Icone social AHP

Zvika ORR

  • Chercheur associé - Jerusalem College of Technology, Faculty of Life and Health Sciences
  • zvikaorr@gmail.com

Dr. Zvika Orr is a medical anthropologist and faculty member at the Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT), studying the sociopolitical dimensions of medicine, health, disabilities, and human rights. He holds an M.A. in Anthropology and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His doctoral dissertation, International Norms, Local Moralities, and Public Policies Concerning the Human Body: The Case of Organ Trafficking in Israel, was supervised by Prof. Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Prof. Daphna Golan-Agnon, and Prof. David Levi-Faur. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, affiliated with the Department of Anthropology and the Center for Social Medicine, under the sponsorship of Prof. Karen Nakamura and Prof. Nancy Scheper-Hughes. He has also held visiting positions at Cornell University’s Department of Anthropology and at CERMES3 in Paris, while in residency at the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme. In 2025–2026, he is a visiting scholar at the University of Tokyo and CERMES3. Alongside his academic career, Dr. Orr has professional experience in public policy planning, analysis, and evaluation.

Domaines de recherche

  • Medicine, society, policy, and politics
  • Social and structural determinants of health
  • Disability studies, particularly in minority communities
  • Human rights, civil society, and social change
  • Organ transplantation and organ trafficking
  • Professions and professionalism
  • University–community partnerships
  • Critical approaches in nursing education

Dr. Orr’s work has been supported by numerous grants, awards, and fellowships from institutions including the Wolf Foundation, Edmond de Rothschild Foundation, Shalem Foundation, Max and Bella Guggenheim Foundation, Jean Nordmann Foundation, the French Government’s Chateaubriand Fellowship, the Israeli Council for Higher Education, the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology, the Israeli Anthropological Association, The Open University of Israel, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, JCT, the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ, the Isabel & Alfred Bader Fund, and the Tanner Excellence in Writing Award, among others.

