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Varda Wasserman, Professor

Varda Wasserman
Contact Info

The Open University of Israel 1 University Road, P. O. Box 808, Raanana 4353701
Office:972-2-6773312 Fax:972-2-6773312 Email:vardawa@openu.ac.il

Additional Information

Prof. Varda Wasserman is an organizational sociologist and head of the management field in the Department of Management and Economics at the Open University of Israel. She completed her Ph.D. at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and at the School of Business Administration at the Hebrew University. The topic of her Ph.D. was the architectural design of the Israeli Foreign Affairs building and its effects on power relations within the Ministry. Currently, she is engaged in the field of critical management studies (CMS), mainly in the examination of power relations in organizations and the ways they are challenged. 

Her research interests are diverse and are focused on control and resistance in and around organizations, gendered workspaces, organizational aesthetics and the effect of the design of workspaces on the power relations in the organization, transformations in ultra-Orthodox society in Israel, and processes of constructing gender identities at work (masculine identities or intersecting identities of women from different social groups --intersectionality). She published her articles in various top journals and also edited a book on Henri Lefebvre. 

She is currently the President's Advisor for Gender Equity and the Chair of the Organizations and Labor Community at the Israel Sociological Association. In the past, she served as the head of the Institute for Policy Analysis and as the head of the Department of Management and Economics at the Open University.

Prof. Wasserman has won several grants in the past, icluding a grant from the Ministry of Science on ultra-Orthodox women and spatial-gender planning, a research grant from the Rothschild Foundation to finance research that dealt with ultra-Orthodox women in high-tech, and a research grant from the National Science Foundation (ISF) on Israeli women of Ethiopian origin and their challenges in the Israeli labor market.

2004 – 2009
Ph.D from the Sociology Department and the Business School of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, majoring in Organizational Behavior. Title of thesis: “On the Power of the Beautiful - Organizational Aesthetics as a Control Tool”, supervised by Dr. Michal Frenkel and Prof. Avraham Kluger.
1994 - 1998
M.A. cum laude in Social Psychology, Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Topic of thesis: “Aesthetics in Service Organizations” supervised by Prof. A. Kluger, Prof. A. Rafaeli & Prof. B. Shamir.
1992 – 1994
Additional studies in Sociology at the Hebrew University.
1987 – 1991
B.A. cum laude - Departments of East Asian Studies (China) and German Literature of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem
2023-
Full Professor at the Open University, Department of Management and Economics 
2021-
 The Open University Presidental Advisor for Gender Equity 
2018-
Associate Professor at the Open University, Department of Management and Economics 
2016-2018
Head of the Management & Economics Department
2014 -2016
Head of The Research Institute for Policy analysis.
2014 -2018
Senior lecturer at the Open University, Department of Management and Economics.
2011
Visiting lecturer at the Open University, Department of Management and Economics.
2010
Head of the Hebrew University Managerial Training Program – The Federmann School of Public Policy and Government.
2002-2011
MBA course coordinator at the Open University in the MBA program - Organizational Behavior.
2004 – 2006
Adjunct lecturer at the Business School of Tel Aviv University in MBA program - Human Resource Management.
1998 –
Adjunct lecturer at the Hebrew University in the Business School, Federmann School of Public Policy and Government and in the Sociology Department (BA, MBA & Executive Program). Teaching Courses: Organizational Behavior, Leadership, Human Resources Management etc - Honors List of the Social Science Faculty.
1998 – 2011
Tutor at the Open University in various courses – Organizational Culture, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management.
1998 –
Organizational consultant

 

Ramon, O., Gabel. I. & Wasserman V. (2020). Presenting Christians and Christianity in Israeli State Education. Lexington Publication.
       Hebrew version published by Resling in 2023

Wasserman, V. & Baikovich, A. (2024). Fashion as embodied resistance: The case of ultra-orthodox ,entrepreneurs. Gender, Work & Organization, 31(2), 535-553

Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (2023). Bodies in-between: Religious women's spaces and the emergence of liminal identities. Gender, Work & Organization, 30(4): 1161-1177 

Baikovitz, A., Wasserman, V. & Pfefferman, T. (2022). Evolution from the inside out: The socio-cultural impact of productive resistance. Organization Studies, 43(8): 1247-1271.

