Israel Professorship in Communication Science
Our research and teaching focus on the opportunities enabled to individuals and communities through the utilization of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in their attempt to realize their freedoms and promote their wellbeing.
Theoretically, we apply the capabilities approach, a justice-based theory, for exploring the media capabilities currently being enabled to different groups in society today. The capabilities approach developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum focuses on the fair distribution of resources in society, motioning that a fair society is one in which individuals can be and do what they desire.
Empirically, we focus on marginalized populations on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, migration, life circumstances, and health, examining varied communication technologies and platforms. For example, some of our latest studies include the representations of Israeli-Arabs on traditional broadcast media, the role of ICTs in the lives of individuals leaving Jewish ultra-Orthodoxy (with Prof. Dr. Yossi David), and the digital solicitation of organ donations on social media. These studies exemplify different angles of individuals' practicing their right to communicate.
The three questions leading us are: (1) What should be our expectations from the media and ICTs in a fair society? (2) What can the media and ICTs enable individuals to do and be? (3) What are the media and ICTs currently enabling individuals and different communities to realize today?