Dov Shinar | Hadassah College Jerusalem (original) (raw)

Papers by Dov Shinar

Bulletin of Latin American Research, 1997

La transition en Roumanie, 2011

In the field of face recognition, Sparse Representation (SR) has received considerable attention ... more In the field of face recognition, Sparse Representation (SR) has received considerable attention during the past few years. Most of the relevant literature focuses on holistic descriptors in closed-set identification applications. The underlying assumption in SR-based methods is that each class in the gallery has sufficient samples and the query lies on the subspace spanned by the gallery of the same class. Unfortunately, such assumption is easily violated in the more challenging face verification scenario, where an algorithm is required to determine if two faces (where one or both have not been seen before) belong to the same person. In this paper, we first discuss why previous attempts with SR might not be applicable to verification problems. We then propose an alternative approach to face verification via SR. Specifically, we propose to use explicit SR encoding on local image patches rather than the entire face. The obtained sparse signals are pooled via averaging to form multiple region descriptors, which are then concatenated to form an overall face descriptor. Due to the deliberate loss spatial relations within each region (caused by averaging), the resulting descriptor is robust to misalignment and various image deformations. Within the proposed framework, we evaluate several SR encoding techniques: l1-minimisation, Sparse Autoencoder Neural Network (SANN), and an implicit probabilistic technique based on Gaussian Mixture Models. Thorough experiments on AR, FERET, exYaleB, BANCA and ChokePoint datasets show that the proposed local SR approach obtains considerably better and more robust performance than several previous state-of-the-art holistic SR methods, in both verification and closed-set identification problems. The experiments also show that l1-minimisation based encoding has a considerably higher computational cost when compared to SANN-based and probabilistic encoding, but leads to higher recognition rates.

Conflict & Communication Online, 2013

Media preference of war has been diagnosed as resulting from correlations of media psychology, cu... more Media preference of war has been diagnosed as resulting from correlations of media psychology, culture, and interests with war. Such correlations encourage personal, professional and institutional dissonance, and provoke dilemmas of coverage adequacy; selectivity of narratives and contexts; manipulation, and narrow ranges of discourse and focus. Efforts to curb these difficulties might succeed, with research and applied efforts aimed at updating the media culture of war coverage; helping identify media controls; encouraging gradual and cumulative reporting; employing "thick coverage" and "thick training"; promoting the cooperation of established media with newer types of journalism; assisting journalists in resolving war coverage dilemmas; promoting ongoing field monitoring and empirical research; helping post-war establishment of appropriate media structures, regulatory frameworks, and program production.

Conflict & Communication Online, 2007

This epilogue aims at integrating the series of articles offered by the Toda Peace Journalism gro... more This epilogue aims at integrating the series of articles offered by the Toda Peace Journalism group in cco (4/2 2005; 5/2 2006; 6/1, 2007) into a framework designed to orient the reader, without repeating the arguments presented in the articles; to encourage instructors and students to use these materials; and to stimulate thinking on "where do we go next". Coherence is sought through looking at critical analyses of the conventional coverage of war and peace and at the promise and performance of Peace Journalism, analyzing epistemological and professional constraints, presenting ways to improve Peace Journalism concepts and practices, and offering an agenda and some development strategies. The initial premise that Peace Journalism (PJ) is a mode of responsible and conscientious media representation of conflict, alternative to conventional coverage, develops into a summary of critical evaluations of such coverage, and of the efforts to conceptualize PJ. A discussion of the ...

Using the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a natural laboratory for studying possibilities and lim... more Using the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a natural laboratory for studying possibilities and limitations of constructive conflict coverage, the present book combines a longitudinal retrospective look at the coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with experimental research on audience reactions and theoretical questions of conflict, war and peace coverage. The editors aimed at utilizing these materials to learn about changes in media framing and representation of issues, actors, and leaders; to focus on problems of war coverage and peace journalism, such as the persistence of a war orientation in media culture and performance, and the extent to which the media have "matured" so as to change this normative orientation in favor of an increased contribution to peacemaking and peacekeeping; and to study and criticize peace journalism thought, research and action after some twenty years since its emergence.