Wasserman, V. & Berkovich, Izhak. (2022). Higher education professionals in the age of NPM and digital knowledge: Distinction strategies for forming new occupational capitalStudies in Higher Education, 47(1): 146-158 

Waismel-Manor, R., Wasserman, V. & Balderman-Shamir, O. (2021).No room of her own: Married couples' negotiation of workspaces at home during COVID-19. Sex Roles 85(11-12): 636-649.  

Frenkel, M. & Wasserman V. (2020). With god on their side: Gender-religiosity intersectionality and women's workforce integration. Gender & Society 24(5): 818-843.
        Winner of EGOS' "That's interesting!" award, 2020.

Baikovich, A. & Wasserman, V. (2020) Mobilizing national identity and othering practices as means of resistance. Organization Science 31(5): 1220-1247. 

Yassour-Borochowitz D. & Wasserman, V. (2020). Between a Western Career and Traditional Community: Narratives of Successful Ethiopian Immigrant Women. Journal of Career Development 47(5): 509-523.

Wasserman, V. & Gabel, I. (2019).  Juggling resistance and compliance: The case of Israel ultra-Orthodox media. Culture and Organization 25(3): 217-232

Wasserman, V., Dayan, I. & Ben-Ari, E. (2018). Upgraded masculinity:A gendered analysis of the debriefing in tthe Israeli Air Force​. Gender & Society 32(2): 228-251.

Wasserman, V. (2017). Book review: The Oxford Handbook of Diversity in Organizations. Organization Studies 38(3-4):561-567.  

Ramon, O., Gabel, I. & Wasserman, V. (2017). "We were here first": Guiding Narratives in Christian sites. Israel Studies 22(3):77-101.

Gabel, I. & Wasserman, V. (2017)  New voices in the Ultra-Orthodox media or the same old thing?. Democratic Culture 17: 109-130 [in Hebrew]

Yassour-Borochowitz D. & Wasserman, V. (2017). Narratives of success: The case of Ethiopian women, Society and Welfare 37(2): 233-258 [in Hebrew].

Wasserman, V. & Frenkel, M., (2015). Spatial work in-between glass ceilings and glass work: Gender-class intersectionality and organizational aesthetics. Organization Studies 36(11):1485-1505. 

Kachtan (Grosswirth), D. & Wasserman, V. (2015). (Un)dressing masculinity: The body as a site of ethno-gendered resistance, Organization 22(3): 390-417.

Wasserman, V. (2014).  Book review: Organizations in a postmodern world by Israel Katz. Israeli Sociology, 15(2): 447-449 [ in Hebrew].

Wasserman, V. (2012). Open spaces, closed boundaries – Transparent workspaces as clerical female ghettos, International Journal of Work, Organization and Emotion (Special issue on organizational space & embodiment) 5(1): 6-21.

Wasserman, V. (2011). To be (alike) or not to be (at all) - Aesthetic mimicry in organizational spaces, International Journal of Work, Organization and Emotion 4(1):22-41.

Wasserma​n, V.& Frenkel, M. (2011). Organizational aesthetics: Caught between identity regulation and culture jamming, Organization Science 22(2): 503-552.

Eisenman, M., Opazo, P., Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (R&R). Material institutional entrepreneurship and challenging the taken-for-granted in molecular cuisine. Organization Science

Sapir, S., Wasserman, V. & Frenkel, M. (R&R). 'you are so sexy': Constructing sexuality in women's co-coworking spaces. Organization studies 

Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (2024). Religion, gender and neo-liberalism. In: S. Helman (ed.). Spaces of neo-liberalism in Israel (pp.149-172). Jerusalem: Van Leer. 

Wasserman, V. (2020). The gendered aesthetics of the physical environment of work. In: O.B. Ayoko & N.M. Ashkanasy (eds.).Organizational Behavior and the Physical Environment (pp.185-199)New York: Routledge.

