Sheila H. Katz

Sheila H. Katz, Ph.D., is professor of Middle Eastern History and Contemplative Studies in the Liberal Arts Department. For 24 years, she has taught the history of Palestinian-Israeli relations, the multicultural history and practice of meditation, and global perspectives on music and social change.

Her book Connecting with the Enemy: A Century of Palestinian-Israeli Joint Nonviolence (2016) is the hidden history of two peoples' alliances across deep polarization, and Katz has presented it to universities, bookstores, activist networks, conferences, and community centers, among other locations, across the U.S., Ireland, Northern Ireland, Spain, and New Zealand. She leads a three-week silent meditation retreat where she plays guitar for ecstatic chant in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, each winter, and a one-week silent meditation retreat for women to cultivate compassionate action in the world.

Katz received a doctorate in Middle Eastern History from Harvard University, where she organized seminars on Middle Eastern women and taught for eight years. Her first book, Women and Gender in Early Palestinian and Jewish Nationalism (2003), investigates the origins of conflict through intertwined gender and national identities in the early 20th century. She has published numerous articles and reviews. Her teaching is informed by travels to multiple countries including Laos, Thailand, Japan, Australia, and Ethiopia. She is a lifelong practitioner of yoga and enjoys biking to Berklee for seven miles along the Charles River. Her best teachers are her colleagues and grandchildren.