Ganit Mayer

Clinical Assistant Professor of Hebrew

What would you like prospective students to know about you, your teaching, and your scholarship?

For the last five years I have been teaching Modern Hebrew to adults at NYU, Middlebury and Stern Colleges, as well as in Israeli Ulpanim. Alongside teaching, I work as a prose editor, and I am the Head of the Fiction Evaluation Department at Am-Oved Israeli publishing house. As a psychologist and a former lawyer, I have conducted research on judges' use of language in court resolutions. My latest paper explored the use of Poetry Slam and Spoken Word as pedagogical tools in the Hebrew classroom.

In my teaching I create an intimate learning environment to encourage active engagement, self-expression and communication. By initiating one-on-one conversations and small group talks, I aim to facilitate a dialogue experience in which students can engage in meaningful and relevant communication in Hebrew. We will often use the Flipped Classroom method to research and present on current events and issues that matter to my students.

Why might students be interested in taking your classes?

I believe that language is best learned hands-on, and with great cultural exposure. Therefore, we will read and discuss texts about Israeli and Jewish traditions, as well as about art and day-to-day life in modern Israel. Class material will be diverse and will include prose and poetry, Israeli music, Spoken Word and at least one Israeli film. We will meet and interview an Israeli artist and (if Covid-19 allows) even taste some Israeli food.

BIO

Ganit Mayer is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Hebrew. She holds an LL.B degree in Law and History from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an M.A in Social Psychology from Tel Aviv University.

Mayer is currently the Head of the Fiction Evaluation Department at Am-Oved Publishing house, one of Israel's major publishers. Her areas of scholarly interest include modern Hebrew literature, second language acquisition, digital pedagogy and the research of legal language and culture. Mayer’s latest published research revolved around Poetry Slam and Spoken Word as pedagogical tools in the Hebrew Classroom, and her previous work relied on quantitative, computer-based linguistic analysis tools to study Psychological Distance (CLT) in court resolutions. Her future research plans focus on the concept of Frame in group therapy and counseling, and its relevance to language teaching. As of 2022, she is an appointed Member of the Pedagogy Conference Committee for the National Association of Professors of Hebrew (NAPH).

Prior to joining NYU, Mayer was a Hebrew Lecturer at Middlebury and Stern Colleges. She also held appointments at Israeli Ulpanim and worked as a Hebrew book editor and consultant.

Education

2021: PhD Student in Hebrew Literature, Ben Gurion University of the Negev

2019: M.A. in Social Psychology. Tel Aviv University, Israel.

2013: Licensed Advocate, Israeli Bar

2012: LL.B joint degree in Law and History. Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

2011: International Law Program, Center of Transnational Legal Studies Consortium, London, UK