Eisenman, M., Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (2019). The interpretation of design-based-cues: A dynamic approach. In: T. Reay, T. Zilber, A. Langley & H. Tsoukas (eds.), Institutions and organizations: A process view. Perspectives on process organization studies, Vol. 9 (pp. 118-133)Oxford University Press.

Wasserman, V., Rafaeli, A. & Kluger, A.N. (2000). Aesthetic symbols as emotional cues, In: S. Fineman (Ed.). Emotions in Organizations, 2nd edition (pp. 140-165). London: Sage.

Wasserman, V., Dayan, I. & Ben-Ari, E. (2016).Debriefing is my added value to management' - The importation of debriefing into the Israeli education system. In: N. Gazit, Y. Levy (eds.). An Army Educates a Nation: The Role of the Military in the Israeli School System. Ra'anana: The Open University of Israel.

Wasserman, V., Yustus-Segal, Y. Frenkel, C., Kedmi, A.,Raveh, M., Roccas, S, & Ramon, O. (2014).  Guiding Narratives on Christianity and Christian sites. A position paper, Jerusalem: JCJCR . 

Wasserman, V. & Blits, T. (2008). The beauty in consulting, Organizational. Organizational Analysis 13: 65-74.

Wasserman, V. & Blits, T. (2007).  A joint home?, Organizational Analysis 11: 78-89.

Wasserman, V. & Blits, T. (2006).  About elephants and organizations. Organizational Analysis 10: 91-103.

Wasserman, V. & Peretz, M. (2023). Organizational Behavior, Unit 10- Power and control.

Wasserman, V., Lazar, T. & Waismel-Manor, R. (2022). Organizational Behavior, Unit 12- Organizational Communication.

Wasserman, V. (2021). Organizational Behavior, Unit 9- Organizational Culture.

Lifshitz, R., Waismel-Manor, R. & Wasserman, V. (2020). Contemporary issues in Human Resource Management - A reading guide for MABA students 

Wasserman, V. (2017). Organizational Behavior, Unit 1- Introduction to Organizational Behavior.

Wasserman, V. & Tenne-Gazit, O. (2015). Emotions in Organizations - A reading guide for MBA students

Bogler, R., Wasserman, V. & Tenne-Gazit, O. (2014). Leadership- A reading guide for MBA students.

Bar Haim, A. & Wasserman, V. (2013). Organizational Behavior, Unit 11- Leadership.

 2009 - On the power of the beautiful - Organizational aesthetics as a control tool - Ph.D dissertation supervised by Dr. Michal Frenkel and Prof. Avraham Kluger. 

1999 - Aesthetics in service organizations - M.A. thesis supervised by Prof. A. Kluger, Prof. A. Rafaeli & Prof. B. Shamir.

Baikovich, A., Presler-Karazi, T. & Wasserman, V. (July 2024). Ritualized resistance: Religion, gender and work in business conferences. EGOS, Milan

Sapir, S., Wasserman, V. & Frenkel, M. (July 2023). 'You are so sexy': Constructing sexuality in women's co-coworking spaces. Egos, Calgiari, Italy.  

Wasserman, V. & Baikovich A. (July 2023). Fashion as an embodied resistane: The case of  ultra-orthodox entrepreneurs. Egos, Calgiari, Italy & SCOS, Paris

Sapir, S., Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (June 2022, July, 2022). Time to work and time to play: Time-dependent spatial aesthetics in coworking space for woman,AOP, San Francisco and EGOS, Vienna

Waismel-Manor, R. Wasserman, V. & Shamir-Balderman, O. (June, July 2021, July 2022). No Room of Her Own: A Gendered-Spatial Analysis of Home-Working among Dual-Earner Couples during COVID-19. The 11th Biennial International Interdisciplinary Virtual Conference of Gender, Work and Organization, Kent, UK. Also presented at EGOS 2022 and The virtual 81st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management. 

Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (July 2021). Gender religiosity intersectionality in organizations – a theoretical exploration. EGOS, Amsterdam.  

