IN-PERSON MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY. SECTION B

Abstract

This presentation offers an autoethnographic account of the course “Building a Home: A Module for Learning, Research, and Action in Culture”, first taught in 2023 in the Department of Culture Studies at Sapir Academic College. The course was developed in response to curricular changes and new teaching modes necessitated by the COVID‑19 pandemic, declared a global emergency by WHO in early 2020, while also addressing broader challenges in higher education shaped by political, cultural, and economic transformations. The lecture reflects on the introduction of new teaching pedagogies after the return to campus in 2022, acknowledging the profound shifts brought by the pandemic. Soon after, the catastrophic events of October 7 reshaped academic life at Sapir College, located near the Gaza border. The institution suffered devastating human losses among faculty, staff, students, and alumni, and was unable to resume on‑campus teaching throughout 2024. This reality demanded ongoing adaptations to teaching under emergency conditions, both technically and morally. Beyond these crises, the presentation situates these experiences within the broader pressures of the neoliberal transformation of academia: financialization, efficiency demands, market‑oriented outcomes, and the erosion of academic community. Through this lens, it explores the cultivation of personal and community resilience, and the emergence of learning and teaching skills in response to major events such as COVID‑19 and the War. It argues that crises, combined with neoliberal restructuring, can catalyze pedagogical innovation while challenging us to conserve what remains strong and meaningful in higher education.