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Academic First Responders

Written by AUFTAU on . Posted in Newsroom.

How TAU sparked a learning revolution in the wake of COVID-19.

By Idit Nirel

When COVID-19 broke in Israel in mid-March and the country shut down, Tel Aviv University (TAU) decided to continue teaching all courses online—almost overnight.

While many professors and students struggled to adapt, Prof. Guy Mundlak was ready.  

​Prof. Guy Mundlak

​Prof. Guy Mundlak. Photo: Yoram Reshef.

Mundlak, who teaches both at the Buchmann Faculty of Law and the Department of Labor Studies of the Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences, made the change to online teaching 4 years ago. One of his courses, “Labor Law,” is a hybrid course; students study theoretical materials on their own through online videos of lectures, and the in-person sessions are dedicated to discussions and analyzing the latest case studies. Mundlak’s motivation to go digital preceded COVID-19 and stemmed from a different reason:

“Teaching this course for over 20 years, I couldn’t reinvent the wheel and find new ways to teach the same material every time,” he says. Making the course digital refreshed it.

Mundlak sees online learning not as a constraint, but as an opportunity: “The format allows students to learn the general concepts at their own pace, and I can focus my classroom lessons on what interests us here and now, without worrying if I’ve covered all of the material in time for the exam,” he explains. “This approach leaves me more room for spontaneity, for dealing with matters of the hour, and for diving deep into topics with the students. As a result, I don’t just lecture to my students; I engage and involve them in issues that touch their everyday lives—which is the best way to learn.”

With the pandemic and lockdown crushing the economy, Mundlak’s course became especially relevant to his students in the spring of 2020. He dedicated his classes—taught via Zoom—to employment issues that emerged during the Corona pandemic, such as the ramifications of layoffs and furloughs. Because most of his students had been working as waiters or in other hourly jobs to finance their studies, these subjects were not just academic theory, but reality, for many of them.

Coronavirus Pushes Learning Online

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Dr. Tal Soffer. Photo: Yoram Reshef.

Providing Prof. Mundlak with digital tools for online teaching was Dr. Tal Soffer, Director of Virtual TAU, the unit responsible for enhancing the University’s digital teaching capacity and resources.  According to her, “online courses or integrating digital methods into other courses allow for learning that is customized to students’ needs.” At the same time, “online learning can provide students with skills for lifelong learning, which are crucial for success in today’s labor market—such as time management and the ability to learn independently.”

As Coronavirus spread in Israel and lockdown appeared imminent, Soffer and her team were already working around the clock to facilitate the shift to online studies. It was a success. More than 90,000 live online lessons took place over the spring semester, in addition to thousands of lessons recorded for independent study. All in all, online learning during the lockdown accounted for more than 50,000 hours and 10 Terabits in digital volume.

 

TAU student Michal Ferenz. Photo: Yoram Reshef.

Soffer and her team set up a technical support hotline for online learning; they received as many as 700 calls per day. In addition to assisting professors in overcoming the technicalities of online teaching, the team also created more than 50 video guides showing lecturers how to use online learning tools to make lessons more engaging.

The team also conducted large-scale surveys among 7,000 students and 750 faculty members. They found that a vast majority of students wanted to incorporate online learning into their studies in the future.

Like other universities around the world, TAU also faced the new challenge of conducting online exams and evaluations. Spring semester exams were conducted from home with supervisors overseeing students through Zoom.

During the 2020-2021 academic year, TAU is introducing a pilot computerized authentication system for online exams. The new technology will secure online exams by verifying students’ identity and monitoring their presence and activities during the exam. Although this is a big step forward, Soffer is aware that in the long run adopting more of these technologies may be intrusive. Instead of relying on anti-cheating applications, Soffer says, the University should also encourage alternative evaluation methods, such as essays and group projects.

“The Corona crisis profoundly disrupted higher education and forced it to make the transition to the digital world—and, in a way, I believe this is exactly the kind of disruption that was needed. The question is, how do we move forward from here?” Soffer says.

Innovating on all Levels

“Universities all around the world understood a long time ago that they have to transform learning and to enhance their online and digital tools,” says Yuval Shreibman, Director of TAU Online – Innovative Learning Center.  The Center started producing online courses long before Corona to make academia more accessible through technology.

“COVID-19 caused us to leap forward and address problems that we could previously overlook. At the same time, it shows us that we need to make complementary classroom learning more active and engaging.”

Given the volatile reality and constantly changing regulations, TAU prepared for all possible scenarios for the new academic year. While it intended to offer first-year students the option to physically attend classes, studies were conducted online for the duration of the first semester. In response, Virtual TAU has launched an unprecedented effort to arm lecturers with versatile presentation tools and introduce additional courses that are fully online.


Virtual TAU Team. Photo: Yoram Reshef.

Admissions to the University are also going online, with a new admissions track based on participation and success in specific online courses chosen by each faculty. The new track is currently intended for candidates who, because of COVID-19, could not take standardized university admissions tests. Yet, it also provides greater access to the University for young Israelis from disadvantaged backgrounds or outlying communities, who otherwise might not be able to study at TAU.

In the fall of 2021, TAU plans to launch a new fully online international MBA program, the first of its kind to be offered by an Israeli university. It will combine video courses that students will watch independently, with personal guidance from teaching staff, online study forums and projects. Based on the same high entrance requirements as the regular MBA programs at TAU’s Coller School of Management—recently ranked as the 13th school in the world for producing VC-backed entrepreneurs—the program is expected to attract ambitious students from across the globe.

