Rachel S. Harris

Rachel S. Harris is a Professor of Film and Multimedia Studies and holds the Elaine and Herbert Gimelstob Eminent Scholar Chair in Judaic Studies at Florida Atlantic University, where she also directs the Program in Jewish Studies. She previously served as Associate Professor of Comparative and World Literature and in the Program in Jewish Culture & Society at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (2009–2022), and was the Shoshana Shrier Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto.

Her research focuses on Israeli cinema, literature, gender, and cultural identity. Key areas include representations of women in Israeli film, suicide as ideological expression in literature, war and dissent in Israeli arts, and the transnational influences shaping Israeli cinema. She explores how national narratives are constructed and contested through cultural media, with a strong emphasis on gender, memory, and identity.

The recent publications and edited volumes reflect a consistent engagement with Israeli cultural production, particularly film and literature, often through interdisciplinary and feminist lenses. Her work spans pedagogical approaches to conflict, transnational cinematic flows, and the recovery of marginalized voices in Israeli history and media. Themes of trauma, identity, resistance, and representation recur across her scholarship.

Scientific Awards and Recognitions:

• Fulbright Senior Scholar Award (2023)
• Janovics Center Best Book Award for Casting a Giant Shadow (2021)
• Chair, Yonathan Shapiro Award Committee (2021–2022)
• Board Member, Association for Israel Studies (2015–2019)
• Chair, AIS Annual Conference on Pluralistic Israel (2021)

Leadership and Service: Harris is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Jewish Identities and has led key committees in the Association for Jewish Studies and Association for Israel Studies. She is currently working on a new project titled With a Wider Lens: Recovering Lost Israeli Cinema 1948–1968, supported by her Fulbright award and hosted at Tel Aviv University’s Steve Tisch School of Film and Television.

Labs, Teams, and Research Groups: While not tied to a formal lab, Harris leads and collaborates with interdisciplinary research teams focused on Jewish identities, Israeli cinema, and cultural dissent. Her editorial and conference leadership roles reflect her central position in shaping scholarly discourse in Jewish and Israel studies.