The Mandel Leadership Institute congratulates and welcomes the four new fellows of the fifth cohort of the Mandel Scholars in Education program: Akiva Hameiri, Yuliya Lipshits-Braziler, Alik Palatnik and Eli Vinokur.
Akiva Hameiri is a doctoral student at the Melton Centre for Jewish Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s school of education. Akiva holds a bachelor’s degree in Bible and Jewish studies and a master’s degree in Jewish education, both from the Hebrew University. His doctoral research focus is a study of the development of the characters of Esau and Zippora in the biblical story and in Midrashim as a window into the cultural treatment of the foreigner and its possible implications on Jewish education. His advisors are Prof. Menachem Hirshman of the Jewish education department and Prof. Israel Knohl of the Bible studies department. Akiva teaches Bible and serves as chair of the Jewish philosophy concentration at the Yigal Allon High School in Rishon LeZion. He is also a counselor at the Posen Foundation, working with youth who are studying questions of identity and the attitude towards foreigners in Jewish sources. Akiva is a member of a research group at the Shaharit Institute, which addresses the image of a liberal and multicultural society in Israel.
Yuliya Lipshits-Braziler is a doctoral student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s school of education and a fellow of the Hoffman Leadership and Social Responsibility Program. Yuliya holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education and educational counseling from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her doctoral research, under the direction of Prof. Itamar Gati and Prof. Moshe Tatar, studies ways to deal with the challenges in choosing a concentration at university and a field of work. For the last two years, Yuliya has been a volunteer at the NCJW Research Institute for Innovation in Education—an institute established to conduct experimental programs for advancing disempowered sectors in Israel. She also participates in a program to bolster Arab-Jewish coexistence in Jerusalem schools.
Alik Palatnik is a doctoral student in the department of education in technology and science at the Technion. Alik holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Haifa and a master’s degree in mathematics instruction from Tel Aviv University. His doctoral research, “Studying Mathematics through Research Projects,” under the direction of Prof. Boris Koichu, examines the cognitive, emotional, and social potential of mathematical research projects. Alik has been teaching math for over ten years at the Air Force Technical College in Haifa. He established and coordinated the honors track at the Air Force Technical School.
Eli Vinokur is a doctoral student at the University of Haifa's department of education. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Jewish philosophy and the history of the Jewish people, a master’s degree in Arab culture, and a teaching certificate in Jewish philosophy, all from Tel Aviv University. The topic of Eli’s doctoral research, under the direction of Prof. Hanan Alexander, is “Education for Cosmopolitan Citizenship—an Inherent Contradiction or a Necessary Synthesis?”
The fellows were selected by a selection committee that was comprised of Dr. Ayman Agbaria, Professor Lily Orland-Barak, Dr. Eli Gottlieb, Ms. Annette Hochstein, Mr. Moshe Vigdor, Professor Edna Lomsky-Feder, Professor Mordecai Nisan, Professor Lee Shulman and Dr. Shimshon Shoshani. The new fellows were chosen after a meticulous selection process that reached its climax on March 18, 2014 with a “Lecture Marathon” at which each candidate presented his/her research work.
The Mandel Leadership Institute wishes the new fellows every success in their new endeavor.