COVID-19 underlined the importance of online learning at TAU so much that President Ariel Porat created a new position to oversee educational innovation; Prof. Liat Kishon-Rabin became Dean of Innovation in Learning and Teaching in July. “TAU has always prided itself as a leader in educational innovation, but the Corona pandemic has highlighted the need to focus on this field even more,” says Prof. Porat. “I trust that Prof. Kishon-Rabin will build on our existing achievements and lead us through the post-Corona era with vision and success.”

Read about Minducate, an innovation and learning center at TAU. 

Providing Critical Support during Online Learning

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Alberto Meschiany. Photo: Moshe Bedarshi.

Despite the positive insights gleaned about online learning, TAU must take into account students who struggled with remote learning as it prepares for a new academic year in the shadow of COVID-19. Alberto Meschiany, Head of the Psychological Services Unit at TAU’s Student Services Division, says that at the beginning of the crisis, his unit experienced a 15% rise in requests for psychological support.

“For many students, the anxiety resulting from the pandemic itself and its economic implications was coupled with the stress of having to study and take exams from home,” he says. “For students who live in the dorms or come from lower socio-economic levels this was exceptionally difficult. Many of them don’t have a quiet place to study. Some live in remote towns that don’t have the Internet network to support continuous online studies.”

Yet, according to Meschiany, it isn’t only the logistical and technological barriers that made the shift to online learning difficult for many TAU students. “Distance from other students can create feelings of alienation and loneliness. All the technology in the world cannot replace the support that students get from their peers,” he says. “In addition, the lack of a personal lecturer-student relationship has a negative effect on academic development. The ability to knock on a lecturer’s door and ask a question or discuss a topic spontaneously is lost with online learning.”

Meschiany believes that as the University adopts more online learning methods, it should make an effort to tailor them to accommodate students with various difficulties. “They will need our active help,” he says.

The Student Viewpoint

Looking back at lessons learned from the “first wave” of online learning, there is no question that TAU can learn the most from its students. Jonathan Berkheim, a master’s student in chemistry and spokesperson for TAU’s Student Union when the pandemic started, experienced the lockdown and its aftermath from several perspectives.

As a senior member of the Student Union, he fielded numerous calls from students who struggled to study within the new framework. Even students who fared well felt shortchanged, according to Berkheim. “The social interaction, class discussions and campus life are crucial parts of the package that students expect from university studies.” 

Jonathan Berkheim. Photo: Moshe Bedarshi.

At the same time, Berkheim says that the unusual circumstances broke traditional, hierarchical barriers between students and professors. They found themselves communicating directly on WhatsApp groups, saw each other’s homes during Zoom sessions, and shared similar experiences of life during the lockdown. “I hope that the University will embrace this new paradigm for student-professor relations in the future.”

​In addition, as a teaching assistant, he experienced distance learning from the other side of the virtual podium: “Something gets lost in translation. Students get distracted more easily. It was hard for me to know if they really understood what I was teaching.”

Finally, as a student himself, he found that watching recorded lessons at his own pace was convenient. “Face-to-face learning in the classroom is crucial, but combining it with independent online studies will have great benefits for students,” Berkheim concludes.

Among TAU students studying remotely are also hundreds of international students from over 100 countries, who are enrolled in over 60 English-led academic programs offered by TAU International. In the midst of the crisis, TAU International launched an online summer course, titled: “COVID-19: From Crisis to Opportunity,” which attracted more than 80 participants from Asia, South America, North America and Europe.

Read about how TAU Impact, the University’s flagship community service program, adapted to the pandemic.
 

As TAU heads toward another academic year, it is clear that life with COVID-19 has become the new normal. All players involved in online learning understand that TAU must embrace the advantages moving forward.

“Until recently, when I was presenting my own field of research—which deals with future trends in the labor market and predicts that people would increasingly shift to working from home—people would tell me that it sounds too futuristic,” says Prof. Mundlak. “Now it is has become a reality. The future is here.”

Featured image: TAU Life Sciences Prof. Nir Ohad films a remote lecture at the TAU Online studio. Photo: Yoram Reshef.

Social Work Student Sees Light in Unexpected Places

Written by AUFTAU on . Posted in Newsroom.

For Glaser Scholar Lea Tamanyo, making positive change starts with helping individuals.

By Melanie Takefman

TAU graduate student Lea Tamanyo isn’t afraid of challenges; she’s had to overcome many herself, both in her personal life and academic career.

For example, as an undergraduate student in social work, she chose to gain practical experience in one of the most difficult and complex subfields at the outset—mental health. “This area is considered hard-core in social work, but when I first started I wanted to explore different fields so I took the plunge.”  

As she enters her second year of a master’s degree at TAU’s Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tamanyo realizes that this field, despite its complexities, is her calling in life.

Even before becoming a social worker, Tamanyo, a recipient of the Herbert and Sharon Glaser Foundation scholarship, worked at an assisted living facility for men who suffer from mental illnesses. Many of them have had particularly difficult lives. At first, it wasn’t easy, she says, but slowly she became absorbed in their lives. She developed an especially strong relationship with three of her clients. “I quickly understood that their diseases don’t define them. They have so much more to them than that.

“I was drawn by the fact that I could be the one to make a positive change, that I could help them lead their best lives. I felt like I had reached the right place,” she says, the emotion patent in her voice. “The work fulfills me and gratifies me immensely.”

