معرفی
Rebecca L. Stein is Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Duke University's Trinity College of Arts & Sciences and a Bass Fellow. Her work focuses on the intersection of culture, politics, and digital media within the context of Israeli military occupation and Palestinian dispossession. She has made significant contributions to understanding how new communication technologies mediate everyday Israeli relationships to military occupation.
Dr. Stein received her academic training at prestigious institutions:
- Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Stanford University (1999)
- M.A. from Stanford University (1995)
- B.A. from Amherst College (1991)
Stein's research examines linkages between cultural and political processes in Israel related to military occupation and Palestinian dispossession. Her work explores how digital technologies, particularly smartphones and social media, have transformed documentation of state violence, military counterinsurgency practices, and Palestinian resistance. She investigates the promises and failures of digital imaging technologies in bearing witness to occupation, challenging techno-optimism while revealing complex visual politics across political divides.
Her extensive publication record reveals consistent focus on the visual politics of occupation, with recent work examining Israeli media management of Gaza coverage, "fake news" discourses around Palestinian documentation, and the historical connections between tourism and military occupation. Stein's scholarship demonstrates how digital media has become central to both the practice and documentation of state violence in Israel/Palestine.
Dr. Stein has received significant recognition for her scholarly contributions:
- Bass Distinguished Chair at Duke University (2013)
- Teaching Award among top 5% of undergraduate instructors at Duke (2012)
- Research Fellowship from the Wenner-Gren Foundation (2012)
- Academic Fellowship from the Palestinian American Research Council (2012)
Stein has secured substantial research funding including grants from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Palestinian American Research Council, and the Trent Foundation. Her current research projects examine American-Israeli relations in the shadow of the 2020 presidential campaign and security versus privacy in urban monitoring. She actively mentors students through independent studies and special topics tutorials across multiple departments.
While not leading a formal laboratory, Stein collaborates extensively on interdisciplinary research about media, conflict, and occupation. Her work bridges anthropology, media studies, and Middle Eastern studies, creating a cohesive research community focused on critical analysis of Israeli military occupation through the lens of digital media and visual culture.
