The Cohn Family in collaboration with The Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities and the Commission for Equity, Diversity and Community at Tel Aviv University inaugurated the Cohn Program for Israeli-Arab inclusion in the Humanities during the University’s annual Board of Governors Meeting this week. The Cohn Family has supported the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas along with individual departments in the Humanities at TAU for decades. The current program is aimed at centralizing and expanding the existing efforts to attract Arab students to enroll in the Humanities at TAU.

As part of the 2023 Board of Governors meeting at TAU, Dan Cohn, the Entin Faculty of Humanities and the Commission for Equity, Diversity and Community are holding a study tour in Lod, a mixed Jewish-Arab town. The tour will focus on The Lowy International School’s Gap Year Program and the archeological excavations in Lod, which will be presented by Prof. Yuval Gadot, Head of TAU’s Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures.

WATCH: The inauguration ceremony of the Cohn Program for Israeli-Arab Inclusion in the Humanities at Tel Aviv University

Prof. Neta Ziv, TAU Vice President for Equity, Diversity and Community: “Tel Aviv University sees great importance in promoting equity and diversity on its campus. I would like to thank the Cohn Family for their generous gift and the decision to centralize the efforts to promote equity in the Humanities under a unified program. I believe that such a program can help to increase the opportunities for Arab students in Humanities.”

Dan Cohn: “My family has supported the study of the Humanities at TAU for almost half a century. While STEM subjects have attracted substantial support from funders, it has been more difficult to attract that funding in the Humanities. In addition, Arab students have, for a number of reasons – language, role models and critical mass – gravitated to the STEM world. For some time, in initiatives sponsored in specific departments at TAU, efforts have been made to attract Arab students to study Humanities at TAU, to help fill certain gaps in their educational background (e.g., Hebrew), facilitate the creation of a sense of community and open opportunities for graduate fellowships. With the arrival of President [Ariel] Porat and others, the opportunity has been presented to centralize and expand these efforts under the direction of the President and the Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Community. By providing this opportunity at TAU, my family can make a contribution to increasing equity in Israeli society.”