Coming seminars 2025-2026 in hebrew
16.11.2025
Loss, obligation, and recovery: Migration narratives of former Soviet Union families in Israel caring for a relative with mental illness.
Dr. Evgeni Knaifel, Faculty of Social Work, Ashkelon Academic College.
Although mental problems are prevalent amond immigrants in various Western countries, little is known about how they and their families perceive the processes of adaptation that they go through in migration. The lecture will present findings on the perceptions of immigrant families from the Former Soviet Union in Israel who care for a family member with a sever mental illness. Based on semi-structured interviews with 32 family care providers, three main themes were discovered: Loss and trauma, immigration as an obligation and sacrifice and immigration as hope for recovery. The findings indicated how the perception of the intersection of immigration and illness challenges traditional meta-narratives of immigration, especially when the onset of a family member's illness occurs post-migration. The study highlights the need to reduce the subjective burden of family caregivers rooted in negative meanings of migration and advocates for more tailored social policies for them and their relatives before and after immigration.
28.12.2026
Why are they emigrating? On the new migration (or relocation) from Israel to the United States, compared to previous ones: characteristics, and push factors.
Prof. Lilach Lev-Ari, Oranim College of Education.
This study examines the characteristics and motivations for emigration or relocation among Israelis who have been living in the United States over the past decade. Approximately half (49%) of the respondents have been in the U.S. for between one and three years. The remaining respondents (51%) have been in the U.S. for between four and ten years and serve as a comparative source for understanding the impact of the war and judicial reform on decisions to return to Israel or remain in the U.S., alongside other factors.
The central theoretical contribution of the research is in expanding the understanding of push-pull concepts in the phenomenon of voluntary migration, through the traditional push-pull model and the more complex transnational migration model. In practical terms – the research findings provide a basis for recommendations regarding policies for dealing with the emigration of young families to the United States and creating incentives for their possible return to Israel.
18.1.2026
Thee Houses and Mud.
Prof. Chanita Goodblatt, Department of Foreign Literatures and Linguistics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
During a family visit to the United States, I went to visit my grandmother, Dora Brown (née
Fineroff) in a protected living facility. From her wheelchair she raised her head and entrusted me with a tattered black notebook and a rusted red cookie box full of letters. I wove everything together into the book Three Houses and Mud, in which I tell the story of my grandmother's life—and her journey from a village in the Ukraine to New York of the beginning and mid-twentieth century— in both poetic and documentary form. The poetry and stories in this book comprise a journey of memory and creativity while intertwining the languages and worlds of the speakers in the book, from Yiddish and Ukrainian to English and Hebrew.
22.3.2026
Migration in old age: Finding in the Israeli and international contexts.
Dr. Pnina Dolberg, Department of Social Work and the Institute for Migration and Social Integration, Ruppin Academic Center.
Although the rate of older immigrants in the world is raising, the subject of migration in old age has commanded only limited attention in research and policy, both in Israel and in other migration countries. The presentation will combine an international and the Israeli perspectives and examine challenges and assets that accompany the integration of older immigrants in different areas. Insights will be shared from two qualitative studies on immigrants from the former Soviet Union and older women that immigrated from Ethiopia. Although the two groups differ from each other, in both the transition undermined their sense of belonging and meaningfulness but also gave rise to resilience and new ways of self-definition. The lecture will offer a multidimensional perspective on migration in old age, one that stresses the ongoing dialogues between vulnerability and resilience, between loss and belonging and will underscore the need for culturally attuned policies and services that advance integration and welfare of older immigrants in the receiving society.
26.4.2026
Translation in immigration and psychotherapy: the experiences of Russian-speaking psychotherapist in Israel.
Rachel Kara-Ivanov Yishai, Département of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben Gurion University.
The study examined the professional experiences of Russian-speaking psychotherapists in Israel, focusing on the translation processes they engage in between languages, cultures, and professional discourses. 28 therapists were interviewed with a semi-structured interview. Unlike previous studies, this research focuses on the immigrant therapist who translates the cultural and professional languages in the clinical setting while mediating between emotional cultures. At the same time, the therapist is an object of translation: while acquiring the professional discourse and adjusting to the Israeli professional world, she\he undergoes cultural and professional translation that shape her\his identity. The research combines two theoretical perspectives: the psychoanalytical approach to language and the sociological-anthropological approach to migration as a cultural transition.
14.6.2026
Brazilians in Israel – making the knowledge accessible to all.
Debi Chaimovtich-Yehoshafat, Coordinator of the project “Brazilians in Israel",
Portuguese and Spanish Lecturer, Ben Gurion University of Negev
The lecture will present the work of a group of Brazilian researchers who collect life stories of immigrants from Brazil. Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator and theoretician proposed that humanity seeks and justice and liberty, yet at the same time suppresses itself. Freire's vision was to make education and culture available to all. Museu de Pessoa in San Paulo operated based on this vision and provides a platform for different groups that collect life stories and present them in virtual exhibitions. For the past five years a group of Brazilian researchers in Brazil and Israel have been collecting life stories of Brazilian immigrants in Israel. Supported by the Museu de Pessoa, they have created a mobile exhibition and activities for schools about this exhibition. We also started a you tube video channel, an Instagram site and recently - a podcast to spread the knowledge to the community.
