Dear Students,
It is a great privilege to greet those of you who are beginning your studies and those of you who are continuing. Welcome!
These are momentous days, both joyful and difficult for all of us. We are overjoyed by the return of the live hostages and the homecoming and burial of others. We still await the day when all the hostages will return home. With their return there is a message of hope and change after two years of a brutal war, loss of life, and deep damage to the social fabric in Israel and across the region, and after three years of an ongoing debate about the nature of Israel’s political regime. The convergence of these events presents us with profound challenges alongside a rare opportunity for a better future. All this will accompany us as we begin the coming academic year.
The Faculty of Humanities represents some of the finest achievements of the Hebrew University since its founding, while also continuing to preserve older traditions alongside constant renewal. We hope that in your studies you will find challenge, fulfillment, and enjoyment—both in the enduring traditions and in the innovations you will encounter and perhaps even propose yourselves. Academic journeys are a process and require patience and hard work. Yet the joy of learning and the meaning it will leave with you for years to come, make it a truly unique experience. Together, we will also face new challenges and opportunities, foremost among them the impact of AI and the transformations it brings to our lives—in teaching, learning, and research in the humanities.
We warmly encourage you to take part in the various activities of the Faculty, to broaden your horizons, to learn new languages, and to discover the places where you can grow.
The academic and administrative staff are here to support you and ensure the best possible learning experience. Please do not hesitate to approach your lecturers, heads of departments and institutes, or departmental coordinators with any questions or needs, we will gladly assist in any way we can.
In recent years, against the backdrop of a global pandemic, profound debates about the nature of democracy in Israel, and an ongoing war, the humanities have become more important than ever: for understanding our world, for shaping civic life, and for giving meaning to personal lives. Your choice to study in the Faculty of Humanities is a responsible and significant one, and we warmly congratulate you on it and wish you great success.
During the first two weeks of the academic year, we invite you to get to know the Faculty more closely through a wide range of lunchtime activities across departments and disciplines, under the title “Room for Thought.” This is a special opportunity to meet, learn, and explore new fields of knowledge, while making new friends. All details can be found in the link. We look forward to seeing you there.
Wishing you a fruitful, meaningful, and inspiring academic year,
Elisheva Baumgarten
Dean