Now, armed with an undergraduate degree in social work, she works part-time at the same facility, alongside pursuing graduate studies at TAU.

Tamanyo’s interest in social work was sparked during her post-high school national service at Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel. “The way all the different professionals interacted to help the children captivated me,” she says. She chose social work because she likes the idea of “helping people help themselves.”

Tamanyo herself, the seventh of eight children, is no stranger to adversity. Her parents immigrated to Israel in 1991 from Ethiopia and were sent to live in a caravan compound in northern Israel. Lea says that it was difficult for them to learn Hebrew, acclimate to the Israeli mentality, and earn a living. Her father is fully disabled, and her mother works as a caretaker for the elderly, the only job she could get without an education.

“My siblings and I studied by the skin of our teeth,” said Lea. “Our parents couldn’t help us with schoolwork, and there was no money for private tutors or extra-curricular courses. I learned how to be self-reliant and teach myself.”

Despite her parents’ modest means, they instilled in their children a strong sense of purpose, perseverance, and the value of education. “They want us to succeed professionally, so that we will have what they didn’t.”

Lea says her parents encountered a lot of ignorance, on the part of veteran Israelis, about their culture. “Sometimes, it’s simply a lack of awareness, not something intentional, because when you’re not familiar with something, it can appear strange… At the end of the day, we are all immigrants, and we have to accept the other. Everyone brings with them a different color.”

Although Lea herself hasn’t encountered the difficulties her parents did, it’s clear that their experiences have shaped her identity and professional path. Seeing the best in every person, beyond their background or social identity, is something that guides her.

Herbert and Sharon Glaser

Doron Kochavi and Tammy Glaser Kochavi

“Lea is a very talented, ambitious and forward-looking young woman, who is committed to contributing to the country through her professional skills,” says Doron Kochavi, a TAU Governor, who, with his wife, fellow TAU Governor Tammy Glaser Kochavi, selected Lea as one of the recipients of the Herbert and Sharon Glaser Foundation Scholarship. 

​​“We believe that the way to create positive change in this country is to support individuals, like Lea, who want to strengthen the melting pot in which we live. In this respect, social workers play a vital role because they help the weakest members of society overcome challenges and realize their potential.”

“I am grateful to the Herbert and Sharon Glaser Foundation, and the Kochavi family for my scholarship because it frees me from financial worries and allows me to focus on my studies,” says Tamanyo. “Especially now in the era of Corona, when there is less work, it is truly a blessing.”

featured image: Glaser Scholar Lea Tamanyo. Photo: Moshe Bedarshi. 

Accelerating Jewish-Arab Entrepreneurship

Written by AUFTAU on . Posted in Newsroom.

TAU’s jumpTAU program helps bicultural teams found start-ups and friendships.

By Lindsey Zemler

“If you put a law student, a medical student, a social sciences student and an engineer in a room—it’s not the start of a joke. It’s the start of a creative idea,” says Yair Sakov, Managing Director of TAU’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center and its accelerator program, jumpTAU. 

The four-month program provides a framework for teams of TAU students and recent alumni to develop a business or social venture. In 2020, the Center, which promotes the integration of diverse communities into Israel’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, focused on bringing together Arab and Jewish students. 

Although Arab society constitutes more than 20% of Israel’s population, relations between Arab citizens and the Jewish majority are often characterized by ignorance, prejudice and fear. The same is true on Israeli campuses: “Connections between Jews and Arabs are happening in the workplace,” Sakov says, “but in academia we don’t see it enough.”

According to jumpTAU participant Lena Polevoi, a Jewish biomedical engineering student, having Jews and Arabs working together gave her team unique insights into developing a product. She acted as CEO of a student group developing a digital platform called Chatty, which aims to reduce loneliness among the elderly. “We discovered that loneliness is less prevalent among Arab seniors because they generally live with their families, while Jewish seniors do not,” she says.

 

Lena Polevoi. Photo: Yael Tzur.

Polevoi adds that she entered the program ready to learn as much as possible before graduating, especially in the field of digital marketing.

Similarly, Arab-Israeli Osaid Watted, a second-year mechanical engineering student, applied to jumpTAU to cultivate his entrepreneurial skills. He also wished to forge connections to the Jewish business world. Watted was part of the team that launched Game On, an online social platform for amateur athletes to find sports games to compete in. The team members’ different fields of study enhanced the business development process, he says.

The jumpTAU novice entrepreneurs received guidance from industry veterans and executives with decades of experience. All of the program’s volunteer mentors are TAU alumni. Most important, the mentors provided an entry point into the business world, which was a major advantage, especially for the Arab students; finding a job, for example, says Watted, would otherwise be very difficult for him, who has no experience or contacts in Israel’s business community.

Osaid Watted. Photo: Yael Tzur.

Osaid Watted. Photo: Yael Tzur.

​In addition to networking opportunities, the program, funded by the U.S. Embassy and USAID’s Conflict Mitigation and Management (CMM) Program, provided additional benefits to participants, says Sakov. 

Jewish students gained a rare window into the Arab market through their Arab peers, a huge market opportunity locally and globally, he says.

Polevoi emerged from the program with new knowledge and skills and a refined direction in life. The experience led her to take a job in a solar energy venture upon graduation from TAU. She also became good friends with her Arab teammate and says that participation in the accelerator was an opportunity to get to know a new culture first-hand. 