Publications

Selected publications

Journal articles   

  • Zvika Orr, “Imposed Politics of Cultural Differences: Managed Multiculturalism in Israeli Civil Society.” Social Analysis 55 (3): 74-92, 2011.
  • Hadas Shadar, Zvika Orr, and Yael Maizel, “Contested Homes: Professionalism, Hegemony and Architecture in Times of Change.” Space and Culture 14 (3): 269-290, 2011.
  • Zvika Orr, “The Adaptation of Human Rights Norms in Local Settings: Intersections of Local and Bureaucratic Knowledge in an Israeli NGO.” Journal of Human Rights 11 (2): 243-262, 2012.
  • Translated into Hebrew by the Open University of Israel for the reader of the academic course “State and Society: The Sociology of Politics,” ed. Ilan Ben-Ami, The Open University, 2016.
  • Daphna Golan and Zvika Orr, “Translating Human Rights of the “Enemy”: The Case of Israeli NGOs Defending Palestinian Rights.” Law & Society Review 46 (4): 781-814, 2012.
  • Hadas Shadar and Zvika Orr, “Professionalism in Israel: Between Maintaining the Power of the Profession and Defending the Hegemony.” Israeli Sociology 15 (1): 122-149, 2013 (in Hebrew).
  • Daphna Golan, Zvika Orr, and Sami Ershied, “Lifta and the Regime of Forgetting: Memory Work and Conservation.” Jerusalem Quarterly 54: 69-81, 2013.
  • Zvika Orr and Daphna Golan, “Human Rights NGOs in Israel: Collective Memory and Denial.” International Journal of Human Rights 18 (1): 68-93, 2014.
  • Zvika Orr, “Socially Engaged Ethnographic Research in Human Rights Organizations.” Collaborative Anthropologies 9 (1-2): 149-183, 2016-2017.
  • Hadas Shadar and Zvika Orr, “Professions in Periods of Social Change: The Case of Architectural Discourse and Design.” International Review of Sociology 28 (1): 110-132, 2018.
  • Daphna Golan, Zvika Orr, and Jona Rosenfeld, “Students’ Civic Engagement in Campus-Community Partnerships.” Mofet Institute’s Journal 61: 8-13, 2018 (in Hebrew).
  • Roee Gorodetzer, Evan Avraham Alpert, Zvika Orr, Shifra Unger, and Todd Zalut, “Lessons Learned from an Evaluation of Referrals to the Emergency Department.” Israel Journal of Health Policy Research 9: 18, 2020.
  • Zvika Orr and Mimi Ajzenstadt, “Beyond Control: The Criminalization of African Asylum Seekers in Israel.” International Review of Sociology 30 (1): 142-165, 2020.
  • Zvika Orr and Shifra Gottlieb, “Dépolitisation et soignants à Jérusalem” [Depoliticization and caregivers in Jerusalem]. Pratiques 88: 86-89, 2020 (in French).
  • Zvika Orr and Shifra Unger, “The TOLERance Model for Promoting Structural Competency in Nursing.” Journal of Nursing Education 59 (8): 425-432, 2020.
  • Zvika Orr and Shifra Unger,Structural Competency in Conflict Zones: Challenging Depoliticization in Israel.” Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice 21 (4): 202-212, 2020.
  • Zvika Orr, Tehila Erblich, Shifra Unger, Osnat Barnea, Moshe Weinstein, and Amotz Agnon, “Earthquake Preparedness Among Religious Minority Groups: The Case of the Jewish Ultra-Orthodox Society in Israel.” Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 21 (1): 317-337, 2021.
  • Zvika Orr, Shifra Unger, and Adi Finkelstein, “Localization of Human Rights of People with Disabilities: The Case of Jewish Ultra-Orthodox People in Israel.” Human Rights Quarterly 43 (1): 93-116, 2021.
  • Zvika Orr, Shifra Unger, and Adi Finkelstein, “The Challenges and Dilemmas of Local Translators of Human Rights: The Case of Disability Rights Among Jewish Ultra-Orthodox Communities.” Journal of Human Rights 20 (3): 339-355, 2021.
  • Adi Finkelstein and Zvika Orr, “Does Volunteering Change Attitudes Towards People with Disabilities? A Qualitative Study of the Experience of Orthodox Jewish Nursing Students.” Nurse Education in Practice 55: 103141, 2021.
  • Zvika Orr and Anat Romem, “Teaching the Holocaust in Nursing Schools: The Perspective of the Victims and Survivors.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18 (17): 8969, 2021.
  • Lindsay Grossman, Oren Mechanic, Zvika Orr, Eric Cioe-Peña, Alden Landry, Shifra Unger, Josh Greenstein, and Evan Avraham Alpert, “An Analysis of Social Determinants of Health and Structural Competency Training in Global Emergency Medicine Fellowship Programs in the United States.” AEM Education and Training 5 (S1): S28-S32, 2021.
  • Zvika Orr, Efrat Machikawa, Shifra Unger, and Anat Romem, “Enhancing the Structural Competency of Nurses Through Standardized Patient Simulation.” Clinical Simulation in Nursing 62: 25-30, 2022.
  • Shifra Unger, Zvika Orr, Evan Avraham Alpert, Nadav Davidovitch, and Ilana Shoham-Vardi, “Social and Structural Determinants and Their Associations with Patient Experience in the Emergency Department.” International Emergency Nursing 61: 101131, 2022.
  • Zvika Orr, Levi Jackson, Evan Avraham Alpert, and Mark D. Fleming. “Neutrality, Conflict, and Structural Determinants of Health in a Jerusalem Emergency Department.” International Journal for Equity in Health 21: 89, 2022.
  • Sara Genut, Yaacov G. Bachner, Zvika Orr, and Adi Finkelstein. “Ultra-Orthodox Nursing Students’ Cultural Challenges Inside and Outside Their Community During the Covid-19 Pandemic.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19 (15): 9215, 2022.
  • Zvika Orr and Anat Romem, “Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Nursing Education: Nurse Practitioners as Critical Intellectuals.” Journal of Nursing Education 61 (11): 624–632, 2022.
  • Shifra Unger, Zvika Orr, Evan Avraham Alpert, Nadav Davidovitch, and Ilana Shoham-Vardi, “Social and Structural Determinants of Emergency Department Use Among Arab and Jewish Patients in Jerusalem.” International Journal for Equity in Health 21: 156, 2022.
  • Zvika Orr, “Localised Medical Moralities: Organ Trafficking and Israeli Medical Professionals.” International Journal of Human Rights 27 (2): 258-281, 2023.
  • Zvika Orr, “The Social Construction of Moral Perceptions and Public Policies Concerning Organ Trafficking in Israel.” Sociological Forum 38 (1): 72-94, 2023.
  • Zvika Orr and Mark D. Fleming. “Medical Neutrality and Structural Competency in Conflict Zones: Israeli Healthcare Professionals’ Reaction to Political Violence.” Global Public Health 18 (1): 2171087, 2023.
  • Zvika Orr, Levi Jackson, Evan Avraham Alpert, and Mark D. Fleming. “Biomedicine and the Treatment of Difference in a Jerusalem Emergency Department.” Social Science & Medicine 339: 116345, 2023.
  • Zvika Orr, Edith Blit-Cohen, Maya Vardi, Bina Be’eri, and Daphna Golan-Agnon. “Community Engagement of Underrepresented College Students: Ultra-Orthodox Students in Israel as Social Change Agents.” Learning, Culture and Social Interaction 44: 100782, 2024.
  • Ronit Pinchas-Mizrachi, Zvika Orr, Beth G. Zalcman, and Anat Romem. “Barriers to the Healthcare System Faced by Ultra-Orthodox Religious Disaffiliates.” Review of Religious Research 66 (1): 56-80, 2024.
  • Eilat Shinar, Eli Jaffe, Zvika Orr, Beth G. Zalcman, Joseph Offenbacher, Maxim Quint, Evan Avraham Alpert, Boaz Zadok Weiss, and Baruch Berzon. “Characteristics and Motivational Factors of Whole Blood and Convalescent Plasma Donors during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic.” Healthcare 12 (5): 589, 2024.
  • Hadas Shadar and Zvika Orr. “The Profession’s Response to Overt and Covert Threats to the Ruling Hegemony.” International Review of Sociology 34 (2): 240-273, 2024.
  • Zvika Orr, Stuart Katz, and Beth G. Zalcman. “Socio-Cultural Adaptation of Mental Health First Aid to Insular Religious Communities: The Case of Ultra-Orthodox Society in Israel.” Advances in Mental Health 22 (3): 317-335, 2024.
  • Zohar Lederman, Tamara Kayali Browne, Liyana Kayali, Shmuel Lederman, and Zvika Orr. “Loneliness as Lack of Solidarity: The Case of Palestinians Standing Alone.” Bioethics 39 (1): 76-89, 2025.
  • Zvika Orr, Beth G. Zalcman, Anat Romem, and Ronit Pinchas-Mizrachi. “Religious Disaffiliates’ Experiences and Challenges with Sex, Sexuality, and Body Image.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 54 (1): 205-219, 2025.
  • Zvika Orr and Zohar Lederman. “Holocaust Studies and Structural Competency.” The Lancet 405 (10477): 468, 2025.
  • Zvika Orr and Anna C. Zielinska. “Depoliticization, Colonialism, and the Imperative to Disrupt Denial.” International Journal of Health Policy and Management 14: 8761, 2025.
  • Ronit Pinchas-Mizrachi and Zvika Orr. “Health Advocacy for Cultural Migrants: An Overlooked Population.” The Lancet 405 (10484): 1051, 2025.
  • Zohar Lederman, Shmuel Lederman, Ryan Essex, Liyana Kayali, Anne Irfan, Zvika Orr, and Emily Schneider. “Political Loneliness and Palestinian Hunger Strikers.” Accepted, forthcoming in Journal of Jewish Ethics.

Edited book

  • Daphna Golan, Jona Rosenfeld, and Zvika Orr (eds.), Bridges of Knowledge: Campus-Community Partnerships in Israel, Mofet Institute Publishing, 2017 (in Hebrew, with English abstracts), 456 pages. 

Book chapters

  • Zvika Orr, “Multiculturalism as a Means of De-Politicization in a Human Rights NGO in Israel.” Pp. 124-149 in Cultural Diversity as a Source of Integration and Alienation - Nations, Regions, Organizations, eds. Oxana Kozlova and Agnieszka Kolodziej-Durnas, Economicus and University of Szczecin, 2011.
  • Zvika Orr, “International Norms, Local Worlds: An Ethnographic Perspective on Organ Trafficking in the Israeli Context.” Pp. 39-49 in: Organ Transplantation: Ethical, Legal and Psychosocial Aspects: Global Issues, Local Solutions, eds. Willem Weimar, Mike Bos and Jan van Busschbach, Pabst Science Publishers, 2014.
  • Zvika Orr, “Organhandel in Israel: Wie Moral und Politik geformt werden” [Commerce in Organs in Israel: The Shaping of Moralities and Public Policies]. Pp. 143-176 in: Körperökonomien: Der Körper im Zeitalter seiner Handelbarkeit [Body Economics: The Body in the Age of Tradability], eds. Lea Schumacher and Oliver Decker, Psychosozial-Verlag, 2014 (in German).
  • Zvika Orr, “Managing Cultural Diversity through Multiculturalism in NGOs for Social Change: An Israeli Case Study.” Pp. 193-215 in Re-thinking Diversity: Multiple Approaches in Theory, Media, Communities, and Managerial Practice, eds. Cordula Braedel-Kühner and Andreas P. Müller, Springer VS, 2015.
  • Frederike Ambagtsheer, Martin Gunnarson, Jessica de Jong, Susanne Lundin, Linde van Balen, Zvika Orr, Ingela Byström, and Willem Weimar, “Trafficking in Human Beings for the Purpose of Organ Removal: A Case Study Report.” Pp. 91-116 in Trafficking in Human Beings for the Purpose of Organ Removal: Results and Recommendations, eds. Frederike Ambagtsheer and Willem Weimar, Pabst Science Publishers, 2016.
  • Daphna Golan, Jona Rosenfeld, and Zvika Orr, “Campus-Community Partnerships in Israel: Commitment, Continuity, Capabilities, and Context;” and “Epilogue.” Pp. 9-41, 437-438 in Bridges of Knowledge: Campus-Community Partnerships in Israel, eds. Daphna Golan, Jona Rosenfeld, and Zvika Orr, Mofet Institute Publishing, 2017 (in Hebrew, with English abstract).
  • Zvika Orr, “The Interface between Learning, Research, and Social Activism in Organizations: An Analysis of Action Strategies in a Non-Profit Organization for Social Change.” Pp. 124-157 in Bridges of Knowledge: Campus-Community Partnerships in Israel, eds. Daphna Golan, Jona Rosenfeld, and Zvika Orr, Mofet Institute Publishing, 2017 (in Hebrew, with English abstract).
  • Maya Vardi, Zvika Orr, and Adi Finkelstein, “Civic Engagement of Students from Minority Groups: The Case of Ultra-Orthodox Students and Communities in Jerusalem.” Pp. 261-292 in Understanding Campus-Community Partnerships in Conflict Zones: Engaging Students for Transformative Change, eds. Dalya Markovich, Daphna Golan, and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.
  • Zvika Orr, “People with Disabilities in Israel and Their Rights.” Trans. Soya Mori. Pp. 161-175 in Disability and Development in the Middle East, ed. Soya Mori, Institute of Developing Economies, 2023 (in Japanese).
  • Zvika Orr, Anatsa Elbaz, and Yaël Tibi-Lévy, “People with Disabilities in Jewish Religious Communities in France: Subjectivation and Intersectionality.” Accepted, forthcoming in Diversity and Difference: Perspectives on Subjectivation Research, eds. Tina Spies, Hazal Budak-Kim, Oktay Aktan, and Elisabeth Tuider, Springer.

