Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities

REDUCE INEQUALITY WITHIN AND AMONG COUNTRIES

Research 

Monitoring the Evolution of Inequality

Marginalization of Older People

The Minerva Center on Intersectionality in Aging (MCIA) was founded to initiate innovative, interdisciplinary, multi-method research and implementation projects related to marginalized old persons.  Such marginalization is a consequence of a socially constructed process that includes ageism, various social and health-related disadvantages, and a lack of balance between needs and rights of this population.

Public Engagement

Court Ruling: Education for Asylum Seekers

For 5 years the Legal Clinics for Social Change worked to combat a central city in Israel’s premeditated efforts to prevent the children of asylum seekers from entering its educational frameworks.  In 2020, the clinic filed a petition on behalf of 242 students that led to a court ruling that guarantees proper registration of students and bans the existence of segregated preschools.

Promoting Arabic Literacy

To bridge educational gaps and provide access for Arab elementary school students to quality education in Israel, Dr. Yasmin Shalhoub-Awwad from the Faculty of Education is working with 80 schools to carry out long-term literacy research in Arabic. Utilizing this expertise, she is assisting the Ministry of Education and Authority for Economic Development in Minority Populations to build the new 5-year Government Resolution #550that supports education programs in Arab society.

Learning & Students

Mindfulness-Based Trauma Recovery for Refugee

A talented team of students work with Prof. Amit Bernstein’s Observing Minds Laboratory housed in the Department of Psychology, under The Herta and Paul Amir Faculty of Social Sciences, to operate the Mindfulness-Based Trauma Recovery for Refugees initiative. In partnership with several field-based NGO’s, the initiative provides socio-culturally-adapted mindfulness and compassion training that is trauma-sensitive and can be applied to diverse populations of asylum seekers and refugees. The team runs a mobile laboratory dedicated to the mental health of forcibly displaced persons, asylum seekers from East Africa, who have survived conflict and traumatic atrocities.

Middle Eastern Culture and Film Studies

Filming the Middle East

To pave the way for a Middle East with economic and cultural cooperation between nations, the diverse student body at the MA Program for Culture and Film Studies study film, television, and social networks.  Recent student accomplishments include a successful Israeli TV show whose rights were sold to Sony International, and a group of students contracted to conduct research for a BBC documentary on Israeli Arabs

Operations

Age Friendly University

Taking aim at ageism, UofH is proud to be the first university in Israel to launch the inclusive AFU-Age Friendly University program intended to integrate older people into its core activities (studies, research, culture…). Prof. Anna Zisberg from the Center for the Research and Study of Aging heads the steering committee that planned the activities for the first year.

Scholarships Promoting Equity and Inclusion

Among the unique scholarships offered by the Dean of Students office to promote equity and inclusion are the Delta Program for students of Ethiopian descent and “Leading the Future,” through which 90 students from underrepresented groups in academia receive comprehensive support throughout their degree.