For Watted, the experience provided enormous personal and professional benefits; “the entrepreneurial sense in me just grew, and I became more confident in my abilities, like how to actually build a start-up—it’s just priceless.” He now plans to start his own company, based on the values he was raised on: to provide an egalitarian and empowering work environment for disadvantaged groups within the Arab community, including Arab women. 

“Respecting each other and working with each other creates a feeling of tolerance,” said Watted. 

By the program’s end, two out of eight teams had raised investment funding for their start-ups to continue beyond the accelerator. Yet, to Sakov, securing funding is but “the icing on the cake.” 

“Professional collaboration is where humanity begins,” concludes Sakov. “When you work with someone, you trust them. All of a sudden, the label that says Jewish or Arab disappears, and you see the person behind it.”

featured image: jumpTAU students. Photo: Yael Tzur.

2020 Kadar Ceremony Celebrates Pioneering Spirit and Hard Work

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In its sixth year, the Kadar Family Award continues to nurture research and excellence in teaching at TAU.

Four outstanding junior and senior TAU faculty members on campus were presented with the 2020 Kadar Family Award for Outstanding Research at a special online event as part of the 2020 Board of Governors meeting. The winners, Prof. Tal Ellenbogen (Engineering), Prof. Ilit Ferber (Humanities), Prof. Ishay Rosen-Zvi (Humanities) and Prof. Ronit Satchi-Fainaro (Medicine), were selected from multiple candidates who went through a rigorous review process.

Nadav Kadar, TAU alumnus, recently elected member of the TAU Board of Governors and co-founder of the Naomi Foundation, delivered remarks at the virtual event. Also present were Prof. Yoav Henis, outgoing VP for Research and Development and Chairman of the award committee; TAU President Prof. Ariel Porat; and outgoing TAU Rector Prof. Yaron Oz.

“My family joins me in congratulating the 2020 recipients of the award. Thank you for your magnificent contributions in your respective fields,” said Nadav Kadar on behalf of the Kadar family during the ceremony. “Our award honors outstanding research and scholarship in the sciences and the humanities and celebrates the pioneering spirit and hard work necessary to change the world. My mother, Naomi Prawer Kadar, taught Yiddish at schools and institutions of higher learning around the world including the International Yiddish Summer Program at TAU. We are proud to support Tel Aviv University as a hub of innovation.”

Prof. Henis, chair of the event, gave special thanks to the Kadar family for supporting the award for the sixth year in a row. “We truly hope that this important tradition will continue.”

“The Kadar Award has become the most prestigious research award at TAU,” said President Porat at the ceremony. “In order to become prestigious, an award must meet two conditions: candidates must be high quality, and the selection committee members must be distinguished scholars who are able to make judgments outside their field. The committee has done a wonderful job year after year.”

The Kadar Family Award is funded by the Naomi Foundation, which honors the memory of Naomi Prawer Kadar PhD, a lifelong educator and the late wife of physician, educator and innovator Dr. Avraham Kadar, a TAU graduate and benefactor. Naomi and Avraham Kadar’s three children, Nadav Kadar, Einat Kadar Kricheli, and Maya Kadar Kovalsky, are alumni of TAU and active board members of the Foundation alongside their father.

The 2020 Kadar Family Award laureates:

Prof. Tal Ellenbogen is the Head of the Laboratory for Nanoscale Electro-Optics at the School of Electrical Engineering within the Fleischman Faculty of Engineering. He studies light-matter interactions in the atmosphere to develop and improve optical technologies. Ellenbogen strives to influence industry and humanity by improving technologies that are used everywhere; mobile phones, camera lenses, computer screens, car scanners, and more.

 

 

Prof. Ilit Ferber is a member of the School of Philosophy, Linguistics and Science Studies at the Entin Faculty of Humanities. Her research examines the relationship between human communication and painful emotions such as melancholy, loss and anxiety. These emotions, generally perceived as negative, can cause language communication to collapse, making it difficult to express pain. Ferber believes, however, that painful emotions can open up a new world of communicating these feelings without words.

 

 

Prof. Ishay Rosen-Zvi belongs to the Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies and Archaeology at the Entin Faculty of Humanities.  He specializes in Talmudic literature and culture and has researched and written on the Midrash and Mishnah, as well as on issues of self-formation and collective identity in Second-Temple Judaism and rabbinic literature. He is a recipient of the Alon Fellowship and serves as a mentor for numerous master’s and PhD students.

 

 

Prof. Ronit Satchi-Fainaro is the Chair of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine. Her research focuses on the interactions between cancer calls and their microenvironments, including tumor progression and angiogenesis. For the past five years, she has worked on using the immune system to attack cancer cells using nanotechnology. In 2020, her team pivoted their work to find a COVID-19 nano-vaccine, and plan to translate research findings into clinical trials soon. She has published close to 100 scientific articles and registered numerous patents.

 

 

 
featured image: Virtual Kadar Award Ceremony 2020

Enemies: A Love Story

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TAU’s Alliance Center for Iranian Studies is global authority on modern Iran and Iranian Jews.

By Melanie Takefman

Even though they have been enemies in official channels for decades, Iranians and Israelis have a mutual fascination with each other.

“Young Iranians are very intrigued by Israelis and are eager to contact them through social media,” says Dr. Liora Hendelman-Baavur, the new director of TAU’s Alliance Center for Iranian Studies and a historian of Iranian women and media in the 20th century. “They want to know what is beyond the image of the ‘Zionist enemy’ as presented by Iranian sources.”

