Prof. Michael Feuer is the Dean of Graduate Education at George Washington University, was formerly the president of the National Academy of Education in the United States, and is an expert on the relationship of education to democracy and equality, In this episode of The Global Connection, The Lowy International School’s Orit Coty interviews Feuer about his new book, Can Schools Save Democracy? Civic Education and the Common Good (2023), and about the growing division on campuses, what has gone wrong and how it can be fixed.

Israel’s military and civilian systems may have been prepared for a disaster the magnitude of October 7, but did the response match the preparation? And how is the state faring as it continues to manage the ongoing crisis?   In this episode of The Global Connection, Larry French, a master’s student at Tel Aviv University (TAU), interviews Bruria Adini, the head of TAU’s international Master of Disaster Management program. The two discuss ways to characterize the crisis, how different levels of society and government mobilized and responded to October 7, and what – from a disaster management perspective – the state should prioritize moving forward.   Interested in the Master of Disaster Management program at TAU? Visit www.international.tau.ac.il/International_Program_in_Disaster_Management

In this episode of The Global Connection, Orit Coty from the Lowy International School interviews Jonti Shepherd about what it’s like to make Aliyah and begin a PhD at Tel Aviv University (TAU), only to have October 7 months later. Jonti, who was born in South Africa but has lived around the world, is now working towards a PhD in hyperspectral remote sensing. He and Orit discuss South Africa’s political animosity towards Israel, his decision to immigrate and the role TAU has played, what his research entails, his hopes and dreams for the future, and why there’s no place he’d rather be than Israel.   DYK? TAU has launched academic integration tracks in English and French to help new olim find their way: www.international.tau.ac.il/academic-integration-tracks  

Today, more than two billion people suffer from unsafe water. In the Water Energy (WE) Lab at Tel Aviv University (TAU), researchers not only develop technologies to purify water, wastewater and waste, but implement them in places like India and Uganda.    This episode of The Global Connection features the head of the WE Lab, Prof. Hadas Mamane, in conversation with PhD candidate Dana Pousty. The two chat about life in the lab and the projects being developed, their clean-water venture SoLED and why it’s so important to make their sustainable technologies available to those in need.   Interested in environmental engineering research?  Check out TAU’s international MSc in Environmental Engineering: www.international.tau.ac.il/Environmental_Engineering_MSc/   Want to learn more about the WE Lab? Visit www.mamanelab.sites.tau.ac.il/      

At the Maoz Lab, Tel Aviv University (TAU) researchers are revolutionizing how diseases and trial drugs can be studied, using human tissues and recreating organs via “organ-on-a-chip” technologies.   This episode of The Global Connection shares the experience of two international researchers in that lab: MSc student Emma Glickman and PhD candidate Neta Fibeesh. Along with Prof. Ben Maoz, they discuss what it’s like to research at TAU and how they’re using stem cells and simulating mini-organs to advance understanding of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.   Interested in a career in biomedicine or engineering? Want to study in English? Check out TAU’s MSc in Biomedical Engineering: www.international.tau.ac.il/Biomedical_Engineering_MSc   Want to learn more about research happening at the Maoz Lab? Visit www.maozlab.com

Dr. Sagi Jaffe-Dax is a researcher with the Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University (TAU), where he heads up the Cognitive Development Lab. In this episode of The Global Connection, Orit Coty from The Lowy International School interviews Sagi about the field of neuroscience; the differences between child and adult cognition; what neuroscience can tell us about the infant brain; and about Jaffe-Dax’s new role as head of the International MSc in Neuroscience program.    Interested in the International MSc in Neuroscience program at TAU? Learn more at  www.international.tau.ac.il/Neuroscience_MSc.

For a number of Jews around the world, one response to October 7 has been a deep desire to come to Israel and to give back. Sharon Fraenkel, executive director of Canadian Friends of Tel Aviv University (CFTAU) for Ottawa, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, is no exception.   In this episode of The Global Connection, Fraenkel is interviewed by Ben Bright – an international MA student at Tel Aviv University (TAU) and a member of the student-led movement @IsraelWarStory. They chat about  Jewish life and antisemitism in Montreal after October 7, Fraenkel’s trip to Israel in the wake of the atrocities, and the steps Tel Aviv University has taken since October 7 to help its students, as well as the country, to cope and begin the healing process.   Want to become a friend to Tel Aviv University? Find out more about the Friends Association in your country: english.tau.ac.il/friends_of_tau   Interested in getting an on-the-ground perspective on October 7 and the war from international students at TAU? Follow Ben and others on Instagram: www.instagram.com/israelwarstory/

On October 7, everything in Israel changed, including for Startup Nation.   In this special episode of The Global Connection, Jackie Goren, head of the Sofaer Global MBA program at Tel Aviv University (TAU), interviews Nimrod Cohen, the managing partner of TAU Ventures. The two discuss how Startup Nation has fared since October 7, its outlook moving forward and the lessons in agility and leadership to be learned from this time.   Want to learn more about the Sofaer Global MBA Program? Visit www.international.tau.ac.il/Sofaer_Global_MBA   Interested in TAU Ventures? Go to www.tauventures.co.il

