Center for Jewish History • Fellowship Opportunities at the Center

Fellowship Opportunities at the Center

Fellowships at the Center
Current Fellows
Past Fellows
Partner Fellowships

Center for Jewish History Fellowship Programs

Through the Graduate Fellowship Program that began in 2002, the Center has directly supported more than 50 Ph.D. candidates as they worked to complete their dissertations using the partner collections.

Enhanced in the 2010-11 academic year, when the National Endowment for the Humanities recognized the Center as one of 25 elite research institutions around the world by funding its Fellowship Program for Senior Scholars, the Center is now the first and only Jewish studies institution to receive such validation since the NEH program was established 40 years ago.

In concert with the NEH Fellowship, the Center offers Prins Fellowships for international junior scholars, Undergraduate Research Fellowships to support outstanding college students, a Visiting Scholars Program to provide accomplished scholars the benefits of a healthy research community, and the Steinberg Emerging Jewish Filmmaker Fellowship to support the production of documentary films based on the collections housed here.

Click on the fellowship programs below to view descriptions and application guidelines.

NEH Fellowship for Senior Scholars

The Center offers fellowships to senior scholars through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The awards support original research at the Center in the humanities, including but not limited to Jewish studies, Russian and East European studies, American studies and Germanic studies, as well as musicology, linguistics, anthropology, sociology and history. Applications are welcome from college and university faculty in any field who have completed a PhD more than six years prior to the start of the fellowship and whose research will benefit considerably from consultation with materials housed at the Center. Fellowships carry a stipend of up to $50,400 for a period of one academic year. Fellows are expected to conduct original research at the Center, deliver at least one lecture based on the research conducted, actively participate in the scholarly community at the Center, acknowledge the Center and NEH in all publications resulting from research completed during the fellowship and submit a report upon completion of the fellowship describing the experience.

Application Guidelines

Applications for the 2012-13 academic year are due December 1, 2011.

The Center for Jewish History offers fellowships to senior scholars through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The award supports original research at the Center in the humanities including but not limited to Jewish studies, Russian and East European studies, American studies and Germanic studies, as well as by musicologists, linguists, anthropologists, sociologists and historians. The Center welcomes applications from any field whose research will benefit considerably from consultation with materials at the Center. Full fellowships carry a stipend of up to $50,400 for a period of one academic year. Fellows will have access to all collections housed at the Center for Jewish History.

It is required that each fellow chosen for the award:

Conduct original research at the Center
Deliver at least one lecture based on the research conducted
Actively participate in the scholarly community at the Center
Acknowledge the Center for Jewish History and the National Endowment for the Humanities in all publications resulting from the fellowship
Submit a report upon completion of the Fellowship describing her/his experience as a Center Fellow

Eligibility

Open to all college and university faculty who received a Ph.D. more than six years prior to the start of the fellowship
Open to all U.S. citizens as well as foreigners who have lived in the U.S. for at least 3 years prior to the application deadline. It is the responsibility of the applicant to have the appropriate visa for acceptance of the stipend (award) for the duration of the award.

Requirements for Application

Cover letter stating area of interest, knowledge of relevant languages, and how the project relates to the mission of the Center for Jewish History
Curriculum Vitae, including contact information, education, publications, scholarly and/or museum activities, teaching experience, and any other relevant work experience
Specific research proposal of no more than five pages, including specific reference to the collections at the Center and clearly stated goals for research during the period of the fellowship
Three letters of recommendation, which address the significance of the candidate's work for his or her field as well as the candidate's ability to fulfill the proposed work
Please send all application materials together electronically as one continuous PDF document.
Letters of recommendation may arrive under separate cover.

The schedule for the application process is as follows:

Applications for the 2012-13 academic year are due December 1, 2011. All application material, including letters of reference, must be received by this date for consideration.
Announcement of grant recipients by February 1, 2012
Commencement of grant period, September 1, 2012
Conclusion of grant period, May 31, 2013

Applications are to be submitted to:

Judith C. Siegel
Director of Academic and Public Programs
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
United States of America
Email: fellowships@cjh.org

Prins Foundation Fellowship for Senior Scholars

The Center for Jewish History announces a new fellowship to be awarded to an immigrating senior scholar through a grant from the Vivian G. Prins Foundation. The award supports original research at the Center in the humanities, including but not limited to Jewish studies, Russian and East European studies, American studies and Germanic studies, as well as musicology, linguistics, anthropology, sociology and history. Applications are welcome from foreign senior scholars in any field who have completed a Ph.D. more than six years prior to the start of the fellowship and whose research will benefit substantially from consultation of materials housed at the Center. The fellowship carries a stipend of $75,000 as well as a relocation stipend of up to $15,000 for a period of one academic year. The Prins Senior Scholar is expected to conduct original research at the Center, deliver two lectures based on the research conducted, actively participate in the scholarly community at the Center, acknowledge the Center and Prins Foundation in all publications resulting from research completed during the fellowship, and submit a final report upon completion of the fellowship.

