Galia Sabar
The Department of Middle Eastern and African History, Tel Aviv University, formerly President of Ruppin Academic Center, Israel (2015-2021)
Orcid no. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1431-8007
Summary of my scientific work ((פירוט בעברית מופיע בסוף קורות החיים
Over the years my research has focused on two fields related to the study of the African continent and its people: (1) the study of African migrant workers and African asylum seekers in Israel, and their return to Africa and (2) African Christianities including its roles within non-religious arenas.The later has held my interest for more than three decades including studies on the involvement of religious organizations in non- religious arenas, health included. The study of African migration has been my focus in the last two decades, however, in recent years this has broadened in terms of the population studied and the subjects researched. The outcome of all my research has been published in academic platforms. Below, I will elaborate upon each of the aforementioned fields.
- Migration and migrants
During these years I continued my research on African migrants in Israel focusing on asylum seekers. From 2006 to 2013, approximately 60,000 asylum seekers from Sudan and Eritrea entered Israel. Seeing them as agents of change rather than passive objects of life circumstances, I focused on their social, economic, and political activities. I examined the importance of these activities with respect to asylum seekers' efforts to take control over the realities of their lives and extend their power as individuals and communities. Three major issues stand at the heart of my research in this field: (1) the struggle over spaces of habitus, (2) activities within the religious-political arena, and (3) perceptions of health and sickness. In addition to researching asylum seekers living in Israel, I extended the study to those who returned to their homes, whether by their own free will or as a result of coercion or deportation. I questioned what has changed in them - their lifestyles, their interpersonal relations, their worldview – following what they underwent and the experiences they accrued in Israel. I focused on asylum seekers mainly from South Sudan who were forced to leave Israel in 2012 after their country received its independence. To the best of my knowledge, such tracking of African migrant workers, asylum seekers and refugees, expelled to their homes or returned to an unknown home is a pioneering research attempt.
Alongside the study of asylum seekers, I have continued my research among African migrant workers' communities in Israel, focusing on two populations: children of migrant workers granted civil status, and veteran migrant workers who marry Israeli citizens. The first focused on the meanings of Israel and being Israeli for them focusing on those who joined the IDF. The second studied attitude of the Israeli legal system to mixed couples – citizens and non-Jewish migrants – upon requesting civil status by virtue of marriage. In 2020, with the outbreak of COVID 19 , I explored the unique modalities of conduct migrant caregivers in Israel developed in an attempt to cope with the lockdown. In 2021, together with a colleague we submitted two research proposals on the use of telemedicine by migrant caregivers.
2.African Christianities
Further to my early research on Christianities in Africa, I went back to studying Christian theologies as political spaces in Africa and the African diasporas. In addition, I have expanded my research concerning Christian religious identities of African labor migrants in Israel with special focus on Pentecostal groups. Within the Pentecostal arena, I studied a unique groups of Ethiopian Jews that migrated to Israel under the Law of Return, yet practice Pentecostal Christianity.
Based on my previous research in East African related to HIV/AIDS prevention education, I joined an international research team that examined the effect of health education activities led by religious leaders and women groups on sickness rates in neglected tropical diseases. Based on our findings we submitted two grant proposals to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Both were approved.
As most of my research projects have been conducted using qualitative methodologies, particularly open ended in-depth interviews and the collection and analysis of personal narratives I have published several articles on ethical dilemmas arising from this kind of research methodologies.
Activities within the academic arena
For more than a decade, I headed Africa Studies at TAU as well as initiated and led the interuniversity African Studies program. Throughout the years, I have invested considerable time and efforts in widening those interested in topics related to the African continent, within the academic arena and beyond. From 2012 through 2014, together with Prof. Joel and Prof. Cinamon we headed TAU Forum for Women and Gender Studies to promote awareness to gender based barriers in the process of promoting women in academia and offered mechanisms to overcome them.