In addition, Dr. Orr has authored policy research papers for public and private institutions and published opinion pieces in leading newspapers.

Communications

Selected presentations

Invited lectures, seminars, and workshops

  • “The Politics of Economic and Social Rights: Knowledge and Nationality in the NGO Yedid in Haifa.” Invited presentation at the conference: “Exotics Next Door,” 21 May 2009, University of Haifa.
  • Buying and Selling Organs in Israel and Judaism: Moral Perceptions, Public Policy, and Law.” Invited presentation at the PhD Forum of Federmann School of Public Policy & Government, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 21 December 2010.
  • “The Socio-Cultural Construction of Public Policies Concerning Bioethical Dilemmas: The Case of Purchase and Sale of Organs in Israel and Judaism.” Invited presentation at the Social Policy Workshop, School of Social Work and Social Welfare, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 16 May 2011.
  • “Between Research and Engagement in the Field: Jewish-Palestinian Relations and Action Strategies in an NGO for Social Change.” Invited presentation at the meeting on “Students’ Engagement in Conflict Zones,” 16 February 2012, Tel Aviv University.
  • “From Collective Amnesia to Recognition: Memory Work, Conservation, and Reconciliation in Lifta.” Invited presentation at the international workshop: “Contested Urban Spaces in the 21st Century: Planning with Recognition,” 16-17 May 2012, Tel Aviv University (with Daphna Golan).
  • Invited participation at the “Illicit Organs Trade” workshop of the international summit: “Illicit Networks: Forces in Opposition,” 16-18 July 2012, Los Angeles, USA.
  • “International Norms, Local Worlds: An Ethnographic Perspective on Organ Trafficking in the Israeli Context.” Invited faculty presentation at the 3rd ELPAT Congress: “Ethical, Legal and Psychosocial Aspects of Transplantation: Global Issues, Local Solutions,” 20-23 April 2013, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
  • “The Social Construction of Moral Perceptions and Public Policies Concerning Purchase and Sale of Organs for Transplant.” Invited presentation at the 7th Galilee Colloquium on Social, Moral and Legal Philosophy, 19-22 June 2013, Kfar Blum.
  • “The Social Construction of Moral Perceptions and Public Policies Concerning Purchase and Sale of Organs for Transplant.” Invited presentation at the Medical Psychology Forum, Hadassah Medical Center, 31 October 2013, Jerusalem.
  • “Trafficking in Organs for Transplantation in Israel: The Social Construction of Moral Perceptions and Public Policies.” Invited presentation at the Anthropological Forum, Department of Anthropology, University of Haifa, 6 November 2014.
  • Invited participation at the workshop on “Protection of Persons Targeted or Trafficked for the Purpose of Organ Removal.” International Writers’ Conference and Symposium: “Trafficking in Human Beings for the Purpose of Organ Removal,” 19-21 November 2014, The Hague, The Netherlands.
  • “Community-Engaged Ethnographic Research: Methodological and Ethical Dilemmas.” Invited guest lecture at the Institute of Criminology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 27 April 2015.
  • “Medical Professionals’ Moral Dilemmas as a Result of Policy Changes: The Case of Organ Trafficking in Israel.” Invited presentation at the 44th Annual Conference of the Israeli Anthropological Association, 8-9 June 2016, Kinneret College.
  • “Localized Medical Moralities: Organ Trafficking in the Israeli Context.” Invited presentation (“distinguished speaker”) at the international conference “Anthropology on the Front Lines: Honoring the Work of Nancy Scheper-Hughes,” 1-2 May 2017, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
  • “Concluding Remarks on Academia-Community Partnerships.” Invited talk at the seminar “Bridges of Knowledge: Campus-Community Partnerships in Israel,” 9 May 2017, Mofet Institute, Tel Aviv.
