Jake Beckert

M.A., History and Jewish Studies

Jake Beckert is graduating with a dual master’s degree in history and Jewish studies. Originally from Whitefish Bay Wisconsin, Jake spent his undergraduate years at University of Wisconsin Madison, where he also majored in Jewish studies and history.

Jake’s research focuses on the history of American Jews relationship with Israel­–specifically, though not exclusively, post 1967. In particular Jake is interested in the ways American Jews conceptions of Israel and Zionism have been shaped by transnational institutions, and the ideologies those institutions draw on. He is also interested in how conceptions of gender and masculinity have shaped Jewish nationality.

In his time at Indiana University Jake has been advised by Professor Noam Zadoff, and Professor Sarah Imhoff. This Fall Jake will begin his PhD in history at University of Washington Seattle, where he will continue his research on the history of American Jews relationship with Israel under the tutelage of Professor Liora Halperin and Professor Noam Pianko.

Dr. Stephen Buono

Ph.D., modern U.S. and international history

Stephen Buono will graduate in July 2020 with a PhD in modern U.S. and international history. His research and teaching interests straddle a number of fields including science and technology, political and intellectual history, and the history of America in the world. Stephen’s dissertation, “The Province of All Mankind,” narrates the emergence of outer space as a profound new realm of U.S. foreign policy and international law during the 1950s and 1960s. The project has benefitted from the support of the American Historical Association (AHA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Carnegie Corporation of New York, as well as the Eisenhower and Kennedy Presidential Libraries. Excerpts of the dissertation have appeared as articles in Diplomatic History and Diplomacy & Statecraft. After graduating, Stephen will be a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation.