Designing for Jewish Diasporism

This thesis project uses graphic design to explore the landscape of justice-based Jewish Diasporism. It specifically examines the holiday of Tu B’shvat, the Jewish Near Year of Trees. In recent history, this holiday has been rebranded to bolster nationalism within Israel. Through the Rooted Here Tu B’shvat Haggadah (prayer book/instructional manual) and thesis exhibition, I aim to disentangle the holiday from its Zionist history and to ground it in its original, spiritual roots: using the fruit and nuts that originate from trees to learn truths about ourselves and the Earth around us.