Israeli scholar lectures on campus Tuesday

Rivka Neriya-Ben Shahar, a senior lecturer at Sapir Academic College in Sderot, Israel, lectures 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14 in the Jones Room of Kilcawley Center on the campus of Youngstown State University.

Neriya-Ben Shahar, who teaches courses in research methods, communication, religion and gender, has presented her research at more than 40 academic conferences and seminars in the United States and Israel and has published 16 papers dealing with various perspectives on gender, religion, and media.

The lecture, titled "Old Order Amish and Jewish Ultra-Orthodox Women's Responses to the Internet," is free and open to the public.

Neriya-Ben Shahar is currently conducting a comparative ethnography of Old Order Amish and Hasidic Jewish communities with a focus on women’s experiences.

“One exciting aspect of the talk, of course, is the comparative aspect and its rootedness in our region,” said Jacob Labendz, director of the YSU Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies. “While Youngstown does not have a Hasidic community, we are located close to Amish country and a research site for Dr. Neriya-Ben Shahar.”

“There are, of course, Hasidic communities in the larger cities of our region. It’ll be fascinating to hear them discussed together. Are we right to assume some sort of similarity or shared experience based upon perceived similarities in dress and withdrawal from some aspects of popular culture? How much do they differ based in the intellectual and religious roots of the movements? I’m personally excited that the talk will focus on women’s experiences, as people tend to think of Hasidim, in particular, as men.”