In parallel, the popularity of Teheran, a critically-acclaimed TV series about a Mossad agent in Iran, attests to the complex perception of Iran in Israel; Israelis view Iran as a threat but many are also nostalgic for the good relations the two countries enjoyed until 1979.

At TAU, this interest goes beyond curiosity. Now, in its 15th year, TAU’s Alliance Center is the region’s leading hub for academic research on Iran outside of Iran itself.

With the Iranian-Israeli conflict constantly in the news, the Center is more relevant than ever.

No group encapsulates the precariousness of this relationship more than Iran’s 20,000-member Jewish community, says Hendelman-Baavur. Recent Iranian legislation enshrined its boycott of Israel and underscored local Jews’ status as a minority at risk. The law makes it illegal for Iranians to meet with Israelis, a hard blow to Iranian Jews who until now could meet Israeli relatives in a third country.

Because Iranian Jews are a main focus of the Alliance Center’s research, a photo exhibit documenting the community entitled “Trapped Minority” was planned to celebrate the Center’s 15th anniversary. Although the exhibit was postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19, some of the photos by Iranian exile Hasan Sarbakhshian are published exclusively here.

Founded in 2005, the Center was the vision of TAU governor and honorary doctor Lord David Alliance of the UK as well as David and Laura Merage of the USA and TAU Prof. Emeritus David Menashri. United in their fondness for their birth land’s language, culture and history, they dreamt of establishing a center that would generate new insights into Iran.

Fifteen years later, their vision has become a reality.

The Center has cultivated a generation of Iran scholars who work in think tanks, major media, diplomacy, security institutions and other related fields. Hendelman-Baavur and her colleagues Prof. Meir Litvak (former director of the Center) and Dr. Miriam Nissimov are highly sought-after experts in international academic forums. The Center has published and co-sponsored 20 books and has hosted dozens of conferences, workshops and other events in its short existence. Moreover, it has become a keeper of Iranian Jewish heritage under the auspices of the Habib Levy Program for Iranian Jewish History and its sizable archive as well as the Program for the Study of Iranian Jews in Israel under the auspices of the Iranian American Jewish Federation of New York.

The Center also publishes the ACIS Iran-Pulse, a digital newsletter regularly cited by top international organizations.

The unusual situation of being an expert on a place she has never visited and probably never will doesn’t faze Hendelman-Baavur. On the contrary, she says it has made her a more thorough scholar. She often checks multiple sources and cross-references information. Because she cannot contact her Iranian colleagues, she has developed a robust network of Iran scholars around the world with whom she can collaborate. She follows Iranian Twitter and Telegram feeds and Persian-language news apps religiously.  

Similarly, the Center attracts international students from the region and beyond, including the United States and Turkey. This, Hendelman-Baavur says, is proof of its continuing relevance. Looking forward, she sees TAU strengthening its role as a global authority on Iran’s modern history and Iranian Jewry, specifically because of this unique perspective.

Fetured image: Dr. Liora Hendelman-Baavur, the new director of TAU’s Alliance Center for Iranian Studies. Photo: Moshe Bedarshi

Twelve TAU Researchers among Top 50 in their Fields

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“A cause for real national pride,” says Research VP of the Stanford University study.

A new study from Stanford University places 12 TAU faculty members among the world’s top 50 researchers in their respective fields.

The study identified the top 2% researchers in various disciplines worldwide. The list includes 160,000 researchers from 149 countries in 22 scientific disciplines and 176 subdisciplines. Among these, 333 TAU faculty members are ranked among the top 2% researchers in their respective disciplines (based on publications, citations, and impact). Moreover, 155 of them are included in the top 1%, and 74 in the top 0.5%.

TAU’s Vice President for Research, Prof. Dan Peer, ranked among the top 0.4% in the world in nanotechnology: “This is a cause for real national pride. TAU is known for its academic excellence and recognized as a leading interdisciplinary university. It is a great honor for us that 333 of our researchers rank among the top 2% of the world’s best researchers.”

Prof. Itzhak Gilboa from the School of Economics is 6th in the world in Theoretical Economics, and his colleague Prof. Emeritus David Schmeidler from the School of Mathematics is 12th in the world in the same discipline. Prof. Jiska Cohen-Mansfield from the Faculty of Medicine is ranked 12th in the world in the field of Geriatrics. Three faculty members from the Faculty of Engineering also rank high in their fields of research: Prof. Emilia Fridman (26), Prof. Emeritus Gedeon Dagan (29) and Prof. Boris Malomed (29).

Prof. Emeritus Micha Sharir from the School of Computer Science is ranked 35th and Prof. Arie Levant from the School of Mathematics is ranked 36th. Four faculty members from the Faculty of Humanities are also included in this exceptional group:  Prof. Emeritus Rachel Giora from the Department of Linguistics (ranked 40th in the world), Prof. Prof. Israel Finkelstein from the Department of Archaeology (44), Prof. Emeritus Benjamin Isaac from the Department of Classics (45), and Prof. Emeritus Elana Shohamy from the School of Education (47).

Hollywood Legend Martin Scorsese Meets with TAU Students, Donors

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“Film school was a major turning point in my life; I’ve been wanting to talk to TAU students for a long time”

More than 1,700 participants from Tel Aviv University’s Steve Tisch School of Film and Television – students, governors and friends from around the world – took part in a webinar with one of the major figures in Hollywood’s film industry, Martin Scorsese.

