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Professor Yael Katzir is an Israeli born professor, teacher, guest lecturer, wife, mother, and award-winning documentary film maker.
Born, and raised in Tel Aviv, Yael's mother, Ziona Katinsky was born in the village of Ein Sinya near Ramallah. Her father, Erwin Rabau fled his native Berlin in 1933. A merging of East and West, Yael's parents were married in 1936. Ziona studied Chemistry in London and eventually went on to write three books on the early years of Tel Aviv. Erwin, a leading gynecologist when he arrived in Israel would be a founding member of three hospitals in the Tel Aviv area.
After Yael completed the mandatory military service in the Israel Defense Force with the status of Lieutenant, she turned her attention to higher education, as was common for many young Israelis of that age.
With a passion for research and studying, Yael received her B.A. in English Literature and General History at Jerusalem's Hebrew University. She continued her studies and received her M.A. in Modern History. With a desire to eventually teach, Yael went on to earn her teaching certification from Tel Aviv University.
As a young married woman to Avraham Katzir and mother of two children, Dan and Tami, the family temporarily moved to California. Yael had the good fortune to continue her studies at UCLA in Medieval History. She then received her PhD from Hebrew University, specializing in the Crusades with a focus on "Papal Attitudes Towards Jerusalem in the 12th Century".
Returning to the U.S., this time to Boston, MA during her husband's sabbatical, Yael received her MSC at Boston College of Communications in 'Film Broadcasting.'
With her children older and more independent, Yael set out to begin her career as Professor and Documentary Film Maker. She created the course 'History of Jerusalem Throughout the Ages' for the Open University in Tel Aviv. Along with participating in the course design and written materials, Yael created and produced a series of six accompanying documentary films.
Yael then began teaching at Beit Berl Academic College in Kfar Saba. Here she was able to combine all those elements of education she enjoyed - teaching, studying, researching, sharing, and motivating students. Beit Berl Academic College is a unique institution of Higher Education in Israel. First created in 1947 as a teachers college, Beit Berl expanded into three departments - Arabic Teachers Center, Hebrew Teachers Center, and The Arts School.
Devoted to coexistence, pluralism, reconciliation and tolerance, Yael was delighted when Beit Berl received its accreditation from the Israeli government, enabling Israeli Arabs (Christian and Muslim) to study in their language and receive a B.A. degree.
Yael's classes served Israeli Arab students who chose her film and history courses as electives. For over 25 years, she opened cultural windows through the magical and wonderful world of cinema.
Because of her academic background and knowledge in Christian history relating to the Holy Land, Yael incorporated this into her teaching syllabus. All of her students - Jews, Muslims, and Christians went on compulsory field trips throughout Israel walking in the footsteps of Christian saints and pilgrims, and visiting holy sites of veneration while using the New Testament as their guide.
Reflecting the changes in the population and demographics of Israel, Yael's classes also included Ethiopian and Russian students. Continuing to teach, she was elected Head of the History Department for the standard term of four years.
Yael would then be appointed Head of the Audio Visual and Media Center of the college. She initiated and collaborated with the emerging Communal Television National Project to produce and air films and programs relating to the school along with overall community issues. During the 12 years of her running the program, over 120 documentary films were completed and broad-casted on Israeli cable and satellite television stations throughout the country.
This gave Yael's students the unique opportunity to have their work screened and broad-casted throughout the country while still studying. After graduation, many of her students went on to work in the film industry. Yael often turned to her former students to work with her on many of her documentary films.
Yael is dedicated to sharing with the world many facets of Israeli life and society that are rarely, if ever portrayed or reported by the international news media. Yael has served as a Guest Lecturer on subjects related to the Israeli documentary film industry. She was an invited guest to film festivals in Germany, India, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, United States and in her native Israel. In 2008 a retrospective of her work was screened at the University of Lucknow, in India, curated by Muslim born Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi.
Independent of her teaching career, Yael has produced and directed over 20 full length documentary films. Some of her films take a look at Israeli society, several films examine and probe the elements of the reality of Israel's diversity, while other films are simply very personal. Yael's films have been screened in festivals around the globe, receiving awards along the way. She continues to be invited to sit on international film festival juries.
Yael is also a published author (in Hebrew) and an international Guest Lecturer. She was invited to teach at [[Michigan State University]], "From Collective Ideology to Personal Individual? Diversity: Israeli Documentary Filmmaking".
