The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies is an interdisciplinary research center based in Israel and devoted to the study of the modern history and contemporary affairs of Africa and the Middle East. The Center seeks to impart an understanding of Middle Eastern past and present to academic and general audiences, in Israel and abroad. It is part of the School of History and the Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities at Tel Aviv University.
Contents |
The Moshe Dayan Center is governed by an Israeli Board of Governors, on the advice of an International Advisory Council. It is administered by an academic director. The Center is funded by the University, an endowment, research grants, and contributions.
The Moshe Dayan Center is the eldest, and so far largest, institution of its kind in Israel.[1] Over the years, it has played a renowned role in illuminating the Middle East, through research, publications, conferences, documentary collections, and public service. Its mission has been to bring scholarly objectivity to the analysis of subjects that often stir passions. The Moshe Dayan Center does not take positions or recommend policies. It seeks to inform the academic community, policy makers, journalists, and the general public about the complexities of the Middle East, and so advance peace through understanding.
Some of its programs are in partnership with the Council of Higher Education of the Republic of Turkey and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Its other foreign connections include Council on Foreign Relations in New York, the Turkish Foreign Policy Institute in Ankara, Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, Emory University, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara.[1]
The Israel Oriental Society established the Reuven Shiloah Institute in 1959. In 1965, the Institute was incorporated into Tel Aviv University. The university in turn established the Moshe Dayan Center in 1983, combining the Shiloah Institute and documentation units that concerned themselves with the Middle East. The Ungerleider family, among other generous friends of the late Moshe Dayan, provided the Center's endowment.[1][2]