Application Guidelines

The application deadline for Fellowships starting in fall 2012 is February 1, 2012.

We invite foreign senior scholars who seek a permanent teaching and research position to apply for this award, which will support a single 12-month fellowship for a senior scholar who has held the Ph.D for at least six years. The Prins Senior Scholar will be provided with an annual living stipend of $75,000 as well as a relocation stipend of up to $15,000 to conduct original research at the Center's Lillian Goldman Reading Room and utilize the vast collections of our partner organizations. This award allows the Center to serve as the gateway for foreign senior scholars seeking to begin a new academic life in the U.S.

It is required that each fellow chosen for the award:

Conduct original research at the Center
Deliver at least one lecture based on the research conducted
Actively participate in the scholarly community at the Center
Acknowledge the Center for Jewish History and the Prins Foundation in all publications resulting from the fellowship
Submit a report upon completion of the Fellowship describing her/his experience as a Center Fellow

Eligibility

Open to senior scholars from outside the United States who seek permanent teaching and research positions. A senior scholar is defined at someone who has held the Ph.D for longer than 6 years. Preference will be given to candidates from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
It is the responsibility of the applicant to have the appropriate visa for acceptance of the stipend for the duration of the award
The Center for Jewish History is not a visa granting institution. The Center for Jewish History will provide pro-bono legal counsel to assist Fellows navigating immigration issues.

Requirements for Application

Cover letter stating area of interest, knowledge of relevant languages, and how the project relates to the mission of the Center for Jewish History
Curriculum Vitae, including contact information, education, publications, scholarly and/or museum activities, teaching experience, and any other relevant work experience
Detailed research proposal consisting of four to five pages, including specific reference to the collections at the Center and clearly stated goals for research during the period of the fellowship
Three letters of recommendation that address the significance of the candidate's work for his or her field as well as the candidate's ability to fulfill the proposed research project
Two recent publications consisting of either an article published in a scholarly journal, a chapter in an edited collection, or the introduction and a subsequent chapter from a recently published book
Applicants will also submit a 1-2 page essay articulating why they wish to emigrate and what they hope to accomplish after concluding the fellowship.
Please send all application materials together electronically as one PDF continuous document.
Applicants are responsible for ensuring that letters of recommendation are submitted electronically by recommenders by the deadline.

The schedule for the application process is as follows:

Applications for the 2012-13 academic year are due February 1, 2012. All application material, including letters of reference, must be received by this date for consideration.
Announcement of grant recipients' by April 1, 2012
Commencement of grant period: September 4, 2012
Conclusion of grant period: June 15, 2013.

Applications are to be submitted to:

Judith C. Siegel
Director of Academic and Public Programs
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
United States of America
Email: fellowships@cjh.org

Prins Foundation Post-Doctoral and Early Career Fellowship for Emigrating Scholars

We invite foreign scholars who seek permanent teaching and research positions in the United States to apply for this award, which will support 12-month fellowships for scholars who are at the beginning of their careers. Fellows will be provided with an annual stipend of $35,000 to conduct original research at the Center's Lillian Goldman Reading Room and utilize the vast collections of our partners. This award allows the Center to serve as the gateway for emerging scholars seeking to begin a new academic life in the U.S. Fellows are expected to conduct original research at the Center, deliver at least one lecture based on the research conducted, actively participate in the scholarly community at the Center and submit a report upon completion of the fellowship describing the experience.

Application Guidelines

The application deadline for Fellowships starting in fall 2012 is December 15, 2011.

We invite foreign scholars who seek permanent teaching and research positions to apply for this award, which will support 12-month fellowships for scholars who are at the beginning of their careers. Fellows will be provided with an annual stipend of $35,000 to conduct original research at the Center's Lillian Goldman Reading Room and utilize the vast collections of our partners. This award allows the Center to serve as the gateway for emerging scholars seeking to begin a new academic life in the U.S.

It is required that each fellow chosen for the award:

Conduct original research at the Center
Deliver at least one lecture based on the research conducted
Actively participate in the scholarly community at the Center
Acknowledge the Center for Jewish History and the Prins Foundation in all publications resulting from the fellowship
Submit a report upon completion of the Fellowship describing her/his experience as a Center Fellow

Eligibility

Open to scholars from outside the United States who seek permanent teaching and research positions who are at the beginning of their career. Preference will be given to candidates from eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
It is the responsibility of the applicant to have the appropriate visa for acceptance of the stipend (award) for the duration of the award
The Center for Jewish History is not a visa granting institution. The Center for Jewish History will provide pro-bono legal counsel to assist Fellows navigating immigration issues.

