Nurit Novis-Deutsch, PhD

I'm a scholar, researcher and educator who lives in the pluralistic kibbutz Hanaton in the Lower Galilee, in Israel. I am married to Avi and the mother of Maayan, Noga and Yarden.

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At Haifa University, I head the MA program for Pedagogical Development at the Department of Learning Sciences . We have an exciting program focusing on critically exploring pedagogy, educational innovations and pedagogical entrepreneurship. I love teaching and engaging with our dedicated students.

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I also run several research projects, some with larger teams of researchers and others with smaller ones. 

 

Living in Israel has made me deeply aware of the affordances and constraints of practicing multiculturalism in a geographically dense and deeply divided area. I have come to realize that one of the things most lacking in our society is a pluralistic mindset.

For the past few years I've been researching, promoting and teaching about this pluralistic mindset. You can read more about what I mean by this concept in my paper "The one and the many" (2018).

I have also long been fascinated by the power of religion in human life and society. One of the main conundrums I wrestle with is the inclusive-exclusive nature of religious communities, and one of its most concerning outcomes - religious prejudice. This, too, has become one of my research foci.

Combining these two issues, I explore religious and secular groups in Israel and elsewhere and try to identify what allows for religious pluralism and what hinders it: Do God concepts play a role? Personality traits? Cognitive complexity? Education? And how do they all interact?

On Kibbutz Hanaton, where I live, I am also involved in putting these insights into practice by running educational programs and helping with community-building efforts.  My religiously mixed community (which includes religious, traditional and secular members) and my religiously mixed family (some of us are religious, others are not) are the chief source of inspiration for my studies.