Karazi-Presler, T. & Wasserman, V. (July 2021, June 2022). Sexual Vulnerability as Mechanism of Power, Control and Resistance in a Hyper-Masculine Organization. EGOS, Amsterdam. Also presented at. The 12th Biennial International Interdisciplinary Virtual Conference of Gender, Work and Organization, Bogota.  

Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (July, 2020). With God on their side: Gender-religiosity intersectionality and women's workforce integration. EGOS, Hamburg, Germany.

Baikovich, A. Wasserman, V. & Pfefferman, T. (July, 2020). Evolution from the inside out: The socio-cultural impact of productive resistance. EGOS, Hamburg, Germany 

Wasserman, V. & Frenkel, M. (July, 2019). Maneuvering within and between visibility regimes: Ultra-orthodox women in-between subjugation and agemcy. The 11th International Critical Management Studies conference, Milton Keynes, UK. 

Baikovich, A. & Wasserman, V. (July, 2019). 'Faking work': Performing identities among ultra-orthodox female entrepreneurs. The 11th International Critical Management Studies Conference, Milton Keynes, UK + EGOS, Edinburgh, UK

Baikovich, A. & Wasserman. V, (July, 2018). The role of nonwork identities and othering in organizational resistance: Inside a Japanese subsidiary of an MNC. EGOS, Tallinn, Estonia

Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (July, 2018). Is Gender Segregation Diversity Management? Gender-Religion and Class Intersectionality in Women- Only Colleges. EGOS, Tallinn, Estonia

Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (August, 2018). Aesthetic disruption and identity Crises – Organizational Responses to Radical Renovation. SCOS, Tokyo

Wasserman, V. & Berkovich. (June, 2018). Colorful but Respectful: Academic Libraries in the Digital Age. OAP (Organizations, Artifacts, Practices) workshops, Amsterdam

Kingma, S., Dale, K. & Wasserman, V. (June, 2018). The Spatial Organization: The Significance of Henri Lefebvre for Organization Studies. OAP (Organizations, Artifacts, Practices) workshops, Amsterdam

Eisenman, M., Opazo, P. Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (September 2016 & May, 2017). Multimodal innovation: Creating new sensations in the context of molecular gastronomy. A paper presented at The 2nd International Conference: Visuality, Materiality, Multimodality. Copenhagen Business School. Also presented at the EGOS Workshop, Crete, Greece

Yassour-Borochowitz, D. and Wasserman, V. (July, 2016). Successful Black Immigrant Women. The 16th International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations. Granada, Spain.

Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (August, 2016). Corporate work-family policies and gender intersectionality, Academy of Management Annual conference, Anaheim, California.

Wasserman, V., Dayan, I. & Ben-Ari, E. (June 2016). Upgraded masculinity: The gendered in-migration of organizational models into the debriefing of the Israeli Air Force. A paper  to be presented at the 9th international interdisciplinary conference of Gender, Work & Organization, Keele University, U.K.

Eisenman, M. Frenkel, M & Wasserman, V. (August, 2015). The social construction of innovation. The Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Vancouver, Canada.

Wasserman, V. & Frenkel, M. (July, 2015). Organizational aesthetics and the politics of visibility: The case of ultra-orthodox women in the Israeli hi-tech industry. The 31st EGOS Colloquium, Athens.

Eisenman, M.  Frenkel, M & Wasserman, V. (July 2015). Harmony and aesthetic channels: Understanding effective aesthetic communication. The 31th EGOS Colloquium, Athens.

Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (July, 2015). Bringing the community back into diversity research. The 31th EGOS Colloquium, Athens.

Eisenman, M., Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (June, 2015). A theory of aesthetic organizational fields. The 4th European Theory Development Workshop, Cardiff.

Eisenman, M., Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V.  (April, 2015). Aesthetic Capital and Identification Processes. Halbert Center Israeli-Canadian Workshop, the Hebrew University.

Wasserman V. & Frenkel, M. (December, 2014). 'NIROT VEYEREOT': the case of ultra orthodox women. The Annual Conference of the Israeli Geographical Association, Haifa, Israel.

Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (September, 2014). Mobile Teleworking, Work, and Family:  An Intersectional Perspective. Invited plenary presentation Cost conference on ‘The Dynamic of Virtual Work’, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom. Eisenman, M. Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (July, 2014) Naming what you see: Facilitating shared interpretations of visual design. A paper presented at the 11th International Conference on Organizational Discourse, Cardiff, UK, and also presented at The 30th EGOS Colloquium, Rotterdam and at the 19th DMI International Design Management Research Conference. 

Wasserman V. & Frenkel, M. (June 2014). Making room for ultra-orthodox women in Israeli high-tech industry. A paper  presented at the 8th international interdisciplinary conference of Gender, Work & Organization, Keele University, U.K. 

Wasserman, V., Gabel, I. & Ravina, S. (May 2014).Juggling between resistance and compliance: The case of Israeli ultra-orthodox media, a paper presented at the Ninth Organization Studies Summer Workshop on "Resistance, resisting, and resisters in and around organizations", Corfu, Greece.

Eisenman, M., Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (May 2014). Discursive Scaffolding: Facilitating Shared Interpretations of Aesthetic Artefacts. Invited talk presented at a Workshop on Giving visual and Material form to Ideas, identity and Imagination: architecture, Urbanism and Sustainable Construction, WU University, Vienna, Austria. 

Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (June 2014). Intersecting  Rabbis and Managers: How Ultraorthodox Hi-Tech Women's negotiate their work-family strategies in a complex power matrix. Presented at the 2nd conference of the Work Family Researchers Network, New York. 

Frenkel, M.. & Wasserman, V. (Feb. 2014).Work and Family in Organizations, an Intersectional Approach. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Israeli Sociological Society, Tel Aviv.

Frenkel, M. & Wasserman, V. (May 2013). Institutionalizing organizational aesthetics: The role of aesthetics in maintaining, challenging and transforming institutions. A paper presented at the Halbert Centre for Canadian Studies, Jerusalem, "Israel-Canadian Workshop: Sorting out the Ideational in Institutional Processes".
 

Wasserman, V. & Frenkel, M. (May 2012/July 2013). Gendered Spaces in the Organizational Workplace. A paper presented at the Seventh Organization Studies Summer Workshop on “Organizations as Spaces of Work”, Rhodes, Greece and at EGOS 2013, Montreal, Canada. Also presented as an invited talk in a Workshop on Giving visual and Material form to Ideas, identity and Imagination: architecture, Urbanism and Sustainable Construction, WU University, Vienna, Austria, May, 2014.

Wasserman, V. & Kachtan, D. (June 2012). Gender in Motion - Military Space becoming a Place. A paper presented at the 7th international interdisciplinary conference of Gender, work & Organization, Keele University, U.K, and also at the 28th Annual Meeting of the AIS, Haifa, Israel.

Wasserman, V. & Zimroni, H. (July 2012). In-between the organizational corridors:  A spatial perspective on the "unmanageable". A paper presented at the 28th EGOS Colloquium on design, Helsinki, Finland.  

Wasserman, V. & Zimroni, H. (July 2012). Wandering In-between the Organizational Corridors – Spaces of Fluidity and Movement. A paper presented at the 30th Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism (SCOS), Barcelona, Spain.

Kachtan, D. & Wasserman, V. (June/July 2011). Undressing Masculinity: The Body as a Site of Ethno-Gendered Resistance. A paper presented at the 27th EGOS Colloquium on reassembling organizations Gothenburg, Sweden and also at the 27th Annual Meeting of the AIS, Boston, USA.

Kachtan, D. & Wasserman, V. (August 2011). Ethnic Identities in Military Spaces. A paper presented at the Annual International Conference of the Royal Geographical Society, London (special session on: Spaces of Militarism: Militarised Places).

Wasserman, V. (June 2010). The "Other" Woman- Space, Diplomacy and Gender Identity. A paper presented in the Conference of Gender, Work & Organization, Keele University, U.K. 