Scorsese told the participants that he spent an “extraordinary” time in Tel Aviv back in 1983, and that he wishes he could be there in person. “I’ve been in my room since March 13”, the acclaimed director joked, adding: “I’ve been wanting to talk to Tel Aviv University students for a long time. Steve Tisch and I go back to 1971”.

Scorsese went on to talk about his days as a young film student in NYU. “Film school was a major turning point in my life. The professors spoke with such passion, that I realized that was where I belonged. When one of the students asked Scorsese about improvisation in his films, he told the story of the famous “are you talking to me?” monologue in “Taxi Driver”.

When asked about Israeli cinema, Scorsese pointed out filmmakers Eran Riklis and Amos Gitai, and called Samuel Maoz’s 2017 film “Foxtrot” – “incredible”.

The webinar is part of an ongoing series of monthly live interviews with major players in the world of film and television – including dignitaries such as Robert De Niro and Michael Douglas.

The online meeting was hosted by Prof. Eran Neuman, Dean of the Yolanda and David Katz Faculty of the Arts, and attended by Prof. Raz Yosef, Head of the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television. Dr. Dan Chyutin, a researcher at TAU’s Steve Tisch School, and Yona Rozenkier, screenwriter, director and the School’s alumnus, acted as moderators.

Martin Scorsese is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He studied at New York University, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in English literature in 1964, and a Master’s degree in fine arts in film from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in 1966. Scorsese is one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, and is widely regarded as one of the most significant and influential directors in film history. He is  known for such films as “Taxi Driver” (1976), “Raging Bull” (1980), “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013), and “The Irishman” (2019 ). Scorsese is the winner of multiple awards, both national and international, including one Oscar, 167 prizes and 278 nominations. In 2007 he was presented with the Kennedy Center Honor at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for his influence in American culture.

About the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television

Founded in 1972, the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television offers unique and diverse opportunities for developing proficiency in film and television production, as well as for studying film history, theory, and criticism. The Hollywood Reporter ranked the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television among the top 15 international film schools. Many of Israel’s most prominent filmmakers, scholars and critics are among its graduates; student films produced in the school are regularly screened and win awards in prestigious international festivals.

Featured image: Martin Scorsese

COVID-19 Takes TAU’s Legal Clinics into High Gear

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Clinic staff share experiences of protecting those most affected by pandemic

Dr. Yuval Livnat, Adv. Anat Ben Dor and Adv. Irina Rozina

The Refugee Rights Clinic

“The coronavirus crisis forced the Clinic to shift to remote work. However, this style of working is not ideal for asylum-seekers, and significant challenges arose. Intake interviews with new clients are complex; they touch on sensitive issues and may require translation services. The absence of face-to-face interviews makes it hard to build trusting relationships, and the completion and transfer of required forms and documentation is difficult; protecting personal privacy and information is problematic when communication takes place over the telephone or on Zoom. During this period, the refugee and asylum-seeker community faces a major economic crisis. Israeli citizens are supported by a social safety net. Asylum-seekers are not eligible for this support and have legitimate fears that they will be unable to pay rent and feed their children. In light of this harsh reality, April’s Supreme Court ruling cancelling the “Deposit Law” (authorizing the expropriation of 20% of an asylum seeker’s monthly earnings) provided some relief. This decision came three years after the Clinic filed the Supreme Court petition arguing that the deposit violated the workers’ legal rights, in cooperation with Kav LaOved. The Supreme Court ordered that funds be returned. The Clinic’s students, along with volunteers from Kav LaOved, helped asylum-seekers to complete the required forms and open bank accounts, so their deposits could be returned.”

Adv. Liad Strolov and Adv. Yael Havassy

The Clinic for the Rights of Holocaust Survivors and the Elderly

“The coronavirus crisis has significantly impacted our clinic. Firstly, the way we work with clients and students changed entirely after we transitioned to online rather than in-person meetings. This is particularly challenging for older clients that are unfamiliar with Zoom and other technologies. In addition, since the elderly population faces the greatest risk from the coronavirus, many are suffering from side issues caused by the crisis such as intense loneliness; inaccessibility to caregiver services; threats of eviction from nursing facilities due to an increased demand for space to care for COVID-19 patients; restrictions on movement in public housing facilities; and of course, restrictions barring them from returning to work under the current emergency regulations.”

Adv. Irit Ulman and Adv. Idit Zimmerman

The Workers’ Rights Clinic

“At the onset of the pandemic, it was clear that regulations regarding labor law and social security would be greatly affected. Israel opted to deal with the widespread closure of workplaces by increasing and extending unemployment benefits. As the number of unemployed Israelis continued to rise, those of us working in the field were occupied with unprecedented challenges to labor law resulting from the crisis. From the outset, the Clinic collaborated with various organizations to ensure that workers’ rights were protected. In early April, the government passed emergency regulations eliminating the legal requirement for employers to obtain a permit prior to sending female employees under protection (e.g. during pregnancy, maternity leave, etc.) on furlough. We submitted an urgent petition to the Supreme Court on behalf of a group of organizations, demanding that the regulations be repealed; the petition argued that the process by which the regulations were passed were flawed, and that the regulations caused disproportionate harm to women. Following the petition’s submission, and prior to a hearing at the Supreme Court, the regulations were annulled.

The crisis also created increased challenges for foreign caregivers working with the elderly, due to severe movement limitations. Since there is an increased risk to the elderly, family members often placed severe restrictions on the movements of in-home caregivers. Although their fears may have been warranted, severe restrictions could result in infringements on human rights and workers’ rights (e.g. freedom of movement, loss of days off, etc.). The Clinic, in cooperation with the Clinic for the Rights of Holocaust Survivors and the Elderly, appealed to policy-makers to ensure that the rights of caregivers and the elderly people they support were protected.”

