Drs. Odeya Cohen and Ortal Slobodin Awarded the 2022 William Berelson Prize

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​​A chance encounter between Drs. Ortal Slobodin and Odeya Cohen, members of two different faculties at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, led to a research collaboration, which was awarded the 2022 William Berelson Prize for the Promotion of Jewish-Arab Understanding in Memory of Yitzhak Rabin. The prize was awarded for the 29th year to individuals and initiatives who have contributed to the advancement of understanding and creating partnerships between the Jewish and Arab sectors.

The collaboration between Dr. Cohen, from the Department of Nursing, and Dr. Slobodin, from the School of Education, was born in a workshop for young researchers, where they realized that, despite differences in professional, personal, and cultural backgrounds, they share a similar worldview regarding the relationship between academia and society.

Dr. Cohen specializes in the field of emergency preparedness. Before becoming an academic researcher, she worked for 15 years as a nurse in hospitals and in the community. Dr. Slobodin specializes in social and cultural aspects of mental health and clinical psychology.

Together, they developed an online e-learning curriculum to strengthen cultural competence in times of emergency, for which they were awarded the NIS 20,000 prize.

Drs. Odeya Cohen (left) and Ortal Slobodin

"Research and teaching in academia play a formative role in shaping society, and their role is to harness the tools and resources at their disposal to heal the social fabric in times of emergency and crisis," the researchers say.

The e-learning course is predicated on the idea that being aware of other's cultural values will not only help improve the effectiveness of treatment, but also reduce gaps and increase social solidarity and resilience.

The need to increase the cultural competence of emergency teams intensified during the COVID-19 crisis. The coronavirus not only created dramatic medical and economic challenges, but also exacerbated the existing gaps between social and cultural groups in Israeli society. During this period, aid teams such as local authorities, soldiers, police officers, and volunteers were required to quickly provide a professional response to diverse populations that were sometimes unfamiliar to them.

The researchers developed an interactive, efficient, and friendly platform to provide emergency teams with tools that would help them deliver a professional and sensitive response to diverse populations. The course includes recorded interviews with experts in the field, videos, and newspaper clippings, among other elements.

The prize committee

Academic institutions, vocational training institutions and health institutions have adopted the e-learning modules and assimilated them into their organizations. For example, productive cooperation has been established with the Israel Police; representatives visited the University to learn more about the curriculum and adapt it to policework.

After studies which showed the e-learning was effective in increasing cultural competence, it was also translated into English and is available to aid teams around the world.

The e-learning curriculum was supported by grants from the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, the President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

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