Eric Zakim
Associate Professor; Coordinator, Hebrew Program; Director, The Joseph and Alma Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies
Office: 4225 Jimenez Hall
Phone: 301-405-4250
Email: zakim@umd.edu

Eric Zakim received his Ph.D. from the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley in 1996. He has taught various aspects of modernist and post-modernist literature and cultural studies, focusing especially on Hebrew literature and Israeli culture. Before coming to the University of Maryland in the fall of 2002, Eric Zakim taught for several years at Duke University. His current research interests include cultural violence, critical theory in the study of music, and the discourses of nature in Zionist culture. His book, To Build and Be Built: Landscape, Literature, and the Construction of Zionist Identity, was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in early 2006; he is currently co-editing a volume of essays on culture in the Mediterranean, Mediterranean Studies: Rethinking the Boundaries of Culture, which will be published by the MLA Press.

Professor Zakim is on leave during Fall 2006.



Nili Levy
Instructor; Advisor, Hebrew Program
Office: 4202 Jimenez Hall
Phone: 301-405-1002
Email: nlevy@umd.edu

Nili Levy has been teaching Hebrew language at the University of Maryland since 1983. Before moving to the United States, Ms. Levy taught Hebrew language and literature for ten years in Israeli high schools. During this time, she also served as the head of a Hebrew Literature Department. Ms. Levy taught Hebrew at the Baltimore Hebrew University for four years. Since coming to UM, she has taught all levels of Hebrew. She also developed a course on Israeli cinema, served as Hebrew Coordinator and Advisor, and worked on a variety of departmental committees. In addition, she was the Hebrew Program Liaison to the language house for ten years. Ms. Levy served on the Hebrew Committee for the SAT II subject examinations administered by the Princeton College Board. Currently, Ms. Levy is the Hebrew Program Advisor.


Einat Gonen
Lecturer; Liaison, Language House
Office: 4202 Jimenez Hall
Phone: 301-405-1002
Email: egonen@umd.edu

Einat Gonen received her M.A. in 1999 from the Department of Hebrew Language at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is currently working toward her Ph.D. in the same department. She arrived at the University of Maryland in 2001. Before that, she taught at the Hebrew University, both as a teacher of Hebrew language in their summer language ulpan and as an instructor in linguistics. At the same time, she also administered several programs at the Hebrew Language Academy. Einat Gonen's current research looks at the development of certain linguistic forms within spoken Hebrew. She has, most recently, authored the updated grammar sections for the forthcoming edition of the Even-Shoshan Dictionary.


Sheila Jelen
Assistant Professor
Phone: 301-405-3783
Email: sjelen@umd.edu