Alek D. Epstein

Alek D. Epstein was born in 1975 in Moscow

Alek Davidovich Epstein was born in Moscow on April 18, 1975. He divides his time between Jerusalem and Moscow and takes part in academic, educational and civil rights projects in both countries.

He graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1995 and earned his PhD in 2001. Martin van Creveld and Baruch Kimmerling supervised his graduate work. His doctorate dealt with the role of academics in shaping Israeli political culture during the period of Labor Movement dominance.

From 1999 to 2012 he worked at the Open University of Israel, where he coordinated academic ties with Russian universities. From 1999 to 2010 he taught the sociology of Israel at Moscow State University. He also taught at the Hebrew University, the College of Management and, from 2009, the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences.

He has published more than 200 papers and more than 20 books. His topics include Israeli history and politics, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Palestinian refugee problem, conscientious objection and relations between Israel and Russia. In November 2012 he started an alternative prize for Russian activist art and chaired its jury.