What is the relationship between nationalism and democracy in Israel and in the United States, and can ethno-nationalism be reconciled with liberal democracy? This lecture highlights the conceptual differences between the constitutional foundations of Israel and the US and delves into the different understandings of the state’s purpose and the meaning of nationalism and citizenship within the context of these two democracies.

Dr. Masua Sagiv is the Koret Visiting Assistant Professor of Jewish and Israel Studies at UC Berkeley and a Scholar in Residence of the Shalom Hartman Institute based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Masua’s scholarly work focuses on the development of contemporary Judaism in Israel, as a culture, religion, nationality, and as part of Israel’s identity as a Jewish and democratic state. Her research explores the role of law, state actors and civil society organizations in promoting social change across diverse issues: shared society, religion and gender, religion and state, and Jewish peoplehood. Prior to moving to the Bay Area, Masua was the Academic Director of the Menomadin Center for Jewish and Democratic Law at Bar-Ilan University. She formerly taught at the Schools of Law at Bar-Ilan University and Tel-Aviv University, and was awarded the Gorney Prize for Young Scholar in Public Law. Masua earned her doctorate in law from Tel-Aviv University, where she wrote her dissertation on the topic of law and social change in the Halachic Feminist struggle in Israel. Her dissertation won the Ben Halpern Award for Best Dissertation in Israel Studies. Masua has an LL.B. in law and political science (magna cum laude) from Bar-Ilan University and an LL.M. (with honors) from Columbia University School of Law. Her book, Radical Conservativism (in Hebrew), on the Halachic Feminist struggle in Israel, will be published by the end of the year by Carmel publishing House.