Acclaimed Israeli Poet Eran Hadas to Teach at Caltech This Spring

Eran Hadas, a celebrated Israeli poet whose work has been featured at art festivals internationally, will serve as a visiting lecturer at Caltech this spring.

Hadas, creator of “Augmented Poetry,” the innovative poetry-writing algorithm, will be in Pasadena from Jan. 4 to June 20th. Hadas is lecturing at the California Institute of Technology through the Schusterman Visiting Israeli Artists Program, which is bringing 14 Israeli artists for residencies at top universities across the United States during the 2016-2017 academic year.

Hadas is best known for his innovative combination of poetic art and computer programming, which has since sparked the artistic development of poetry writing through technology. He teaches a course called “Poetic Computation” at Hamidrasha, which is a leading Israeli academic institution for training artists and teachers. He also teaches digital art courses at independent art schools throughout Israel. In addition to his academic background, Hadas hosts his own live radio show in Israel called New Media Salon, and his work has been featured in international art festivals and museums such as Paraflows Festival in Vienna, The Orpheus Institute in Belgium and Text Festival in Manchester.

The Visiting Israeli Artists program, an initiative of the Israel Institute, a D.C.-based academic institute that aims to enhance the study of modern Israel, brings Israeli filmmakers, choreographers, musicians, writers and visual artists for residencies at top universities and other cultural organizations in North America.

The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation founded the program in 2008 to foster interactions between the artists and their communities, exposing a broader audience to contemporary Israeli culture.

“What makes The Schusterman Visiting Israeli Artist Program unique and so effective is that it allows members of the host community and the visiting artists to connect in a variety of settings, from formal to informal, over a significant period of time, rather than the more traditional one-off experience,” says Marge Goldwater, the program’s director.

“As we look back on the last eight years, we see that the success of the residencies has prompted host institutions to find ways to bring Israeli cultural leaders to their communities after the Schusterman artist has left.”

Since the program launched, there have been 68 residencies featuring 78 artists at colleges and universities across North America. The artists have included a recipient of The Israel Prize, Israel’s most prestigious award; an Emmy nominee; recipients of Israel’s highest literary awards, and many winners of multiple Israeli Oscars.

“The Schusterman Visiting Israeli Artists program is the bridge between the Israel Institute’s academic and cultural programming. These visiting artists provide more than just classes that teach skills; these artists provide a window into the heart of Israel,” said Ariel Roth, executive director of the Israel Institute.

“Cultural education provides insights into the fabric of a society in the way that other courses cannot and the understanding of students enrolled in these classes is deeper and more enriched as a result.”

For more details about Hadas, please click here.

About The Israel Institute

The Israel Institute works in partnership with leading academic, research and cultural institutions to enhance knowledge and study of modern Israel in the United States and around the world. Founded in 2012 as an independent, nonpartisan organization based in Washington, DC, the Institute supports scholarship, research and exchanges to build a multi-faceted field of Israel Studies and expand opportunities to explore the diversity and complexity of contemporary Israel.