Extending scholarly discourse
Throughout the years I published my scientific work in academic platforms and at the same time directed these insights and understanding to the public arena. Simultaneously I try to bring insights from the public arena to enrich the research and deepen scientific insights. Hence, over the years, I volunteered in civic aid organizations assisting African migrants to cope with their daily realities in Israel and created enrichment frameworks – courses, seminars, workshops - designated for government officials, activists and scholars within the migration arena, as well as for migrants and asylum seekers themselves. For example, between 2013-2021 I initiated and led nine open access training courses to medical personnel, university students and activists. All courses focused on health related issues relevant to non Jewish migrants and asylum seekers. Courses were held in collaboration with leading hospitals, the UNHCR and TAU. "Transparent patient" course was carried in all leading hospitals in Israel. Each course covered a wide range of topics related to medical and socio-cultural issues concerning the use of health services by insurance-less non Jewish migrants in Israel. Over 600 people participated in these courses. Parallel to these courses I I initiated in 2014-2015 an English Tigrinya medical interpretators training course. Within 4 months we trained dozens of Eritrean asylum seekers to be professional medical interpretators . The course graduates found work within the Israeli health system. We conducted research on the course and published our finding in three scientific publications.
2016 – 2021 President, Ruppin Academic Center
In 2016, I was elected president of Ruppin Academic Center, one of the best public colleges in Israel. Under my leadership Ruppin expanded its academic training programs, advanced its faculty's research achievements, promoted innovative modalities of teaching, deepened its commitment to social responsibility and opened its gates to students from underprivileged backgrounds. Over several consecutive years, Ruppin Academic Center has been selected as one of the best public colleges in Israel. During my term, I initiated and developed the concept of WeLearn, dedicated to creating learning communities where students, faculty, employers, and members of local communities partner in the process of granting academic training. In an effort to make academic training relevant in a rapidly changing world we took three major steps: (1) the integration of essential life skills into all our curricula, (2) developed research and academic training in areas that will be relevant in the future namely: the sea and its resources, migration and social integration, Old age studies, and computer and information sciences. Finally (3) we developed a new interdisciplinary arena of research and academic training named STEMPATHY which combines STEM with empathy professions. such as nursing, social work, geriatric & psychology. In 2020 I was elected, unanimously, for a second term which due to administrative regulations, I had to quit and return to TAU.
Galia Sabar
The Department of Middle Eastern and African History, Tel Aviv University, formerly President of Ruppin Academic Center, Israel (2015-2021)
Orcid no. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1431-8007
Summary of my scientific work ((פירוט בעברית מופיע בסוף קורות החיים
Over the years my research has focused on two fields related to the study of the African continent and its people: (1) the study of African migrant workers and African asylum seekers in Israel, and their return to Africa and (2) African Christianities including its roles within non-religious arenas.The later has held my interest for more than three decades including studies on the involvement of religious organizations in non- religious arenas, health included. The study of African migration has been my focus in the last two decades, however, in recent years this has broadened in terms of the population studied and the subjects researched. The outcome of all my research has been published in academic platforms. Below, I will elaborate upon each of the aforementioned fields.
- Migration and migrants
During these years I continued my research on African migrants in Israel focusing on asylum seekers. From 2006 to 2013, approximately 60,000 asylum seekers from Sudan and Eritrea entered Israel. Seeing them as agents of change rather than passive objects of life circumstances, I focused on their social, economic, and political activities. I examined the importance of these activities with respect to asylum seekers' efforts to take control over the realities of their lives and extend their power as individuals and communities. Three major issues stand at the heart of my research in this field: (1) the struggle over spaces of habitus, (2) activities within the religious-political arena, and (3) perceptions of health and sickness. In addition to researching asylum seekers living in Israel, I extended the study to those who returned to their homes, whether by their own free will or as a result of coercion or deportation. I questioned what has changed in them - their lifestyles, their interpersonal relations, their worldview – following what they underwent and the experiences they accrued in Israel. I focused on asylum seekers mainly from South Sudan who were forced to leave Israel in 2012 after their country received its independence. To the best of my knowledge, such tracking of African migrant workers, asylum seekers and refugees, expelled to their homes or returned to an unknown home is a pioneering research attempt.