In this special episode, Ido Aharoni engages in a conversation with Prof. Tamar Herzig about the mass rape of women, and the mutilation of their bodies, during the October 7th atrocities. Prof. Herzig describes herself as a feminist historian and is shocked by the silence of some of her academic colleagues globally. She is the Konrad Adenauer Professor of Comparative European History at Tel Aviv University. She currently serves as Vice Dean for Research of the Faculty of Humanities, as Vice Chairperson of the Historical Society of Israel, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Renaissance Society of America. In 2014-2021, she served as Director of Tel Aviv University's Morris E. Curiel Institute for European Studies. Her article “Slavery and Interethnic Sexual Violence: A Multiple Perpetrator Rape in Seventeenth-Century Livorno” (American Historical Review 127:1) won the 2022 Best Article Award of the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women and Gender, and was awarded the Mediterranean Seminar’s Article of the Month Award for July 2022. In 2021, she was awarded the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies’ Michael Bruno Memorial Award for groundbreaking research, for her contribution to the study of premodern history and especially of the Italian Renaissance. In 2020 she won the American Historical Association's Rosenberg Prize and later on was awarded Honorable Mention of the Renaissance Society of America's Gordan Book Prize in Renaissance Studies (2021) for her book A Convert’s Tale: Art, Crime, and Jewish Apostasy in Renaissance Italy. (Harvard University Press, 2019; Hebrew Translation: Magnes Press, 2023; Italian translation; Viella, 2023). For her work on religious conversion in early modern Italy, she also won the Kadar Award for Outstanding Research in 2019.   00:00 - Intro 01:55 - Italian history 02:19 - The dark side of the Renaissance 03:48 - Slave women, sexual violence, gang rape 05:26 - Livorno community Italy 08:20 - Crimes against Jews 12:00 - Rape of women as a weapon of war 15:00 - Rape as a strategy 15:00 - Rape and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 18:00 - Rape by Hamas and ISIS 20:00 - Global denial campaign of rape of Israeli women 21:00 - The silence of the leaders in the #Metoo movement 22:06 - The collapse of feminism 25:48 - Rape as slow murder 30:00 - Israeli rapes are not sexual impulses Lowy International School TAU: https://international.tau.ac.il

Our new episode of TAU Unbound is about the science of physical anthropology, and more specifically, the role of human fossils in the process of identifying victims of the October 7th massacre. Our guest is Prof. Israel Hershkovitz, Emeritus in Anatomy and Anthropology in the School of Health Professions in the Faculty of Medicine. Here, Prof. Hershkovitz is discussing the essence of physical anthropology, as opposed to social anthropology, methodologies used in forensics, his volunteer work post 10/7 identifying massacre victims as well as the future of his field in the era of AI (Artificial Intelligence).

In this new episode of TAU Unbound, Ido Aharoni is hosting Dr. Oren Asman, a lawyer and Chair of Psychiatric Review Committees. Oren's academic work focuses on Bioethics and Health Law. He is a Senior Lecturer at the Nursing Department; Director of the Bioethics and Law Center at the Faculty of Medicine; and Director of the Samueli Initiative for Responsible AI (Artificial Intelligence) in Medicine at Tel Aviv University. Here, we discuss what is 'responsible Artificial Intelligence' in Medicine, how it is relevant in health care, the Samueli initiative for responsible AI in medicine, how it’s relevant to the current war in Israel, and what is the future of this exciting field.   01:00 - Bioethics 04:00 - The connection between medicine and law 05:00 - Legislation on medical issues 07:00 - Islamic law 07:29 - Abortions after rape 08:15 - Medical law versus medical ethics 13:00 - Morality and war 19:00 - AI and the connection to medicine 24:00 - The Samueli Initiative for Responsible AI in Medicine 34:40 - Healing VS Killing   Lowy International School TAU: https://international.tau.ac.il

How do Middle East politics provide further insight into what happened on October 7 and the way the Israel-Hamas war is being fought? And how does this context help us to understand where to go from here?   In this episode of The Global Connection, Maria Ellul – an international MA student at Tel Aviv University (TAU) and a member of the student-led movement @IsraelWarStory – interviews Brandon Friedman, the director of research at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies. Together they unpack politics in the Middle East and discuss a new international summer program Friedman is launching, called “The Regional Politics of the Middle East: From the 2010-2011 Arab Uprisings to the October 7 War.”   Want to learn more about the new summer program? Visit www.international.tau.ac.il/middle_east_israel_studies/   Interested in getting an on-the-ground perspective on October 7 and the war from international students at TAU? Follow Maria and others on Instagram: www.instagram.com/israelwarstory/

Tel Aviv University’s Buchmann-Mehta School of Music is one of the liveliest schools on campus, and this year the school is celebrating 20 seasons of musical performances. In this musical episode of The Global Connection, Anna Sajecki speaks with Dr. Uri Binjamin Rom, the head of the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, about what makes TAU’s music school so special.   Want to attend one of the events as part of this year’s music season? Visit https://tau.smarticket.co.il/  Is music your calling and passion? Learn more about the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music International Program: https://international.tau.ac.il/bmsm_program_ma   Finally, for a taste of the Music School's promising vocal talents, listen to soprano Nour Darwish in Puccini's "O mio babbino caro" with the BMSM Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Honorary President Zubin Mehta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvrHjfppIpk    *This episode was filmed before October 7