Dr. Eran Tzin and Adv. Amnon Keren

The Clinic for Environmental Justice and the Protection of Animal Rights

“At the beginning of the crisis, the Clinic offered support for animal welfare organizations and activists struggling with challenges arising from the imposed lockdown; the Clinic helped to map crucial issues, formulate strategies, and provided legal advice and representation, as needed. A key aspect of the Clinic’s activities was ensuring ongoing routine care of animals in various facilities (e.g. sanctuaries, shelters, etc.) since severe restrictions on activity and movement limited the possibility of providing them with food and vital veterinary care. The Clinic appealed to the Ministry of Health and other relevant parties, requesting that those caring for animals be exempted from emergency regulations, including in areas heavily affected by the virus. Furthermore, we requested that measures preventing harm to animals be an integral part of any national plan to deal with the crisis. Our efforts, in combination with public pressure, were successful and led to the requested policy changes. The Clinic also succeeded in canceling fines given to individuals while caring for animals, despite their compliance with emergency regulations. These are concerned and caring citizens who volunteered and used their own funds to care for animals, even though they faced financial difficulties due to the crisis.”

Featured image: Human Rights Clinic students and attorneys, Hicham Chabaita and Debby Tal Sadeh.

Parents show love less during COVID-19: TAU Study

Written by AUFTAU on . Posted in Newsroom.

Stress, crowded homes cause parents to “forget” to express love, at a time when children are in great need of parental affection.

A new study from Tel Aviv University found that during Israel’s first lockdown parents reported a significant decline in expressions of love for their young children (aged 3-5), compared to normal times. In addition, even though all members of the family were at home together, parents reported a significant decrease in parental leadership, and in setting rules and boundaries for their children.

The study, led by Prof. Dorit Aram, Head of the Early Childhood Research Laboratory at TAU’s Constantiner School of Education, examined parents’ behavior toward toddlers in Israel during the first lockdown (March-April 2020), and compared it to their behavior in regular times. The study surveyed 522 parents who filled out questionnaires. The parental behavior test was based on the Parenting Pentagon Model, consisting of five principles: partnership between caretakers, humane leadership, expressing unconditional love, promoting independence and imposing rules.

Loving behavior of parents toward their children is defined as: Loving behaviors include physical expressions of love (hugs, kisses, etc.), verbal expressions of love, encouragement, patience and sensitivity, expressions of empathy, and time spent together. The researchers found a significant difference between normal times and the pandemic.

The researchers note that during the pandemic parents spent more time with their children compared to regular times. Possibly, they had less of a need to show their love verbally and physically, because they paid more attention to their children on a daily basis. In addition, the researchers believe that the stress experienced by the parents, the crowded homes and the many hours spent together may have caused parents to “forget” the need to express love for their children, at a time when the children were in great need of loving behavior from their parents.

“This finding is somewhat surprising and even disappointing,” says Prof. Aram. “At times of crisis and stress, young children need their parents more than ever. They need a hug and words of affection, and yet parents did not express their love as often, and parental leadership, discipline and rule-setting were weakened. I hope that parents will learn from our study…and strive to exhibit more beneficial parenting practices under stressful conditions.”

The research examined several behaviors:

Parental leadership: Behaviors exhibiting leadership demonstrate parents’ place as leaders of the family and role models for their children. This behavior is characterized by assuming responsibility, setting goals related to raising the child, planning parental behavior (organizing the family in response to the new situation, preparing for changes, etc.) The study found that the implementation of this important principle was lower compared to normal times. The researchers claim that the pandemic has weakened parental control, and assume that in the chaos surrounding it, parents lost some of their efficacy in making decisions and setting goals for the family.

Partnership between caretakers: Partnership behaviors include a division of labor between parents, mutual support, the ability to resolve conflicts with mutual respect, presenting a common front to the child, presence in meaningful events in the child’s life, and agreement about how the child should be brought up. It might have been expected that with both parents at home, the level of cooperation would be higher than usual. The study, however, found no difference between the implementation of this principle in regular times and during the pandemic.

Promotion of independence: This behavior includes encouraging the child to become independent and to perform tasks suitable to age and abilities, while providing assistance when necessary. The study found that parents did not use time spent together to present challenges that could further their children’s independence, and continued to behave “normally” in this respect. The researchers emphasize that Israeli parents tend to be protective in normal times as well.

Rule-setting: For optimal family dynamics, the parent must create for the child a structured framework of rules, and implement it with persistence and authority. The parents who participated in the study reported a lower level of implementation of this principle. The researchers assume that this was caused by the lack of routine, timetables and activities outside the home.

Attracting Students with “Fire in Their Hearts”

Written by AUFTAU on . Posted in Newsroom.

TAU’s DAN Department of Communication trains young Israelis in digital literacy, unbiased reporting and media professionalism

By Lindsey Zemler

Since Aubrey and Marla Dan, Toronto, Canada based philanthropists, dedicated the Department in 2017, their support has transformed its academic program into one that offers significant hands-on professional training alongside theoretical studies.

“We are investing in students’ futures to help them become leaders in journalism, public relations and research, thus improving the field of communications in Israel, both internally and externally,” says Aubrey Dan.