Alongside the study of asylum seekers, I have continued my research among African migrant workers' communities in Israel, focusing on two populations: children of migrant workers granted civil status, and veteran migrant workers who marry Israeli citizens. The first focused on the meanings of Israel and being Israeli for them focusing on those who joined the IDF. The second studied attitude of the Israeli legal system to mixed couples – citizens and non-Jewish migrants – upon requesting civil status by virtue of marriage. In 2020, with the outbreak of COVID 19 , I explored the unique modalities of conduct migrant caregivers in Israel developed in an attempt to cope with the lockdown. In 2021, together with a colleague we submitted two research proposals on the use of telemedicine by migrant caregivers.
2.African Christianities
Further to my early research on Christianities in Africa, I went back to studying Christian theologies as political spaces in Africa and the African diasporas. In addition, I have expanded my research concerning Christian religious identities of African labor migrants in Israel with special focus on Pentecostal groups. Within the Pentecostal arena, I studied a unique groups of Ethiopian Jews that migrated to Israel under the Law of Return, yet practice Pentecostal Christianity.
Based on my previous research in East African related to HIV/AIDS prevention education, I joined an international research team that examined the effect of health education activities led by religious leaders and women groups on sickness rates in neglected tropical diseases. Based on our findings we submitted two grant proposals to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Both were approved.
As most of my research projects have been conducted using qualitative methodologies, particularly open ended in-depth interviews and the collection and analysis of personal narratives I have published several articles on ethical dilemmas arising from this kind of research methodologies.
Activities within the academic arena
For more than a decade, I headed Africa Studies at TAU as well as initiated and led the interuniversity African Studies program. Throughout the years, I have invested considerable time and efforts in widening those interested in topics related to the African continent, within the academic arena and beyond. From 2012 through 2014, together with Prof. Joel and Prof. Cinamon we headed TAU Forum for Women and Gender Studies to promote awareness to gender based barriers in the process of promoting women in academia and offered mechanisms to overcome them.
Extending scholarly discourse
Throughout the years I published my scientific work in academic platforms and at the same time directed these insights and understanding to the public arena. Simultaneously I try to bring insights from the public arena to enrich the research and deepen scientific insights. Hence, over the years, I volunteered in civic aid organizations assisting African migrants to cope with their daily realities in Israel and created enrichment frameworks – courses, seminars, workshops - designated for government officials, activists and scholars within the migration arena, as well as for migrants and asylum seekers themselves. For example, between 2013-2021 I initiated and led nine open access training courses to medical personnel, university students and activists. All courses focused on health related issues relevant to non Jewish migrants and asylum seekers. Courses were held in collaboration with leading hospitals, the UNHCR and TAU. "Transparent patient" course was carried in all leading hospitals in Israel. Each course covered a wide range of topics related to medical and socio-cultural issues concerning the use of health services by insurance-less non Jewish migrants in Israel. Over 600 people participated in these courses. Parallel to these courses I I initiated in 2014-2015 an English Tigrinya medical interpretators training course. Within 4 months we trained dozens of Eritrean asylum seekers to be professional medical interpretators . The course graduates found work within the Israeli health system. We conducted research on the course and published our finding in three scientific publications.
2016 – 2021 President, Ruppin Academic Center
In 2016, I was elected president of Ruppin Academic Center, one of the best public colleges in Israel. Under my leadership Ruppin expanded its academic training programs, advanced its faculty's research achievements, promoted innovative modalities of teaching, deepened its commitment to social responsibility and opened its gates to students from underprivileged backgrounds. Over several consecutive years, Ruppin Academic Center has been selected as one of the best public colleges in Israel. During my term, I initiated and developed the concept of WeLearn, dedicated to creating learning communities where students, faculty, employers, and members of local communities partner in the process of granting academic training. In an effort to make academic training relevant in a rapidly changing world we took three major steps: (1) the integration of essential life skills into all our curricula, (2) developed research and academic training in areas that will be relevant in the future namely: the sea and its resources, migration and social integration, Old age studies, and computer and information sciences. Finally (3) we developed a new interdisciplinary arena of research and academic training named STEMPATHY which combines STEM with empathy professions. such as nursing, social work, geriatric & psychology. In 2020 I was elected, unanimously, for a second term which due to administrative regulations, I had to quit and return to TAU.