Monday, September 15, 2014

Gideon Aran: The Body, Fundamentalist Movements and Jewish Orthodoxy


In the past two decades, the body has received widespread attention in the social sciences and humanities based on the contention that social and cultural factors are crucial to understanding body imagery and body-centered behaviors on the one hand, and that the body is an integral component of many social phenomena, rich in significance and implications that may further our understanding of particular cultures on the other hand.
to read more click - Professor Gideon Aran

Gideon Aran is a professor of Sociology & Anthropology at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He studies both religion and extremism, and particularly their intersection, in Israel, in past and present Judaism, and in comparative perspective. Aran's research is based mainly on ethnographic fieldwork. In recent years his writing and teaching focus on fundamentalism, sects, cults and radical groups, religious violence, terrorism. Aran's forthcoming book concerns suicide bombing, especially in the Middle East. 
contact:
Professor Gideon Aran
Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology
Hebrew University
Jerusalem
Israel 91905
Email: gideon.aran@mail.huji.ac.il
Phone: 972-2-5883331 (Office)
           972-2-5345801 (Home)
Fax :   972-2-5324339 (Office)

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Gideon Aran : Notes on Haredi Physicality – The hair





It is a commonplace in anthropological literature that hair on the head and face is an effective symbolic medium for expressing identity and changes in identity, especially because it is immediately noticeable and easy to manipulate. Hair is a familiar means for marking out a person’s position in relation to his society, be that a manifestation of identification and commitment, or reservation and opposition.

to read more click - Professor Gideon Aran
Gideon Aran is a professor of Sociology & Anthropology at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He studies both religion and extremism, and particularly their intersection, in Israel, in past and present Judaism, and in comparative perspective. Aran's research is based mainly on ethnographic fieldwork. In recent years his writing and teaching focus on fundamentalism, sects, cults and radical groups, religious violence, terrorism. Aran's forthcoming book concerns suicide bombing, especially in the Middle East. 
contact:
Professor Gideon Aran
Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology
Hebrew University
Jerusalem
Israel 91905
Email: gideon.aran@mail.huji.ac.il
Phone: 972-2-5883331 (Office)
           972-2-5345801 (Home)
Fax :   972-2-5324339 (Office)