  • “Localization of Human Rights of Individuals with Disabilities in Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Communities in Israel.” Invited talk at the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, University of California, Berkeley, 4 October 2017.
  • Invited participation in the “Israeli Hope in Academia” delegation to Toronto, Canada, sponsored by the Council for Higher Education and the Rothschild Caesarea Foundation, 18-22 March 2018.  
  • “Human Rights of People with Disabilities in Haredi Communities.” Invited talk at the Council for Higher Education Meeting, 28 May 2018, The Polonsky Academy, Jerusalem.
  • “The Sociopolitical Determinants of Health in Conflict Zones: Promoting Structural Competency in Jerusalem.” Invited talk at a plenary session of the international summit “Universities’ Social Responsibility in Shaping a Future of Critical Hope,” 2-4 December 2018, University of Haifa and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
  • “Students’ Community Engagement with People with Disabilities in Jerusalem.” Invited presentation at the international summit “Universities’ Social Responsibility in Shaping a Future of Critical Hope,” 2-4 December 2018, University of Haifa and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
  • “Academia-Community Partnership for the Promotion of Human Rights of People with Disabilities in Haredi Society.” Invited talk at the symposium “Community Activism in the Academia in Israel,” 27 November 2019, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem.
  • “Haredi Students’ Community Engagement.” Invited talk at the online conference “Religiosity, Health, and the COVID-19 Pandemic,” 8 September 2020.
  • “People with Disabilities in Israel and in the Jewish Ultra-Orthodox Community.” Invited seminar (online), 1 October 2020, Institute of Developing Economies - JETRO, Chiba, Japan.
  • “Disability Rights Localization in Haredi Communities.” Invited talk (online) at the meeting of the Disability Studies Center, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2 June 2021.
  • “Introducing the Concept of Disability Rights in Local Communities: An Israeli Case Study.” Invited talk (online) at the Israel-Japan Disability Studies International Seminar, hosted by The University of Tokyo, Institute of Developing Economies – JETRO, and the Embassy of Israel in Japan, 15 December 2022.
  • “Haredi Students’ Leadership and Community Engagement: Bridging Between Academia and Haredi Society.” Invited talk at the Rothschild Foundation’s meeting, 23 January 2023, Ono Academic College.
  • “Impact Entrepreneurship in Nursing Education.” Invited talk at the Rothschild Foundation’s meeting, 21 February 2023, The Edmond de Rothschild Center, Tel Aviv.
  • “Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Nursing Education: Nurses as Critical Intellectuals.” Invited talk at the conference “Heroines of the Holocaust: Nurses and Doctors as Resisters in Genocide,” 6 June 2023, Wagner College, New York, USA.
  • “Disability, Religion, and Social Difference in France.” Invited talk at the workshop “Disability, Migration and the Politics and Theory of Social Difference,” organized by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, 23-24 May 2024, University of Göttingen, Germany.
  • “Treating Palestinian Patients in Israeli Hospitals: Towards Conflict-Informed Care.” Invited presentation at The Case of the Human Working Conference – The Lancet Global Social Medicine Case Series, 6-8 September 2024, The University of Chicago, USA.
  • “People with Disabilities in Jewish Religious Communities in France: An intersectional perspective.” Invited talk at the 56th Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies, 15-19 December 2024, online.
  • “Organ Trafficking: How Moral Perceptions and Public Policies Are Socially Constructed?” Invited talk at The Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions, Tel Aviv University, 24 March 2025.

