Society of Scholars
The Society of Scholars is an intellectual community of humanists of diverse generations, academic ranks, and departmental affiliations who contribute to and learn from one another’s work. Each year, approximately eight faculty and three dissertation research fellowships support members of the Society of Scholars. Scholars in year-long residence at the University of Washington may be invited to participate as well. The group meets biweekly throughout the year to discuss their research in progress.
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2024 - 2025 Society of Scholars
2020 - 2021 Society of Scholars Fellow
Liora Halperin (she/her/hers)
The Deed: Blood, Ownership, and Memory in Palestine and Israel
A 1902 murder case involving a Palestinian landowner from Jaffa and a European Jewish settler in the nearby Rishon LeZion colony frames an intertwined history of Palestinian and Zionist private agriculture, wealth, and memory. Drawing on Hebrew and Arabic archival and published materials, "The Deed" re-centers the ambivalent legacies and divergent 20th century trajectories of private landowners as Zionists increasingly touted national and collective ownership and Palestinians emphasized ties to land that transcended strictly legal claims.