMAP to
expand course offerings for the Political Science program at ULM and enhance pedagogical
approaches to my courses based on training in atrocity prevention,” Dr. Dumas said.
Dr. Dumas will utilize the Faculty Fellows program's resources in upcoming Political
Science courses, including an African Politics course in the fall and a Senior Seminar
course in the spring, focusing on religion and politics in modern Israel.
The latter course is supplemented by a $10,000 course development grant from the Israel
Institute, awarded to U.S. and Canadian university faculty members who wish to develop
undergraduate courses on Israel. The course will examine the unique role that Israel
plays as the only Jewish state in the world and will look at the evolution of secular
and religious Judaism in Israeli politics and governance, including the legislature,
legal system and military, over the past 80 years, with special emphasis on changing
relations among secular and non-secular Jewish Israelis, Ultra-Orthodox communities
and Arab Israelis.
Students will receive a comprehensive introduction to the role of Zionism in the founding
of the State of Israel, explanations regarding the role of religion in government
turnover and conflict with the Palestinian territories and neighboring states, and
finally, an assessment of the impact of changing religious demographics within Israel
on domestic political coalitions, foreign policy shifts in the region and diaspora
relations.
Dr. Dumas will undergo language training and visit relevant institutions and sites
in Jerusalem to enhance her teaching of the course, including Givat Ram, to tour the
Knesset and Supreme Court, as well as Yad Vashem (The World Holocaust Remembrance
Center), the Western Wall and the al-Aqsa Mosque. The award money will further help
fund a trip to New Orleans in the spring for students enrolled in the course, where
they will visit the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience and the World War II
Museum.
At the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, students will learn of the timeline
and motivations behind waves of Jewish immigration to the U.S. South as well as get
a first-hand view of religious and cultural artifacts related to Judaism.
On their visit to the National World War II Museum, students will connect knowledge
gleaned from the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience's exhibits on U.S. Jews
in the South during the Holocaust to the role of anti-Semitism in both World War II
and the Holocaust as well as initial U.S. hesitancy to engage in the war before the
bombing of Pearl Harbor.
This will provide context to the course's focus in the latter half of the semester
on new developments in Israeli foreign policy, specifically on the evolution of the
U.S.-Israel bilateral relationship in the context of shared and disparate religious
discourse as opposed to regional geopolitical strategy.
“It is crucial that ULM students have the ability to learn about the history of mass
atrocities around the world and consider ways they can practice violence prevention
and protect human rights in their homes, communities and careers,” Dr. Dumas said.
“I look forward to the ability to offer my students a hands-on learning experience
through their museum visits in the spring.”
