7.11.16

Lecture title: Identity, Nationalism and Representation in Conflict
Abstract: The presentation focuses on journalism during violent conflicts when the journalists are members of one of the conflicting parties. This type of coverage invokes a professional dilemma "between the nation and the profession":  The journalists’ professional paradigm and values are challenged and confronted by their ethnic-cultural identity. On the one hand, the professional community calls upon the journalist to tell a story that will be, or will appear to be, factual, objective and balanced. On the other hand, the national-cultural community calls upon the journalist to take part in the conflict, to be its representative and its weapon, in the battle of images and soundbites – to tell an unbalanced, unobjective story. I present three mechanism to leverage between journalists’ dual allegiance:

1. Shifting the framing over time: the outbreak of violent events is accompanied with manifestations of nationalism; and when the conflict is calming-down the frame shifts towards a more balanced coverage. This type of coverage is also evident in the leisure supplements (sports, lifestyle, arts and entertainment) the construct ‘in-group nationalism’ and ‘out-group nationalism’.
2. Reaffirming Criticism: Critical rhetoric during conflicts that do not undermine the establishment’s fundamental assumptions and decisions (e.g., the journalists may ask in a fierce manner why the army is not prepared for war). This kind of rhetoric, unlike Challenging Criticism, is packaged as criticism, although it is not striving under the assumption that the war is necessary, and the nation should rally behind the government.
3. Speculations regarding the future:  The journalists tend to offer speculation regarding conflicts and by doing so they demonstrate their expertise in understanding the political arena. In most cases these speculations refer to a violent and frightening future and even to worst case scenarios. This function as “media oracles” is providing dramatic headlines and serves the hegemonic frame

These three mechanisms also demonstrate the double role of journalism both as a political actor and as a stage for other political players.  
Lecturer: Prof. Motti Neiger, Dean, The School of Communication, Netanya Academic College
Date: Monday, Nov. 7, 2016 | 12:15-14:00
Location: Media room no. 31

 

5.12.16

Lecture title: Mediating among Mediators: Building a Consensus in a Multilateral Intervention
Abstract: The condition of an effective multilateral intervention is a critical question for scholars and practitioners. Scholarly studies have demonstrated the importance of a united intervention but have been in disagreement over the effectiveness of neutral versus partisan intervention. Examining consensus building of mediators within two divergent case studies: Northern Ireland and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), this article examines the conditions under which mediators construct a consensus on a type of intervention process. 
Lecturer: Dr. Timea Spitka, The Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations- Hebrew University
Date: Monday, Dec. 5, 2016 | 12:30-14:00
Location: Media room no. 31

 

9.1.17

Lecture title: From tactical skills to a way of thinking: advanced negotiation workshop
Abstract: We encounter the art of negotiation on a daily basis - we negotiate all the time: with family members, with acquaintances, customers or suppliers. However, what is the best way to conduct a negotiation process? Is there a right way to negotiate? Will this way succeed each time? Can we fulfill all of our interests during a negotiation process? And most important – how should we behave in a negotiation when we wish to maintain long term relationships? This lecture will focus on practical tools to assist negotiators in reaching better outcome along with a healthy business relations.
Lecturer: Adv. Vanessa Seyman, PNP Planning negotiation processes
Date: Monday, Jan. 9, 2017 | 12:30-14:00
Location: Media room no. 31

 

20.3.17

Lecture title: "The National Cyberspace: The Process of Legitimization of Cybersecurity Policy in the USA and Israel 
Abstract: The last decade, and especially the last year and the last US presidential election, marked a shift in the public perception of Cyber-security related issues – from a technical and covert issue to a main national security concern, this public focus on cyber-conflicts was not ignored by social scientists and by students of law, yet until now this current issue failed to receive a wide-ranging scholarly attention.
In the field of conflict and conflict resolution research, one can point to a particular lack in the study of the normative dimensions of current cyber conflicts, and specifically the study of the nationalization and the securitization processes of the cyber domain. States are evidently striving to form the suitable normative and ethical public atmosphere, needed for a legitimate state–based action towards cyber-conflicts and cyber-conflicts resolutions.  
In my presentation I will focus on the latter, by presenting an analysis of formal statements made by US and Israeli officials, I will attempt to describe the main narratives and socio-technical imaginaries (Jasanoff & and Kim, 2015) that are being propagated by states in regards to cyber-conflict, and to extract the main ethical and normative motivations that stimulate current-day state involvement in the cyber domain. Such motivations will include issues such as: trust in information and data assurance, national security concerns, cross-domain actions, global destabilization and more.
Lecturer: Dr. Amit Sheniak, post-doctoral fellow at the Swiss Center for Conflict Research and a research fellow at the STS center at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.  
Date: Monday, March 20, 2017 | 12:30-14:00
Location: Media room no. 32

 

8.5.17

In collaboration with Prof. Danny Miodownik – Head, The Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations

Lecture title: On Conflict, Justice,  Empathy,  and Reconciliation:  "What Can You Do When You Can't Do Anything?: Justice and Reconciliation in Intractable, Protracted Conflicts"  
Lecturer: Prof. Byron Bland, Stanford University
Date: Monday, May 5, 2017 | 12:30-14:00
Location: Media room no. 32

Prof. Bland will give another lecture on this day at 18:30-20:00

Lecture title: On Conflict, Justice,  Empathy,  and Reconciliation:  Marking 50 Years to the Israeli-Arab 1967 War: Perceptual and relational barriers to conflict resolution 
Location: Room 5402 Social Sciences 

 

6.5.17

Lecture Title: Sex and Money: An Integrated Sociocultural and Evolutionary Perspective.
Chair: Dr. Yiftach Ron
Lecturer: Nechumi Yaffe, Ph.D. Candidate, The Swiss Center for Conflict Research, Management and Resolution

Abstract: The origin of the tendency for men to value wealth more than women can be explained by both social role theory and evolutionary theory. In this presentation, I  integrate these two perspectives to provide insight into a unique cultural context, the Ultra-Orthodox community in Israel, where social roles are reversed, such that women are the primary breadwinners in the family. Studies 1 and 2 provide support for social role theory’s claim that gender stereotypes arise from consistent observations of men and women in specific social roles, and that such stereotypes can be internalized as attitudes. Although men show more positive attitudes toward wealth than women in secular Jewish communities (study 1) women show more positive attitudes toward wealth than men in the Ultra-Orthodox community (study 2). These findings are integrated with an evolutionary perspective suggesting that men strive to elevate their personal status as a means of attracting mates. In most modern societies this equates to the accumulation of wealth, but in the Ultra-Orthodox community, it is religious devotion and piety that determine the status of men. Accordingly, women in the Ultra-Orthodox community display a mating preference, not for wealth, but for personal status and religious devotion (study 3). These findings are consistent with the idea that men may have evolved preferences for achieving status given the mating advantages it confers with women, but how status is achieved may be culturally specific

Date: Monday, June 5, 2017
Location: Media Room no. 32, Central Library, Mount Scopus Campus