Description of Research Expertise

Areas of Expertise

Civic education
Gender studies
Philosophy of education
Political philosophy

Professional Experience

Dr. Ben-Porath received her doctorate in philosophy, with an emphasis on social and political thought, from Tel Aviv University. She was awarded two successive Tel Aviv University President’s grants for postdoctoral fellows abroad. She served as an assistant professor at Tel Aviv University and as a faculty member at the Israeli branch of Manchester University. In 2001, she accepted a position as a postdoctoral research associate at the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University.

In Israel, she served on a joint Palestinian-Israeli committee, sponsored by the Peres Peace Center, working toward educational reform. She was a member of the Young Scholars Forum at the Rabin Center for the Study of Israel, participated in the Women Faculty Forum at Tel Aviv University, and established the Israeli Association for Post-Secondary Education for Students with Learning Disabilities. At Penn she was a co-convener of the faculty forum on ethics in the professions and is currently an executive committee member of the Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship and Constitutionalism.

Research Interests and Current Projects

Dr. Ben-Porath’s research focuses on citizenship education, normative aspects of educational and social policy, and social effects of war. Her areas of expertise include philosophy of education and political philosophy. She has published two books, Citizenship under Fire: Democratic Education in Times of Conflict (2006) and Tough Choices: Structured Paternalism and the Landscape of Choice (2010), both with Princeton University Press, as well as articles in both education and political science journals.