Dana Alexander

Prof. Shai Lavi, Prof. Nissim Mizrachi

Until beginning her doctorate, Dana was a human rights practitioner for over two decades at the Association for Civil Rights in Israel –first as a lawyer, and then as the director of the legal department. As a human rights lawyer Dana dealt with a wide variety of issues, including rights of the mentally ill, planning rights in the unrecognized Bedouin villages, rights of migrant workers and asylum seekers, the separation barrier in the Occupied Territories and freedom of expression.

Dana holds a law degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (1991), and a B.A. in philosophy (summa cum laude) from Yale (1987). During her law studies and after, Dana served as a teaching and research assistant, primarily in the areas of constitutional and administrative law.

Dana's research will inquire into the questions of whether a modest liberalism – one that is aware of its inherent limitations and recognizes the value of competing world views – is possible, what are the theoretical ramifications of this kind of liberalism, and how might human rights practice based on such a liberalism look like. The research will be supervised jointly by Prof. Shai Lavi (Law) and Prof. Nissim Mizrachi (Sociology and Anthropology).

Human rights, political theory, moral philosophy, constitutional law, law and sociology.

Education:

1991 – L.L.B. (magna cum laude) Hebrew University

1987 – B.A. (summa cum laude) in Philosophy, Yale University

Academic and Professional Experience:

2003 – 2015 – Director of Legal Department (and from 2010 – also head of Dep't of Civil and Political rights) at ACRI - Association for Civil Rights in Israel

2001-2003 – Fellow, Mandel School for Educational and Social Leadership (Jerusalem)

1992-2001 – Lawyer, ACRI

1990-1998 – Research Assistant (Prof. Eyal Zamir, Prof. David Kretzmer) and Teaching Assistant (Prof. Hanina Ben-Menahem, Prof. David Kretzmer), Hebrew University, Law College at Bar Ilan Univ. and College of Law and Business Ramat-Gan, in areas of contract law, constitutional law, jurisprudence and administrative law.

1992 – Clerkship at Gilead Sher Law Offices, Jerusalem

1991-1992 – Clerkship at High Court of Justice, Hon. Justice Gavriel Bach

1989-1990 – Student editor, Israel Law Review, Hebrew University