Lectures at conferences and workshops

  • “Contested Homes: The Reaction of the Architectural Profession to the Build Your Own Home Project.” 38th Annual Conference of the Israeli Sociological Society, 14-15 February 2007, University of Haifa (with Hadas Shadar).
  • “Towards an Anthropology of Human Rights: Aspects of Construction of Knowledge and Reality.” 37th Annual Conference of the Israeli Anthropological Association, 22-23 April 2009, Kinneret College.
  • “The Adaptation of Human Rights Norms in Local Settings: Intersections of Local and Bureaucratic Knowledge in a Social Rights Organization in Israel.” International PhD Workshop: “International Order – Transnational Processes and Their Effects,” 11-12 November 2010, Free University of Berlin, Germany.
  • “Multiculturalism as a Means of De-Politicization in a Social Rights Organization in Israel.” International Conference: “Nations, Regions, Organizations – Cultural Diversity as a Source of Integration and Alienation,” 22-23 November 2010, University of Szczecin, Poland.
  • “Between Social Commitment and Professional Commitment in Anthropology.” 39th Annual Conference of the Israeli Anthropological Association, 29-30 May 2011, University of Haifa (with Itamar Haritan).
  • “The Social Origins of Moral Perceptions and Public Policies Regarding the Buying, Selling, and Trafficking of Organs.” 15th Congress of the European Society for Organ Transplantation, 4-7 September 2011, Glasgow, UK.
  • “Contested Homes: Professionalism, Hegemony, and Architecture in Times of Change.” 10th Conference of the European Sociological Association: “Social Relations in Turbulent Times,” 7-10 September 2011, Geneva, Switzerland.
  • “The Socio-Cultural Shaping of Moral Perceptions and Public Policy Decisions toward Ethical Dilemmas Concerning Health and the Human Body: The Case of Buying and Selling Organs in Israel and Judaism.” 10th Conference of the European Sociological Association: “Social Relations in Turbulent Times,” 7-10 September 2011, Geneva, Switzerland.
  • “Managing Cultural Diversity through Multiculturalism in NGOs for Social Change: An Israeli Case Study.” “Re-Thinking Diversity: 2nd International Conference on Narrative & Innovation,” 20-21 September 2012, Karlshochschule International University, Karlsruhe, Germany.
  • “The Social Construction of Moral Perceptions and Public Policies Concerning Purchase and Sale of Organs for Transplant.” The Jerusalem Forum for Bioethics, 22 May 2013, Jerusalem.
  • “Space, Conservation, and Memory Work in the Village of Lifta.” 41st Annual Conference of the Israeli Anthropological Association, 29-30 May 2013, Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem (with Daphna Golan and Sami Ershied).
  • “The Global-Local Nexus in Health-Related Crises: The Case of Organ Trafficking in the Israeli Context.” 11th Conference of the European Sociological Association: “Crisis, Critique and Change,” 28-31 August 2013, Torino, Italy.
  • “The Struggle for Recognition of Disabilities Caused by Chronic Illness: The Case of Fibromyalgia and CFS.” 48th Annual Conference of the Israeli Sociological Society, 30-31 January 2017, The Open University of Israel (with Shaul Horwitz and Adi Finkelstein).
  • “Vernacular Conceptions of Human Rights in Israeli society: The Case of Haredi People with Disabilities.” 34th Annual Meeting of the Association for Israel Studies, 25-27 June 2018, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
  • “Earthquake Mitigation Among the Ultra-Orthodox Society in Israel.” Paper presented at the conference “Health and Disaster Mitigation in Multicultural Society,” 4 November 2018, JIB, Jerusalem (with Osnat Barnea et al.).
  • “Organizations as Translators of Human Rights Values in Local Conservative Communities.” The 2019 Congress of the Swiss Sociological Association: “The Future of Work,” 10-12 September 2019, University of Neuchatel, Switzerland.
  • “Community Engagement of Underrepresented College Students: Ultra-Orthodox Students in Israel as Social Change Agents.” 15th Conference of the European Sociological Association: “Sociological Knowledges for Alternative Futures,” 31 August – 3 September 2021, Barcelona, Spain (online).
  • “Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Nursing Education: Nurses as Critical Intellectuals.” Sigma 33rd International Nursing Research Congress, 21-25 July 2022, Edinburgh, UK.
  • “Community Engagement of Underrepresented Nursing Students: The Case of Israeli Ultra-Orthodox Students.” NET-NEP 8th International Nurse Education Conference, 19-22 October 2022, Sitges, Spain.
  • “Holocaust and Genocide Studies for Nurses: Enhancing Conscious Leadership.” NET-NEP 8th International Nurse Education Conference, 19-22 October 2022, Sitges, Spain.
  • “Israeli Healthcare Professionals’ Reaction to Political Violence: Medical Neutrality and Engagement During Conflict.” 39th Annual Conference of the Association for Israel Studies, 26-28 June 2023, New York University, USA.
  • “Haredi College Students in Community Engagement Programs: Bridging Between Academia and Haredi Society in Israel.” 39th Annual Conference of the Association for Israel Studies, 26-28 June 2023, New York University, USA.
  • “People with Disabilities in Jewish Religious Communities in France: An Intersectional Perspective.” The conference “Diversity and Difference – Studies in Subjectivation,” 28-30 September 2023, Kiel University, Germany.
  • “Israeli Architects’ Reaction to Arab Cultures: Professions, Hegemony, and Government.” 18th Biennial Conference of the European Association of Social Anthropologists: “Doing and Undoing with Anthropology,” 23-26 July 2024, University of Barcelona, Spain.
  • “School Education for Children with Disabilities in Jewish Religious Communities in France: An Intersectional Analysis.” 13th European Disability Research Conference (ALTER), 8-10 July 2025, University of Innsbruck, Austria.  