Sean Tsivian and Daniel Canosa are two students in Tel Aviv University’s International MA program in Conflict Resolution & Mediation. In this episode of The Global Connection podcast, they chat with Anna Sajecki about their experiences with the program, why there’s no such thing as absolute truth, and the lessons they’ve learned.   Interested in TAU’s Conflict Resolution & Mediation program? Learn more at www.international.tau.ac.il/conflict_resolution   *This episode was filmed before October 7

October 7th created a massive crisis in all higher learning institutions in Israel and TAU is no exception. Close to 6000 men and women, students, faculty & administration - were called to serve in the army reserves. Most of them are still there three months later. Hundreds of students were directly affected by the massacre and its aftermath. Se veral students, children of faculty and their families were murdered in the music festival. How did TAU cope with this mega crisis? In this episode host Ido Aharoni Aronoff is engaged in a discussion with TAU Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs Amos Elad and two bright students who now serve in the reserves: Shir Shahar of the Faculty of Medicine and Aviv Kurnas of the Air Force.

Ido Aharoni Aronoff is hosting the prolific Dr. Michael Milshtein, who is the head of the Forum for Palestinian Studies at the Moshe Dayan Center. Michael served as an advisor for Palestinian affairs to COGAT - IDF's Coordinator of Government Operations in the Territories (2015-2018), and as the head of the Palestinian arena in the IDF Intelligence Division (at the rank of lieutenant colonel). As part of his duties, he was involved in shaping Israeli policy in the Palestinian area. His expertise is the strategic analysis of the Middle East as well as issues pertaining to collective memory, popular culture and generational struggles in the regional context. Here Aharoni and Milshtein explore the possible scenarios facing Israel, Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and other actor in this regional arena

Ido Aharoni Aronoff is hosting in the new episode Adv. Galia Feit who is a social cause lawyer and the executive director of the Law and Philanthropy Center at the Buchman Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University. Galia’s encounter with philanthropy and the establishment of a philanthropy research institute is at the center of our conversation. Contrary to what most people say about the Israelis, that they are not known for their charitable contributions, the response to the atrocities of October 7th indicates otherwise: the philanthropic response to the 7/10 massacre and the Iron Swords War had been overwhelmingly positive - in three circles: (a) Spontaneous reaction of the Israelis - organizations - volunteering and donations, (b) The response of institutionalized philanthropy - strategic donors, philanthropic foundations, Jewish communities abroad, and (c) Philanthropy's response to the outbreak of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism - perhaps we can talk another time. In this conversation Aharoni & Feit also touch upon the deficient response of Israel’s government since that which does not work well in times of routine (government infrastructure for social services) cannot possibly work well in an emergency. Yet, Feit is highlighting an extraordinary picture of civil mobilization and social solidarity post 10/7. https://www.ilp.sites.tau.ac.il/en/po...

In this episode our host Ido Aharoni Aronoff is hosting Dr. Boaz Hameiri a Senior Lecturer and the Head of the Evens Program in Conflict Management and Mediation at Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Social Studies. He also serves as a Human Development Lab researcher at the Boris Mints Institute at TAU. He received his PhD in social psychology at Tel Aviv University in 2019, and then did his Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Peace and Conflict Neuroscience Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, and Postdoctoral Innovation Lab Fellowship at Beyond Conflict. Hameiri’s specialty is the examination of different psychological barriers to attitude change and conflict resolution (e.g., victimhood), and the development of psychological interventions (e.g., paradoxical thinking) to address these barriers and promote better intergroup relations and conflict resolution. Here, Aharoni & Hameiri explore ways to overcome the challenge presented by the October 7th massacre and its aftermath.

Dr. Dara Barnat is head of the Division of Languages at Tel Aviv University (TAU), and author of the poetry collections Headwind Migration, In the Absence and The City I Run From: Poems of Tel Aviv. In this episode of The Global Connection, Barnat joins host Anna Sajecki to talk about her journey to Tel Aviv as an international student, discovering her poetic voice in Israel, the influence of Walt Whitman, and capturing Tel Aviv in poetry.   Interested in discovering your own voice in Tel Aviv? Join us at TAU’s international school! www.international.tau.ac.il   *This episode was filmed before October 7

Facundo Pereminksy and Joseph Kababie are two recent alumni of Tel Aviv University’s Sofaer Global MBA program who are using their training as they launch their new startup, Camino TLV. In this episode of The Global Connection podcast, the two chat with host Anna Sajecki about their move from Argentina and Mexico to Tel Aviv, their experience in the Sofaer Global MBA program, what it means to be an entrepreneur, and their vision for Camino – a new local company that offers a new community space for online retailers.   Want to learn more about the Sofaer Global MBA program? Visit www.international.tau.ac.il/Sofaer_Global_MBA   *This episode was filmed before October 7