Our Legacy
The DHSS Hub continues and expands the Open Media and Information Lab (OMILab), which was established by Prof. Oren Soffer (1971-2020), a member of the lab’s management team and one of its leading researchers.
Oren was a true visionary, and OMILab was the realization of his dream of introducing social science students to cutting-edge digital research tools. Oren's areas of research were media theory, media history, and digital communication. In recent years, he analyzed the nineteenth-century Jewish press using digital tools. His research spanned different historical eras, methodological approaches, and disciplines. As a researcher, a manager, and especially as a colleague, Oren is greatly missed. We are continuing his work through multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research, and by strengthening the link between research and teaching at the Open University.