“The Aubrey & Marla Dan Foundation rejuvenated the Department of Communication at a time when the communication field in Israel needed to adapt to global trends,” says outgoing Department Head Prof. Shira Dvir-Gvirsman. She worked together with Aubrey and Marla to develop new programs and revamp the curriculum, which in turn brought in new students and faculty, expanded research, and extended international connections. In the last four years, enrolment has doubled.

From left: Executive Director for Canadian Friends of Tel Aviv University (CFTAU) Ontario and Western Canada, Stephen Adler; DAN Foundation’s Aubrey and Marla Dan; former TAU President, Joseph Klafter; CFTAU National Chair, Jeff Wagman. Photo: Israel Hadari.


 “Aubrey and Marla have supported us throughout the entire journey, guiding us with their knowledge and vision, but also enabling us to develop independently,” Dvir-Gvirsman says. The progress they achieved puts the Department on track to meet a long-term goal: to offer a full degree program. Currently, students can study communication only as a double major with another field to complete their degree.

“Students come to the Department with fire in their hearts to change the world,” says Prof. Elad Segev, the newly appointed Department Head, who assumed the role in the fall of 2020. “We help them channel their energy and find their career paths, develop a unique voice, and resist giving in to external commercial and political interests. We examine how communication affects our lives, and work to instill students with values to become more responsible citizens and protect our democracy.”

According to Segev, who is carrying on the vision of the Dans and Dvir-Gvirsman, the DAN Department is a top choice for communication studies in Israel. Faculty members continuously seek to stay two steps ahead of current trends in the communication field, strive to maintain excellence in research, and provide students with the most up-to-date tools and technologies used in the digital world. Aubrey Dan believes that boosting Israel’s media landscape with the latest technology will augment Israel’s ability to evolve as a nation and contribute to the world.

In 2016, the inaugural year, successes included the launch of the flagship year-long workshop about producing media content in the news and marketing industries; the establishment of a department news website; the hosting of two international conferences; and the purchase of new equipment. The following year saw even more growth, with the launch of the Digital Society program, the establishment of BA specializations, the addition of new courses encompassing practical community work, and the introduction of many new workshops taught by leading practitioners in media professions.

Embracing complexity

According to Ph.D. student Noa Hatzir, studying communication in Israel is critical. “Israeli media cover diverse topics, but don’t always represent multiple angles and perspectives, which is important when portraying the complexity of life here, and especially when misinformation is spread,” Hatzir says. For her master’s thesis, Hatzir studied how international news coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict affects Israeli art and culture perceptions.  She also participated in the Department’s German-Israeli student exchange program, an annual tradition that allows students to practice looking at Israeli and foreign media through their international peers’ eyes.

TAU Dan Department of Communication student Noa Hatzir. 

​Photo: Courtesy of Noa Hatzir.

Both a master’s and doctoral fellowship recipient, Hatzir, says the support she receives from the Aubrey & Marla DAN Foundation has enabled her to delve deeper into academia. Another recent MA graduate enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Harvard University. Since the Department’s inauguration, the Dan family has created several new scholarship opportunities to be awarded for individual achievement. Over the years, Marla and Aubrey Dan traveled to Israel on several occasions to award the DAN Prize for Best Paper in the field of communication.

​Today, the Department’s curriculum continues to reflect quickly-changing industry trends, offering courses and workshops in topics such as data privacy, social marketing, advanced public relations, Adobe Photoshop and video-editing, social and mobile storytelling, and visualization. For example, Dr. Ronit Kampf’s course about “digital natives,” or young people born into the digital revolution, draws from the virtual world of games, apps and social media platforms. Students learn to appreciate the influence of technology on almost every aspect of life and how to make choices about using technology in different contexts. In the course “Digital Society,” students turn off their smartphones for 2-3 days and write about the experience of living without constant access to media.

Tel Aviv, the heart of Israel’s media landscape, provides a prime location for students to gain real-world experience. The DAN Department maintains strong ties with industry partners to keep abreast of developments in the field and connect students to internships and jobs. In the spring semester of 2020, one-third of internship program students received job offers from the companies where they interned, says Kampf.

The Department strives to effect social change through research and course projects. In the course “Social Marketing: How to Harness a Marketing Approach for the Good of the Public,” students create marketing material for organizations. This past year included programs to encourage women to be active in politics and a summer camp for religious and non-religious children. In 2017, Dr. Nurit Guttman, with the Israeli Ministry of Health’s support, launched a project to help Ethiopian immigrants gain better access to health services by setting up a website in their native language, Amharic.

During the spring semester of 2020, the Department pivoted within days to adjust to the new realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, transferring classes online and hosting a virtual colloquium series. Students continue to study online through the virtual classroom, and the Department remains committed toward their goal of expansion while adapting to the new reality.  

According to Segev, communication studies have increased in popularity due to a growing understanding of digital media’s importance in daily life and digital literacy’s critical role in bettering society. Aubrey Dan and Segev agree that training young media professionals in critical thinking is of the utmost importance, especially with the prevalence of fake news.

To this end, the Dan Family is investing in the TAU Department, says Segev. “Marla and Aubrey understand the importance of communication for society and for Israel.” Their daughter, Alyse Dan, is the Executive Director of the Aubrey & Marla Dan Foundation, and visited the Department with her parents in 2019, meeting students and faculty.

Marla Dan, a volunteer leader and philanthropist, was expected to receive an Honorary Doctorate from TAU in 2020. The ceremony has been rescheduled to 2021 due to COVID-19.

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