Faculty Member, Social Work
Senior Lecturer
About
I received my Ph.D. in Social Psychology/Behavioral Sciences from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beer Sheva). I held two post-doctorates in conflict resolution/peace-building: in 2000 – 2001 as a senior researcher with the Peace Research Institute in the Middle East (PRIME) – a joint Palestinian Israeli non-governmental organization (NGO) that undertakes collaborative peace research and in 2001 – 2002 as the Lentz Post Doctoral Fellowship in Peace and Conflict Resolution Research at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.
From 2003 – 2006, I was Assistant Professor of Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies at Nova Southeastern University (Florida).
I am a researcher/practitioner who specializes in the social-psychological aspects of massive social trauma on victims and their descendants. My work focuses on: (1) the long–term impact of the Holocaust on survivors and their families and on Jewish-Israeli young adults; (2) joint Palestinian–Israeli research on the impact of the conflict on peoples in the region and (3) issues of ethnic belonging and identity among refugee/immigrant populations. I specialize in qualitative research, basing my work on narrative research, ethnography, storytelling and inter–group facilitation.
I have published extensively in these fields. My latest books are Childhood in the Shadow of the Holocaust [edited together with Zahava Solomon of Tel Aviv University] (2007, Hakibbutz Hameuchad Press, in Hebrew) and Inside-Out: Personal and Collective Life in Israel and the Kibbutz (2007, University Press of America).
Since 2006 I have been a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Work at the Sapir College (located next to Sderot – the area hit heavily by kassam rockets) and a senior staff member at the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development (NISPED) – an NGO that works on peace and sustainable human development between Jews and Palestinians within Israel and between Israel/Palestine.
Throughout my life I have been involved in peace and social justice activities. Some of these include: The Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality (focuses on equality for Arab-Bedouin citizens of Israel); To Reflect and Trust (TRT) – an international dialogue group between former and present-day 'enemies'; and Other Voice – a grassroots organization comprised of residents from Sderot and the surrounding Gaza Strip region that engage with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip for a non-violent resolution of the conflict and for the attainment of peace and security for all, on both sides of the border.
