Ono’s School of Humanities and Social Science November Newsletter Focuses on Bridging Divides Through Dialogue and Creativity
Ono Academic College’s School of Humanities and Social Science recently published its newsletter entitled “Free Thought.” The volume includes essays, reflections, and news on academic life, teaching innovations, social engagement, cultural events, and interdisciplinary research within the School. It includes contributions from faculty members, students, and alumni, highlighting achievements, pedagogical experiments, social initiatives, and artistic collaborations, featuring the following stories:
- Editorial: On Mission and Innovation — Dr. Rachel (Hali) Hillel-Avraham — Reflects on launching the academic year in a post-war context and the educator’s role as a change agent. Describes Ono’s M.A. in Education tracks blending theory, practice, trauma-aware pedagogy, and community leadership. Highlights new initiatives in AI & learning tech, special education, early childhood resilience, sport-and-movement pedagogy, mediation, and an Impact Lab.
- Corrective Experience in Education — Dr. Yael Shraga-Reutman — Presents a new B.A. track focused on learning and attention disorders with certification in adaptive (remedial) teaching plus mental-health instructor training. Explains the scale of ADHD/LD in Israeli schools and the need for tailored, systemic supports. Emphasizes applied learning: fieldwork, personal guidance, and tech-assisted accessibility.
- Building Leadership — Summarizes the first cohort of Ono’s Career-Management Club for veteran school principals, a peer learning space without supervisory pressures. Participants explored identity, storytelling/branding, networking, municipal interfaces, fundraising, excellence, and purpose. Reports strong feedback and a second cohort opening, with aims to renew leaders’ resilience, creativity, and long-term career vision.
- Tradition, Gender, and Entrepreneurship — Dr. Shira Sofer-Vital
An academic case study on Grandmother Jamila Khir of Peki’in, a Druze woman who turned traditional herbal knowledge into an international soap and cosmetics brand. The article, written within a sociology and academic writing course, uses Jamila’s story to illustrate how women in traditional societies can transform cultural constraints into empowerment. Student Asmahan Fares Barik’s interview with Jamila becomes a bridge between theory and lived experience, showing how faith, identity, and entrepreneurship can coexist as tools for social change. - Every Ending Is a Beginning — Dr. Daphna Lieber
Marks the first graduating class of Ono Academic College’s B.A. in Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Lieber, who leads the program, reflects on the students’ journey through demanding academic and therapeutic coursework that emphasized empathy, creativity, and resilience. She ties the program’s humanistic ethos to her own experience donating a kidney—an act of belief in human goodness and interdependence. The ceremony celebrates first-generation graduates who now enter the helping professions with training in innovative therapeutic methods like animal-assisted and culinary therapy. - Law and Order
Summarizes the symposium “Bridge Over Troubled Water – The Police and Israeli Society”, hosted by Ono’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The event brought together police officers, prison staff, students, and scholars to explore the complex relationship between law enforcement and the public. It featured lectures by Deputy Commander Dr. Shlomi Shitrit and Dr. Yael Litmanovitz, a screening of Yaron Shani’s film My Eyes, and a creative writing workshop led by Dr. Hagar Hajaj-Berger and Dr. Michal Inbar. The discussion aimed to foster understanding and dialogue amid social tension. - At the Center of Impact
Presents Impact Lab, a pioneering initiative that integrates Ono’s M.A. in Education with hands-on work in real social organizations. The program trains graduate students to design, measure, and expand social impact while helping NGOs and community projects address management challenges. It’s structured around three guiding principles: Collective Impact (multi-sector partnerships), “Bottom-Up at Scale” (grassroots innovation driving systemic change), and “Microcosm of Perspectives” (embracing identity-based diversity as organizational knowledge). The lab fosters a professional community of future social-education leaders who bridge academia and the field. - From Hall to Hall
Reviews two major musical events from Ono Academic College’s School of Music, directed by Maestro Yaron Gutfried, a Prime Minister’s Prize laureate. The first was a gala concert with the Israeli Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion, featuring symphonic arrangements of classics by Sasha Argov, Nurit Hirsch, and others, attended by Hirsch herself. The second was a collaboration with the Kibbutzim College’s Film and Media School, where Ono students composed original film scores premiered at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque. Both events showcased Ono’s interdisciplinary approach that unites classical, contemporary, and cinematic music while preparing students for the modern creative industry.
The full, Hebrew-language newsletter can be found at: https://www.ono.ac.il/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/1761723264_ידיעון_13_מחשבה_חופשית_3.pdf
