Karolyn Benger is the owner of KB Enterprise, a nonprofit consulting firm in Phoenix,  AZ. Previously, she was the founding Executive Director of the newly created Jewish Community Relations Council in Phoenix and served as the Executive Director of the Jewish Interest Free Loan of Atlanta. She is a graduate of Emory University with a degree in Political Science and a specialization in the Middle East where she studied Arab and Islamist opposition groups in Egypt. Ms. Benger has taught at Emory University, Georgia Tech, and Emerson College and is passionate about interfaith dialogue, race relations, and the peace and security of the Jewish community. She regularly speaks on Women in Orthodoxy, Women in Islam, Democratization in the Middle East, Social Movements, Anti-Semitism, and Islamist organizations. Her non-academic publications can be found with eJewish Philanthropy, Kveller, North Shore Children and Families, Times of Israel, and Binah.

 

Topics I speak/teach about include:

 

The History of the Middle East

State Formation in the Middle East

Development  of Islamist Organizations

History of Islamist Fundamentalism 

Muslim-Jewish Relations Historically

Muslim-Jewish Relations Today 

Women in Islam 

Women in Orthodox Judaism 

Religious Dress Codes of Women in Islam and Judaism 

The Birth of Islam & Development of the Caliphate 

Shi'i Islam

Iran and the Islamic Revolution 

Islamism as a Social Movement 

Islam & Democracy?

Anti-Semitism Today

Islamic Anti-Semitism 

Religious and Ethnic Conflict & Resolution 

The Muslim Brotherhood 

HAMAS 

Hizballah 

Israel Syria and Iran 

Religious Fundamentalism: Muslims and Jews 

Egypt: Nasser to Al-Sisi 

Saudi Arabia 

From Ottoman Empire to Turkey 

Turkey Between a Caliphate & Democracy 

The Birth of Israel from an Arab Perspective  

Muslim-Jewish Relations

African-American-Jewish Relations 

Interfaith Dialogue and Community Relations