Wasserman, V. (May 2010). Aesthetic Mimicry in Workplace Architecture. A paper presented at the 2nd Workshop on Architecture and Social Architecture, EIASM, Brussels, Belgium. 

Wasserman, V. (December 2009). Israel made in China- National Identity or International Mimicry?. A paper presented at the 5th Annual Conference in Political Science, International Relations and Public Policy, Jerusalem, Israel

Wasserman, V. & Frenkel, M. (February 2008). The Building of Masculine Control. A paper presented at the 39th Annual Israel Sociological Society Colloquium, Tel Aviv,  Israel

Wasserman, V. & Frenkel, M. (July, 2006/July 2007). Organizational Aesthetics and the Reinforcement of Hierarchical Occupational Identities. A paper presented at the 22nd EGOS Colloquium on The Organizing Society, Bergen, Norway and also presented at the 2007 Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Wasserman, V., & Kluger, A. N. (April, 2001). Power-Related Emotions Expressed Towards Aesthetics of Service Organizations. A paper presented at the 16th annual convention of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), San Diego, CA

Wasserman, V., Rafaeli, A., & Kluger, A.N. (April, 2000). Aesthetic Symbols as Emotional Cues. A paper presented at the 15th Annual convention of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), New Orleans, Louisiana

Wasserman, V., Rafaeli, A., & Kluger, A.N. (May, 2000). Aesthetic Symbols. A paper presented in the 5th annual convention of Aesthetics and Organizations, EIASM, Siena, Italy.

Kluger, A.N., Rafaeli, A. & Wasserman, V. (April, 1998). Emotions, Cognitive Guides and Service Delivery Landscape: The Influence of Service Context on Quality of Service Transactions. A paper presented at the 13th Annual Convention of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), Dallas, TX.

 

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Organizational aesthetics
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Control and resistance in organizations
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Body and embodiment
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Gender and space
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Masculinities in organizations
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Organizational identity
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Work and marginalized social groups
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The ultra-orthodox community in Israel
Ministry of Science, Technology and Space
2018-2020 ─ Ladies, Attention! Stand at Ease! Planning the Bahadim City in light of feminist theory (300,000IL).
Ministry of Science, Technology and Space
2018 - Post-Doc fund for Dr. Avital Baikovich - Ultra-orthodox female entrepreneurs (100.000 IL).
The Open University Research Fund
2017 - Upgraded masculinity: The gendered in-migration of organizational models into the debriefing of the Israeli Air Force (40,000 IL).
Ministry of Science, Technology and Space
2015-2017 - Ultra-orthodox high-tech women between work, family and community: toward a synergetic policy (201.000 IL).
ISF - Israel Science Foundation
2014-2015 - Narratives of success: The case of Ethiopian women immigrants (224,00 IL).
Ruppin Academic center and Joint Israel
2013-2014 –Narratives of Success: The case of Ethiopian women (30,000 IL).
JCJCR - Jerusalem Center of Jewish-Christian Relations
2013-2014 – touristic narratives in Jerusalem's holly sites (30,000 IL).
The Rothschild Caesarea Foundation
2012-2015 – Orthodox women in new spaces (216,000 IL).
The Open University Research Fund
2012 - the emergence of hegemonic vs. resistant discourse: The case of ultra-orthodox media (40,000 IL).
 
 

 

MA Students supervised:
  • 2017 - Rivka Saban  - "'Train up a child in the way he should go' (Proverbs 22:6) - Youth at risk in ultra-Orthodox society" - The Federmann School of Public Policy and Government, The Hebrew University - completed 2020.
  • 2016 - Dar Dashan - "Diversy management and identity construction in social movements" - The Federmann School of Public Policy and Government, The Hebrew University - completed 2020.

  • 2019 - Sharon Salischiker - The Federmann School of Public Policy and Government, The Hebrew University - completed 2020.

 

Ph.D candidate:

  • Sigal Sapir - The Department of Sociology and Anthroplogy, The Hebrew University (with prof. Michal Frenkel).