New Publication - Legitimation of New Media for Religious Youth - in Memory of Yaakov Don

 

I'm glad to share that I have a new publication. The study focuses on Rabbis who constitute the educational elite among the Zionist Religious community in Israel, and their approach towards new media.

This publication is very special to me, not only for its content, but as my co-author, Yaakov Don, was a student of mine that was tragically killed in a terrorist attack several years ago. Yaakov left a rich database which I used for this study and the paper is dedicated to his memory. He is survived by four wonderful kids, Aviad, Yedidya, Maor & Rachel and his inspiring widow, Sara Don. Sara has assisted in gathering supplemental information which supported the manuscript's publication in its review stages. I thank her, and my doctoral student, Akiva Berger, who knew Yaakov very well and supported this study from its start.

The full paper is available for free (open access) here

Organizing Israel's conference for Doctoral Students focused on the Sociology and Anthropology of Education

 Dear Blog Readers,

For a while I have been engaged in organizing the Annual conference for Doctoral Students focusing on the Sociology and Anthropology of Education to take place on October 6, 2021. The conference is led by four primary universities in Israel: University of Haifa, Tel Aviv University, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Ben Gurion University of the Negev. It brings forth cutting edge studies of the young cadre of scholars in the field. This year the event is hosted by the Faculty of Education at the University of Haifa and the program for Education, Society and Culture which I chair. 

The conference offers the following panels:

• Education under the COVID Crisis
• Alternative Education and knowledge
• Religion and Identity
• Identity, Class and Political Socialization
• Educational Spaces: Beyond Classroom Walls
• Ethnicity, Periphery and Gender

For more information on the program, presenter names/abstracts, enrollment and more, please visit the Conference Website. 

CFP: Digital Youth and Religion

 Dear Readers,

I want to share with you a call for papers on a special edition that I am guest editing for Religions. Please feel free to share this with others that may be of interest

Religion and Inclusive Science Communication - Online Round Tables

 

Dear Readers,

I wanted to share with you an upcoming event I am organizing and co-hosting with colleagues of the University of Haifa and the Technion. The project initiators are: Professor Ayelet Baram-Tsabari of the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, and Professor Yariv Tsfati, of the Department of Communications and Journalism at the University of Haifa. In addition, leading participants and organizers include Dr. Lea Taragin-Zeller (Technion), Nakhi Mishol Shauli (University of Haifa) and Yael Rosenblum.

The event is based on our project on the ultra Orthodox Jewry and their modes of communicating science. We have invited international and local speakers, scholars and practitioners invested in mediating scientific concepts in everyday life. I am posting the flyer that we are distributing here and invite all interested parties to join in on the event. 

To register, please click here

 Dear Readers,

In a few weeks, I will be in conversation with Professor Ayala Fader of Fordham University on her new book "Hidden Heretics". Please browse through the enclosed invitation. If you are interested in attending, you are most welcome to join on January 13, 2021 at 4pm (Israel Time) and 9am EST at the following link:  

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84458529805

 

New Publication on Jewish ultra-orthodox students in Israeli higher education

Dear Readers,

Just published a new manuscript with my Phd student, Eldar Fehl, titled: "Legitimizing academic knowledge in religious bounded T communities: Jewish ultra-orthodox students in Israeli higher education". This is a rare occasion for me to write about non-media issues, however, for those interested in bounded communities, they may find this appealing. The larger study does have connections to the legitimation of new media among Jewish ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) students, something to (hopefully) be published in the future.

To view the full paper online see: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101609

Ethnography of Sacred Communities: Shifting Horizons of Online Religiosity (Upcoming Event)

Dear Readers,

Below you can read about an event I am developing with colleagues for the upcoming Anthropological conference in Portugal, July 2020. A Session that will be held online, given the COVID-19 crisis

easa

European Association of Social Anthropologists
Association Européenne des Anthropologues Sociaux

0640 paper proposals 

Ethnography of Sacred Communities: Shifting Horizons of Online Religiosity

Convenors:

Oren Golan (University of Haifa)
Elisa Farinacci (University of Bologna)
Nurit Stadler (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Michele Martini (University of Cambridge)
 Please Send message to convenors via the easa website

Short abstract:

This panel focuses on the ways communal boundaries (internal and external), religious taboos, rituals and material culture are shaped, reproduced and changed via media platforms. Thus, illuminating contemporary religious authority, the anthropology of mediatisation and communal representation.

Long abstract:

For the past two decades, religious communities have been increasingly embracing online means to represent themselves, augment visibility, proselyte creed, and fortify their boundaries. In this panel, we focus on agents, institutional agencies and devotees that are pivotal in this endeavor. Ergo, we inquire about the ways in which communal boundaries (internal and external), religious taboos, rituals and material culture are shaped, reproduced and changed via a variety of digital media platforms including official websites, blogs, social media, films, television series, and web series. We invite scholars who employ ethnographic and netnographic accounts, and network analysis to shed light on these communities and their representations. This panel aims at fostering our understanding of key categories that are at the heart of current debates in anthropology and media studies, such as: * Emergent roles of online authority. * Negotiation of online/offline religious communities. * Anthropology of mediatisation. * Representations of religious communities in the media. * The ways the religious third space is constructed and mediated.