33 The Humanities and Israeli Society How the Faculty of Humanities uses knowledge, creativity, and compassion to advance the State of Israel. Humanities for Healthcare The Department of Philosophy’sMaster’s Program inBioethics and Healthcare prepares researchers and professionals in genetics, the health sciences, government, and law to assist in clinical decision-making, advise on policies, and address advancements in medical technologies that raise ethical questions. Among the program’s many graduates helping to shape a more ethical healthcare industry for Israel are Dr. Ella Koren, director of the Ziva Tal Nursing School at Tel Hashomer Hospital; Prof. Shaul Dolberg, an expert in pediatrics, former director of the neonatal and premature infants department at Beilinson Hospital, and chair of a new Ministry of Health committee established for “protection for the helpless and minors in the health system”; andDr. Vardit Ravitsky, a professor in the Bioethics Program of the University of Montreal’s School of Public Health, a senior lecturer on global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School, president of the International Association of Bioethics, and director of ethics and health at Canada’s Center for Research on Ethics. Humanities for Sustainability With the help of 949, the healthcare accelerator of Bar-Ilan’s venture-builder UnBox, the MultidisciplinaryStudiesUnit’sDr. Ran Shauli of the Program in Asian Studies turned his historical research on the lessons of Southeast Asian countries’ poor environmental policy into partnership in the startupDriftSense. The precision-agriculture company, which aims to reduce airborne pesticide drift, builds customized, AI-based profiles for agricultural plots. In addition, through the Humanities and Sustainability Curriculum inBar-Ilan’s newSchool of Sustainability, the faculty offers students amultidisciplinary approach to the study of our current environmental challenges. Featuring courses on the history, literature, and philosophy of such problems as climate change, the exploitation of natural resources, and unequal access to food and water security, the curriculum encourages students to explore humanity’s beliefs about its relationship to nature as a basis for informing and directing development toward a more sustainable world. Humanities for Research Innovation By using new technologies to handle and search digitized culture, humanities scholars are transformingour ability to study the great works of our civilization. Statistical analysis, search and retrieval, topic modelling, and data visualization—all these methods, when applied to vast archives and collections, facilitate large-scale humanities projects that provide unprecedented insight into the past and present alike. In particular, the Department of InformationScience’s newM.A. specialization in the digital humanities prepares the next generation of researchers capable of answering the boldest, most ambitious questions about the human condition, human culture, and human creativity. Humanities for the Community The Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies’ course “Community Translators” prepares graduates to assist non-Hebrew speakers in their interactions with official Israeli bodies, such as welfare and health services. This year, the course placed special emphasis on mediating between Israeli government agencies and new immigrants from Russia and Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Department of French Culture brought students to old age homes with native French speakers for a mutually beneficial project: Residents helped students improve both their French and interviewing skills, and students helped residents to write their memoirs as a legacy for their families. Finally, in March, the Department of English Literature and Linguistics’ Prof. Marcela Sulak coordinated a poetry reading at the University of Haifa to bring Bar-Ilan students’ verse to new audiences. More than 100 people attended the standingroom-only event. Prof. Daniela Dueck
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