Analisa criticamente as relacoes entre democracia, paz e desenvolvimento, concentrando-se na estr... more Analisa criticamente as relacoes entre democracia, paz e desenvolvimento, concentrando-se na estrutura dos meios de comunicacao e nos valores jornalisticos em sua importância para o sucesso dos esforcos em prol do desenvolvimento. Alem disso, oferece sugestoes para o uso eficaz das comunicacoes nos esforcos de desenvolvimento e para o treinamento. Com base em analises empiricas e suplementares, buscam-se exemplos de pesquisas recentes, ao mesmo tempo em que se oferecem estrategias para o desenvolvimento de uma midia democratica e de um jornalismo voltado para a paz.

This article explores (1) the cultural nature of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; (2) the “intra... more This article explores (1) the cultural nature of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; (2) the “intractability” of cultural conflicts; (3) conflict management models: reconciliation/“end-of-conflict” versus “conflict transformation” and their relation to cultural conflict; (4) the serious consequences of the wrong matching of models and conflicts, such as using the reconciliation model in cultural conflict; (5) the changing role of the media in international relations, and their contribution to the “crisis of expectations” that came to fruition in September 2000, with the eruption of the Intifada; (6) the possibility of the media contributing to peace processes; and (7) implications of the media adoption of the conflict transformation model. The premises are that, unlike other violent confrontations, the Middle Eastern conflict is fundamentally cultural, particularly in its Palestinian-Israeli version; that cultural conflicts are “intractable”, in the sense that they are very difficult,...

The cases of Quebec and Israel are used to study the roles of language revival in forging collect... more The cases of Quebec and Israel are used to study the roles of language revival in forging collective identities, based on the concepts of re-membering and dis-membering. Re-membering refers to collective self-determination, in which 'transformative agents' - symbols, language, schools, media, church - act on behalf of 'formulative efforts' - bureaucracy, social movements, civil organizations - that take 'root-paradigms' - symbols and ideas - into the social arena. Dis-membering is the opposite process. Survival and socioeconomic development were central root-paradigms in both cases, leaning on a variety of formulative efforts. Language is the most resilient transformative agent, regardlesss of changing circumstances. Conclusions show the importance of the re-membering/dis-membering approach in the study of collective identities.

International Symposium on Technology and Society, 1997

Telepresence is the generic term for a set of activities performed from a distance through the us... more Telepresence is the generic term for a set of activities performed from a distance through the use of telecommunication means. It refers to working (telecommuting), playing, providing and using services (telemedicine, teleshopping), teaching and learning (teleeducation).-from a distance. The dialogue presented in the paper between a “True Believer” and a “Devil's Advocate” helps to explore some social implications of telepresence,

International Communication Gazette, 1992

Why do prestigious Western newspapers and broadcasting organizations fail in the coverage of soci... more Why do prestigious Western newspapers and broadcasting organizations fail in the coverage of sociopolitical conflict? Are media bungles in the last decade – such as in Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, the West Bank, Eastern Europe, the Gulf War and other cases1 – isolated instances? Do they indicate the evolution of a consistent pattern? The coverage of the Romanian revolution and the Gulf War in the Western media is used here for a comparative examination of these questions. Conclusions of a detailed analysis of the Romanian case are applied to the coverage of the Gulf War, and theoretical implications are discussed.

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 1998

The ongoing debate between technological determinists and cultural sociologists with regard to th... more The ongoing debate between technological determinists and cultural sociologists with regard to the impact of new technologies exposes much of the uncertainty involved in forecasting even the near future, of the dangers involved in simplistic interpretations of the technology-society-culture relationship, and of the difficulties involved in the attempt to reconcile these contrasting approaches. The issue of telepresence is an excellent

This epilogue aims at integrating the series of articles offered by the Toda Peace Journalism gro... more This epilogue aims at integrating the series of articles offered by the Toda Peace Journalism group in cco (4/2 2005; 5/2 2006; 6/1, 2007) into a framework designed to orient the reader, without repeating the arguments presented in the articles; to encourage instructors and students to use these materials; and to stimulate thinking on "where do we go next". Coherence is sought through looking at critical analyses of the conventional coverage of war and peace and at the promise and performance of Peace Journalism, analyzing epistemological and professional constraints, presenting ways to improve Peace Journalism concepts and practices, and offering an agenda and some development strategies. The initial premise that Peace Journalism (PJ) is a mode of responsible and conscientious media representation of conflict, alternative to conventional coverage, develops into a summary of critical evaluations of such coverage, and of the efforts to conceptualize PJ. A discussion of the ...

Normative, professional, and academic premises steer the discussion of the importance and the abs... more Normative, professional, and academic premises steer the discussion of the importance and the absence of a peace discourse in the media, and of the need and possibility to invent one. Among the possible points of departure are that the media should be involved in the promotion of peace; that peace coverage is hindered by the absence of a peace discourse in the professional media repertoire; and that the creation, development, and marketing of a media peace discourse should be included in the current research agenda. The development of a peace-oriented media discourse can be assisted by three conceptual elements, namely, the existing strategies employed by the media to cover peace; the competition in the media among dominant and alternative frames, in which news-value is the measure of success; and the concept of “constitutive rhetoric” – the creation, change and legitimization of realities through texts, rhetorical constructs and the manipulation of symbols – as a discourse-building...

Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, 2010

... (200963. Shinar, D., Davidson, R., First, A., Liran-Alper, D., Mandelzis, L. and Naor, A. 200... more ... (200963. Shinar, D., Davidson, R., First, A., Liran-Alper, D., Mandelzis, L. and Naor, A. 2009. ... Both these images held by Israeli Jews ignored the socio-cultural identity of the Arab “other,” and to this extent form a single generalized and biased image (Yadgar, 200379. ...

Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, 2010

... (200963. Shinar, D., Davidson, R., First, A., Liran-Alper, D., Mandelzis, L. and Naor, A. 200... more ... (200963. Shinar, D., Davidson, R., First, A., Liran-Alper, D., Mandelzis, L. and Naor, A. 2009. ... Both these images held by Israeli Jews ignored the socio-cultural identity of the Arab “other,” and to this extent form a single generalized and biased image (Yadgar, 200379. ...

Bulletin of Latin American Research, 1997

La transition en Roumanie, 2011

In the field of face recognition, Sparse Representation (SR) has received considerable attention ... more In the field of face recognition, Sparse Representation (SR) has received considerable attention during the past few years. Most of the relevant literature focuses on holistic descriptors in closed-set identification applications. The underlying assumption in SR-based methods is that each class in the gallery has sufficient samples and the query lies on the subspace spanned by the gallery of the same class. Unfortunately, such assumption is easily violated in the more challenging face verification scenario, where an algorithm is required to determine if two faces (where one or both have not been seen before) belong to the same person. In this paper, we first discuss why previous attempts with SR might not be applicable to verification problems. We then propose an alternative approach to face verification via SR. Specifically, we propose to use explicit SR encoding on local image patches rather than the entire face. The obtained sparse signals are pooled via averaging to form multiple region descriptors, which are then concatenated to form an overall face descriptor. Due to the deliberate loss spatial relations within each region (caused by averaging), the resulting descriptor is robust to misalignment and various image deformations. Within the proposed framework, we evaluate several SR encoding techniques: l1-minimisation, Sparse Autoencoder Neural Network (SANN), and an implicit probabilistic technique based on Gaussian Mixture Models. Thorough experiments on AR, FERET, exYaleB, BANCA and ChokePoint datasets show that the proposed local SR approach obtains considerably better and more robust performance than several previous state-of-the-art holistic SR methods, in both verification and closed-set identification problems. The experiments also show that l1-minimisation based encoding has a considerably higher computational cost when compared to SANN-based and probabilistic encoding, but leads to higher recognition rates.

Conflict & Communication Online, 2013

Media preference of war has been diagnosed as resulting from correlations of media psychology, cu... more Media preference of war has been diagnosed as resulting from correlations of media psychology, culture, and interests with war. Such correlations encourage personal, professional and institutional dissonance, and provoke dilemmas of coverage adequacy; selectivity of narratives and contexts; manipulation, and narrow ranges of discourse and focus. Efforts to curb these difficulties might succeed, with research and applied efforts aimed at updating the media culture of war coverage; helping identify media controls; encouraging gradual and cumulative reporting; employing "thick coverage" and "thick training"; promoting the cooperation of established media with newer types of journalism; assisting journalists in resolving war coverage dilemmas; promoting ongoing field monitoring and empirical research; helping post-war establishment of appropriate media structures, regulatory frameworks, and program production.

Conflict & Communication Online, 2007

This epilogue aims at integrating the series of articles offered by the Toda Peace Journalism gro... more This epilogue aims at integrating the series of articles offered by the Toda Peace Journalism group in cco (4/2 2005; 5/2 2006; 6/1, 2007) into a framework designed to orient the reader, without repeating the arguments presented in the articles; to encourage instructors and students to use these materials; and to stimulate thinking on "where do we go next". Coherence is sought through looking at critical analyses of the conventional coverage of war and peace and at the promise and performance of Peace Journalism, analyzing epistemological and professional constraints, presenting ways to improve Peace Journalism concepts and practices, and offering an agenda and some development strategies. The initial premise that Peace Journalism (PJ) is a mode of responsible and conscientious media representation of conflict, alternative to conventional coverage, develops into a summary of critical evaluations of such coverage, and of the efforts to conceptualize PJ. A discussion of the ...

Using the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a natural laboratory for studying possibilities and lim... more Using the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a natural laboratory for studying possibilities and limitations of constructive conflict coverage, the present book combines a longitudinal retrospective look at the coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with experimental research on audience reactions and theoretical questions of conflict, war and peace coverage. The editors aimed at utilizing these materials to learn about changes in media framing and representation of issues, actors, and leaders; to focus on problems of war coverage and peace journalism, such as the persistence of a war orientation in media culture and performance, and the extent to which the media have "matured" so as to change this normative orientation in favor of an increased contribution to peacemaking and peacekeeping; and to study and criticize peace journalism thought, research and action after some twenty years since its emergence.

Analisa criticamente as relacoes entre democracia, paz e desenvolvimento, concentrando-se na estr... more Analisa criticamente as relacoes entre democracia, paz e desenvolvimento, concentrando-se na estrutura dos meios de comunicacao e nos valores jornalisticos em sua importância para o sucesso dos esforcos em prol do desenvolvimento. Alem disso, oferece sugestoes para o uso eficaz das comunicacoes nos esforcos de desenvolvimento e para o treinamento. Com base em analises empiricas e suplementares, buscam-se exemplos de pesquisas recentes, ao mesmo tempo em que se oferecem estrategias para o desenvolvimento de uma midia democratica e de um jornalismo voltado para a paz.

This article explores (1) the cultural nature of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; (2) the “intra... more This article explores (1) the cultural nature of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; (2) the “intractability” of cultural conflicts; (3) conflict management models: reconciliation/“end-of-conflict” versus “conflict transformation” and their relation to cultural conflict; (4) the serious consequences of the wrong matching of models and conflicts, such as using the reconciliation model in cultural conflict; (5) the changing role of the media in international relations, and their contribution to the “crisis of expectations” that came to fruition in September 2000, with the eruption of the Intifada; (6) the possibility of the media contributing to peace processes; and (7) implications of the media adoption of the conflict transformation model. The premises are that, unlike other violent confrontations, the Middle Eastern conflict is fundamentally cultural, particularly in its Palestinian-Israeli version; that cultural conflicts are “intractable”, in the sense that they are very difficult,...

The cases of Quebec and Israel are used to study the roles of language revival in forging collect... more The cases of Quebec and Israel are used to study the roles of language revival in forging collective identities, based on the concepts of re-membering and dis-membering. Re-membering refers to collective self-determination, in which 'transformative agents' - symbols, language, schools, media, church - act on behalf of 'formulative efforts' - bureaucracy, social movements, civil organizations - that take 'root-paradigms' - symbols and ideas - into the social arena. Dis-membering is the opposite process. Survival and socioeconomic development were central root-paradigms in both cases, leaning on a variety of formulative efforts. Language is the most resilient transformative agent, regardlesss of changing circumstances. Conclusions show the importance of the re-membering/dis-membering approach in the study of collective identities.

International Symposium on Technology and Society, 1997

Telepresence is the generic term for a set of activities performed from a distance through the us... more Telepresence is the generic term for a set of activities performed from a distance through the use of telecommunication means. It refers to working (telecommuting), playing, providing and using services (telemedicine, teleshopping), teaching and learning (teleeducation).-from a distance. The dialogue presented in the paper between a “True Believer” and a “Devil's Advocate” helps to explore some social implications of telepresence,

International Communication Gazette, 1992

Why do prestigious Western newspapers and broadcasting organizations fail in the coverage of soci... more Why do prestigious Western newspapers and broadcasting organizations fail in the coverage of sociopolitical conflict? Are media bungles in the last decade – such as in Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, the West Bank, Eastern Europe, the Gulf War and other cases1 – isolated instances? Do they indicate the evolution of a consistent pattern? The coverage of the Romanian revolution and the Gulf War in the Western media is used here for a comparative examination of these questions. Conclusions of a detailed analysis of the Romanian case are applied to the coverage of the Gulf War, and theoretical implications are discussed.

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 1998

The ongoing debate between technological determinists and cultural sociologists with regard to th... more The ongoing debate between technological determinists and cultural sociologists with regard to the impact of new technologies exposes much of the uncertainty involved in forecasting even the near future, of the dangers involved in simplistic interpretations of the technology-society-culture relationship, and of the difficulties involved in the attempt to reconcile these contrasting approaches. The issue of telepresence is an excellent

This epilogue aims at integrating the series of articles offered by the Toda Peace Journalism gro... more This epilogue aims at integrating the series of articles offered by the Toda Peace Journalism group in cco (4/2 2005; 5/2 2006; 6/1, 2007) into a framework designed to orient the reader, without repeating the arguments presented in the articles; to encourage instructors and students to use these materials; and to stimulate thinking on "where do we go next". Coherence is sought through looking at critical analyses of the conventional coverage of war and peace and at the promise and performance of Peace Journalism, analyzing epistemological and professional constraints, presenting ways to improve Peace Journalism concepts and practices, and offering an agenda and some development strategies. The initial premise that Peace Journalism (PJ) is a mode of responsible and conscientious media representation of conflict, alternative to conventional coverage, develops into a summary of critical evaluations of such coverage, and of the efforts to conceptualize PJ. A discussion of the ...

Normative, professional, and academic premises steer the discussion of the importance and the abs... more Normative, professional, and academic premises steer the discussion of the importance and the absence of a peace discourse in the media, and of the need and possibility to invent one. Among the possible points of departure are that the media should be involved in the promotion of peace; that peace coverage is hindered by the absence of a peace discourse in the professional media repertoire; and that the creation, development, and marketing of a media peace discourse should be included in the current research agenda. The development of a peace-oriented media discourse can be assisted by three conceptual elements, namely, the existing strategies employed by the media to cover peace; the competition in the media among dominant and alternative frames, in which news-value is the measure of success; and the concept of “constitutive rhetoric” – the creation, change and legitimization of realities through texts, rhetorical constructs and the manipulation of symbols – as a discourse-building...

Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, 2010

... (200963. Shinar, D., Davidson, R., First, A., Liran-Alper, D., Mandelzis, L. and Naor, A. 200... more ... (200963. Shinar, D., Davidson, R., First, A., Liran-Alper, D., Mandelzis, L. and Naor, A. 2009. ... Both these images held by Israeli Jews ignored the socio-cultural identity of the Arab “other,” and to this extent form a single generalized and biased image (Yadgar, 200379. ...

Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, 2010

... (200963. Shinar, D., Davidson, R., First, A., Liran-Alper, D., Mandelzis, L. and Naor, A. 200... more ... (200963. Shinar, D., Davidson, R., First, A., Liran-Alper, D., Mandelzis, L. and Naor, A. 2009. ... Both these images held by Israeli Jews ignored the socio-cultural identity of the Arab “other,” and to this extent form a single generalized and biased image (Yadgar, 200379. ...