Conference posters

Posters presented at conferences of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Gold Humanism Honor Society, World Federation of Public Health Associations, NET-NEP, Israeli Society for Emergency Medicine, Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, and other institutions.

Dr. Orr has received travel grants from institutions including UC Berkeley, the University of Chicago, the University of Tokyo, Wagner College, the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Google Ideas and Council on Foreign Relations, the European Society for Organ Transplants (ELPAT section), the Swiss-Israel Philosophy Foundation, the EU-funded HOTT research project, and others.

He has organized international and national conferences and seminars.

Responsabilités éditoriales

Dr. Orr contributed as co-editor to the inaugural volume on university–community partnerships in Israel. He has also served as a manuscript editor for Frontiers in Health Services and as a reviewer for numerous journals, including Advances in Medical Education and Practice; Advances in Mental Health; Annals of Medicine; BMC Women’s Health; Frontiers in Psychology; Global Public Health; Health and Human Rights; Heliyon; Higher Education; Inquiry: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing; International Journal of Circumpolar Health; International Journal of Health Policy and Management; International Migration Review; Israeli Sociology; Journal of Advanced Nursing; Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies; Journal of Human Rights and Social Work; Journal of Religion and Health; Journal of Research in Science Teaching; Law & Society Review; Medical Anthropology Quarterly; Nurse Education Today; Nursing Open; Review of Religious Research; Space & Culture; and Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism.

Enseignement

Specializing in community-engaged education, Dr. Orr co-founded and co-directed JCT’s Flagship Community Engagement Program for the promotion of human rights of people with disabilities. He also founded and chaired JCT’s Israeli Hope in Academia Program, which fostered diversity, equity, and inclusion. Additionally, he has led JCT’s Deconstructing Stigma campaign, aimed at changing attitudes toward mental health, in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, and OGEN.

Dr. Orr has taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses and seminars, including community-engaged courses, in fields such as medical anthropology, sociology of health, health policy, advanced research methods, and academic writing. He has received excellence in teaching awards and has served as advisor to PhD, MA, MPH, and BSN (Honors Program) students, as well as reviewer of Master’s theses and PhD and Master’s proposals at several universities.