Nurit Kirsh

kirshn[at]mail.biu.ac.il

Name: Nurit Kirsh

Date and Place of Birth: 10 May 1968, Jerusalem
Nationality: Israeli
Marital Status: Married to Ehud Finkelstein

National Service: 1986-1988 – working in educationand with new immigrants from Ethiopia.

Address: 7 Mordechai Mayer St., Tel-Aviv, 6964l. Tel. 03-6493195. Nuki@post.tau.ac.il

UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

1989: B.A. in Biology (with distinction) from the Open University of Israel, Tel-Aviv.

I started my Academic Studies on 1983, while I was still in highschool (9th grade) and finished them on my second year of National Service.


1992: M.Sc. in Microbiology, Bar-IlanUniversity, Ramat-Gan.

Thesis: "Quantitative Study of the Male Specific Protein (MSP) in Normal, Sex Inversed and Gynogenetic Tilapias". Guided by Professor Rami R. Avtalion


1995-2003: Ph.D. Student at the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel-Aviv University. Thesis: “The Teaching and Research of Genetics at the Hebrew University (1935-1961)" Guided by Professor Eva Jablonka and Professor Anita Shapira.


1997: B.A. in Social Sciences (with distinction) from the Open University of Israel, Tel-Aviv.


1998: The Course “Science since 1789”, Department of History, UC Berkeley, USA.



SCHOLARSHIPS, PRIZES AND GRANTS
Tel-Aviv City Council Prize for Best Essays, 1984.


Dean Prize for Excellence, The Open University, 1987, 1989.


Scholarship of the Biology Department, Bar- Ilan University, 1989-1990.


Excellence Scholarship of the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel-Aviv University, 1996, 1997.


Grant of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1997-1999.


Grant for Doctorat Thesis from the Israeli High Education Council, 1999-2002.


Travel grant from the Institute for the History of Medicine and Science, University of Lubeck, May 2001 for attending the international conference: History of Human Experimentation during the 20th Century.


Neuberger Scholarship from the Institute for German History, Tel-Aviv University, 2003.


ACADEMIC RESEARCH
1996-1997: Research Assistance of Dr. Rakefet Shefy and Professor Menachem Mautner, on: "Cultural Affiliation of Jurists and the Organization of the Judiciary Culture in Israel from the Mandate Era till the First Decade of the State".


1997-2000: "Genetic Research in Israel (1935-1961) – Roots, Growth and Institutionalization".

Chief Researcher: Professor Eva Jablonka

1998-2001: "From a Desolate Colony to a Prosperous Periphery: Science Devlopment in Israel".

With Ronen Altman.

June 2002: Archival research in the American Philosophical Society Archives, Philadelphia.


CONFERENCE PAPERS AND INVITED TALKS
“Manifestation of the Zionist Ideology in Genetic Studies on Ethnic Groups in Israel" in: History of Science in the Forming Israel – The Founding Conference of the Israeli Association for the History and Philosophy of Science, the Van-Leer Institution, Jerusalem, 15-16 March 2000.


"The Genetic Research of Ethnic Groups in Israel as an Instrument for Shaping and Reinforcing the Jewish Identity" in: Jewish Identity on the Threshold of the Millennium, Shazar Center and Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem, 25-28 December 2000.


“’The Wandering Jew Returns to his Homeland: How the Zionist Narrative is Reflected in Genetic Research about Communities in Israel”. An Invited Lecture in the International conference: History of Human Experimentation during the 20th Century. University of Lubeck, Germany, 18-20 May 2001.


“Historical Lessons from Genetic Studies” a panel discussion in the 6th international conference on: Ancient DNA & Associated Biomolecules. Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, Rehovot, 21-25 July 2002.


“From Central Europe to Jerusalem: Immigrant Biologists in an All-Immigrant University”. A lecture in the International conference: Migrant Scientists in the 20th Century. Istituto di Fisica Generale Applicata, Milan, Italy, 20-22 June 2003.


LECTURES IN SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS
“Common Biological Origin and Jewish Collective Memory” in the workshop: Language, Image and Propaganda. The young section of the Historical Society of Israel, Shoresh 5-6 July 2000


“Israeli Human Geneticists as Agents Participate in National Identity Shaping” in: the department colloquium of the History and Philosophy of Science, Bar-Ilan University. 2 January 2001


“Human Population Genetics in the 1950ies and 1960ies: Biological Research, Ideological Biases” in: Rabin Center’s Young Researchers Forum, Tel-Aviv, 15 June 2001.


“Richard Goldschmidt, Elisabeth Goldschmidt and the Genetic Department in the Hebrew University” in: the History of Sciene in Israel Workshop, Jerusalem, 21 April 2002.


“The Influence of the German Scientific Tradition and the American Scientific Tradition on the Development of Science in Israel” in the workshop: Science, Technology and Society in Israel, Sde-Boker, 28-29 June 2002.


“The Hebrew University People and their Scientific Travels in and around the Land of Israel” in: the annual seminar of the Young Researchers Forum for Studies on Israel, Ma’ale-Hachamisha, 10-11 September 2002


“Genetic Research and Identity Construction in Israel in the fifties” in: the research seminar of the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel-Aviv University. 21 October 2002.

PUBLICATIONS
Kirsh, N. (2003) “Population Genetics in Israel in the 1950s: The Unconscious Internalization of Ideology, Isis, Journal of the History of Science, 94: 631-655.

Kirsh, N. (2003) “Genetic Research on Israel’s Populations: Two Opposite Tendencies”, in: Volker Roelcke, Giovanni Maio (eds.) Twentieth Century Ethics of Human Subjects Research: Historical Perspectives on Values, Practices, and Regulations, Stuttgart: Steiner.

Kirsh, N. (forthcoming, Spring 2004) “Physicians in the Young State of Israel: “Putting Jewish Migration into it’s Historic Perspective”, Korot, the Israel Journal of the History of Medicine and Science.

Kirsh, N. (forthcoming) "The Beginning of Genetics in the Hebrew University". An Invited chapter to The History of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2nd vol., Jerusalem: Magnes Press, (in Hebrew).


Kirsh, N. (Accepted) “Geneticist Elisabeth Goldschmidt: A Twofold Pioneering Story”, Isreal Studies, “Science in Israel - a special Issue”.


Kirsh , N. (in process) “From Tel-Hashomer to Ethiopia: a chronicle of an expedition” An Invited article to Israel, Studies in Zionism and the State of Israel.


Kirsh , N. (in process) “Immigrants among Immigrants: the Story of Four Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem”.



EXPERIENCE IN TEACHING
1989-1900: Assistant, Genetics and Immunology courses, Bar-Ilan University.


1991-1997: Teaching courses for gifted children at the Erica Landau’s Institute for the Promotion of Creativity & Excellence, Tel-Aviv.


1991: Teaching Hebrew for new imigrants from Russia (voluntary).


1991-1992: Teaching at the Institute for Jewish and Zionist Education (Melitz)


1992-1997, 2002-2004: Biology teacher, high school.