RESEARCHER PROFILE

ywarshel [at] yahoo.com

Dr. Yael Warshel specializes in peace communication, or the assessment and evaluation of the role mass and interpersonal communication play in managing political conflicts, especially ethnopolitical conflicts; and Middle Eastern and African media infrastructures, and audiences uses and practices, as situated within political, economic, military and social contexts. Situated in debates about whether media foment or ameliorate political conflict, Dr. Warshel has worked at the intersection of media and conflict analysis, policy and practice. She has coordinated communication policy for UNESCO, worked as photojournalist with the Zimbabwe‐Inter‐Africa‐ News‐Agency; and conducted policy‐relevant research with the Center for International Development and Conflict Management, the Jerusalem‐based Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace, and the Center for Research on Peace Education. Currently, she is writing a book about the reception of peacebuilding versions of Israeli and Palestinian Sesame Street entitled, How Do You Convince Palestinian, Jewish‐Israeli and Arab/Palestinian‐Israeli Children that the “Army”, “Terrorists” and the “Police” Can Live Together Peacefully? In addition, she is in the process of continuing fieldwork to analyze Darija‐Arabic speaking/Moroccan and Hassaniya‐Arabic‐speaking/Saharawi children’s constructions of citizenship, within wider political‐economic contexts; and writing up findings from earlier fieldwork concerning Middle Eastern children’s television and electronic‐game playing practices.

Her most recent publications address the contributions of communication and media studies to peace education, opinions of Jewish‐Israeli children about watching “Rechov Sumsum”/”Shara’a Simsim“, and Palestinian children’s media practices within the context of a zone of conflict. Warshel co‐edited Election Studies: What’s Their Use? (with Elihu Katz), and is fluent in and/or has studied five languages. She is the recipient of an ICA Global Communication and Social Change Top Dissertation Award, an NCA International and Intercultural Communication Distinguished Dissertation Award, and a Peace Studies Dissertation of the Year Award from the Central New York Peace Studies Consortium, along with several other awards from public service, communication, Palestinian, Israeli, Middle Eastern and African scholarly organizations.

Peace communication; media and conflict; comparative African and Middle Eastern media systems and related audience uses and practices; children and media; communication for social change; communication campaigns and evaluation; ethnopolitical conflict, nationalism, and citizenship; and methods and media practice

Middle East and Africa

PhD in communication, UC San Diego; MA in communication, Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania; BA studies in still photography, USC School of Cinema‐Television; BA in interdisciplinary studies, UC Berkeley