Dr. Avital Binah-Pollak

Avital Binah-Pollak is a faculty member at the Technion’s Department of Humanities and Arts. She is a socio-cultural anthropologist with an emphasis on education, learning processes, immigration and mobility in contemporary China. She has presented her work at various national and international conferences and workshops, and her work has been published in a number of journals and edited volumes. Her book about cross-border marriages between mainland Chinese women and Hong Kong men was published by the University of Amsterdam in 2019. Her current research focuses on three main topics: 1. Education and social change in contemporary China. 2. Cross-cultural aspects of education and of cognitive processes. 3. The role of humanities and social sciences in science and engineering higher education.

Avital welcomes PhD students for the following project:
A project focused on investigating learning and cognitive processes in cross-cultural perspectives. The project examines several main issues: What is the cultural influence on learning skills? What cultural conceptions and practices are evident among students? How are these cultural conceptions and practices implicated in students’ academic performance, study approaches, and cognitive skills? And how are these cultural conceptions and practices affected over time or in different contexts?
A project focused on public policy and education in contemporary China. The project welcomes students who are eager to explore issues related to education, public policy, childhood, and/or gender in contemporary China from a variety of academic backgrounds: Chinese studies, anthropology, sociology, and history.