​Topics: Rebirth of Israel, Israeli society, The Arab-Israeli Conflict, Early Islamic empires, Religion and society in the Middle East, Iranian History

Dr. D Gershon Lewental is the AICE/Schusterman visiting professor of Israel studies at the Department of History and the College of International Studies at the University of Oklahoma. He earned his AB from Cornell University and received his PhD in Middle Eastern history from Brandeis University, writing his dissertation on the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah during the Arab-Muslim conquest of Iran and the changing perceptions of the engagement through time. His fields of specialization include Iranian history, early Islam, the Baha’i faith, and Israeli history, and he seeks in his scholarship to examine the interplay of memory, religion, and nationalism in identity. Topics on which he is currently working include Saddam Husayn’s religious rhetoric; the Baha’i community in Israel from 1917 to the present; and early Islamic historiography.

During the 2011–2012 academic year, he will be teaching the following classes at the University of Oklahoma: Rebirth of Israel, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Early Islamic empires, and Religion and society in the Middle East. His professional website is DGLnotes.com.

Contact: lewental@ou.edu