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American
studies attracts great interest in some countries in the Middle
East, including Israel. During 1998-99, Melvin Patrick Ely, a
professor of history and black studies at the College of William
and Mary, spent the year teaching a graduate seminar on slaves
and free blacks and an undergraduate course on the American civil
rights movement at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The scholar's
grant reflected the growing interest of Israeli scholars in American
studies and, in particular, African American history. This interest,
Ely explained, stems partly from Israel's attempt to confront
the increasing diversity of its own society and the shifts in
the political and economic power wielded by the nation's different
ethnic communities. "Israel now faces the challenge of how to
be a thriving democracy amid ethnic and social diversity, and
for this, American history provides many lessons, both positive
and negative."
During his Fulbright year, Ely was also invited
to lecture in the former East Germany and Cyprus. In the latter
country, he spoke before audiences in both the Greek and Turkish
Cypriot communities and was featured prominently by the local
press in both zones. "I had the unusual experience of speaking
about American racial divisions and reconciliation in societies
that are currently, or were formerly, starkly divided by nationality
or politics," Ely remarked. "I learned things that have broadened
and deepened my teaching back home, and I hope I was able to stimulate
some productive thinking both in Israel, my host country, and
in the other places I visited."
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