Overview
Or Aroch is a PhD student in the Department of Anthropology at Cornell University. His research interests lie at the intersection between education, the cultural politics of childhood, and futurity in the 21st century. He seeks to explore how childhood and education – two distinctively future-oriented projects – manifest in these precarious times and what they can teach us about navigating the uncertainties of this era. His master's thesis involved interdisciplinary investigation of representations of children in Western post-millennial apocalyptic cinema, drawing on queer and post-humanist theories. For his fieldwork, Or aims to extend and contextualize his exploration of the evolving relationship between childhood, education, and the future through the case study of Israel/Palestine. His work is invested in questions of hope, despair and radical thinking about education.
Prior to Cornell, Or worked as an educator in initiatives aimed at promoting democratic values, equality, and social justice. He holds a BA in Education and the Interdisciplinary Honors Program in the Humanities and an MA in Education, both from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During his MA studies, Or was a fellow at the Mandel School for Advanced Studies in the Humanities.