This presentation explores the role of education in engaging students with pressing social and political realities, and the potential of creative pedagogy to foster deeper understanding and dialogue. While topics such as inequality, discrimination, and political conflict often influence learners’ lives, they are frequently avoided in academic contexts due to their sensitive and divisive nature. Yet, excluding these discussions from the classroom risks reinforcing barriers and limiting students’ ability to critically engage with the world around them. Drawing on art-based practices, I propose an approach that positions students not only as learners but also as social and political beings. By working with visual materials such as press photographs, educators can open spaces for reflection, dialogue, and emotional processing. This method enables learners to connect personal experiences with broader societal dynamics, cultivating empathy, critical thinking, and civic responsibility. The lecture will highlight practical strategies for integrating creative tools into higher education, offering pathways for addressing difficult social and political issues in constructive ways. Ultimately, I argue that education has a central role in equipping students to confront complexity, embrace diversity, and envision themselves as active participants in building a more equitable future.

Authors:
Rinat Reisner Podissuk, Bar-Ilan University, Israel

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Rinat Podissuk Reisner is a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University, an art therapist, and a practicing artist. She has been teaching in the M.A. Art Therapy Program at Bar-Ilan University since 2019, combining her academic work with a long-standing clinical

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