Requirements for Application

Cover letter stating area of interest, knowledge of relevant languages, and how the project relates to the mission of the Center for Jewish History
Curriculum Vitae, including contact information, education, publications, scholarly and/or museum activities, teaching experience, and any other relevant work experience
Specific research proposal of no more than five pages, including specific reference to the collections at the Center and clearly stated goals for research during the period of the fellowship
Three letters of recommendation, which address the significance of the candidate's work for his or her field as well as the candidate's ability to fulfill the proposed work
Please send all application materials together electronically as one PDF continuous document.
Letters of recommendation may arrive under separate cover.

The schedule for the application process is as follows:

Applications for the 2012-13 academic year are due December 15, 2011. All application material, including letters of reference, must be received by this date for consideration.
Announcement of grant recipients by February 28, 2012
Commencement of grant period, September 1, 2012
Conclusion of grant period, May 31, 2013

Applications are to be submitted to:

Judith C. Siegel
Director of Academic and Public Programs
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
United States of America
Email: fellowships@cjh.org

Visiting Scholars Program

We invite scholars working in the field of Jewish Studies who have completed their doctorate or its equivalent to apply for an affiliation with the Center to work in the collections of one or more of its partner institutions. Scholars are generally expected to commit to a regular presence at the Center for at least three months. Scholars may apply for a full academic year, the fall or spring semester, or for the summer. Visiting scholars will be provided with work space, a the Center e-mail account and access to the Center resources. This program does not provide a stipend or financial support. During their period of affiliation, Visiting Affiliated Scholars are expected to attend monthly seminars of the Center graduate fellows and to offer a seminar presentation on their own scholarly work.

Application Guidelines

The application deadline for Spring 2012 are due on November 1, 2011. The deadline for Fall 2012 is March 15, 2012.

The Center for Jewish History’s Visiting Scholars Program invites scholars working in the field of Jewish Studies who have completed their doctorate or its equivalent to apply for an affiliation with the Center to work in the collections of one or more of its partner institutions: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. For their period of affiliation, Visiting Scholars will receive a designated workspace at the Center , a Center email address, access to all collections housed at the Center for Jewish History. This program does not provide a stipend or financial support.

Visiting Scholars will be expected to commit to a regular presence at ther Center for at least three months. Scholars may apply to be affiliated with the Center for a full academic year (September – May), for either the fall semester (September – mid-January) or spring semester (mid-January – May), or for the summer (June – August). During their period of affiliation, Visiting Scholars will be expected to attend monthly seminars of the Center graduate fellows and to offer a seminar presentation on their own scholarly work.

Junior and senior scholars, including those who are on leave from their home institutions, are encouraged to apply, as are independent scholars and scholars who are in between academic appointments.

Eligibility

Scholars who have their PhD or equivalent terminal degree
Scholars working on projects that make use of the Center partner collections

Requirements for Application

A complete curriculum vitae
A description of the proposed research project, maximum 3 pages in length, including an explanation of which of the Center partners' collections will be used
The names and contact information of two references
Please send all application materials together electronically as one continuous PDF document.

Applications are to be submitted to:

Judith C. Siegel
Director of Academic and Public Programs
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
United States of America
Email: fellowships@cjh.org

Graduate Research Fellowship

The Center offers fellowships to PhD candidates supporting original research using the collections at the Center. Preference is given to those candidates who draw on the library and archival resources of more than one partner. Full fellowships carry a stipend of up to $15,000 for a period of one academic year. It is expected that applicants will have completed all requirements for the doctoral degree except for the dissertation. It is required that each fellow conduct research for the duration of the award at a minimum of 2 days/week in the Lillian Goldman Reading Room using the archival and library resources. The fellow must also participate in a Center for Jewish History Seminar and deliver a minimum of one lecture based on research at the Center and the collections used.

Application Guidelines

The application deadline for the 2012-2013 academic year is February 1, 2012.

The Center for Jewish History, composed of its five partners (American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research), offers fellowships that are intended for Ph.D. candidates. The awards support original research at the Center for Jewish History in the field of Jewish Studies. Preference will be given to those candidates who draw on the library and archival resources of more than one partner. Fellows will have access to all collections housed at the Center for Jewish History.

Full fellowships carry a stipend of up to $15,000 for a period of one academic year. It is expected that applicants will have completed all requirements for the doctoral degree except for the dissertation (a.b.d.).

It is required that each fellow chosen for the award:

Conduct research for the duration of the award at a minimum of 2 days/week in the Lillian Goldman Reading Room using the archival and library resources. Please note that the Center reserves the right to withhold stipends from fellows who do not fulfill the attendance commitment.
The fellow must attend all Center fellow seminars and deliver a minimum of one lecture based on research at the Center and the collections used.
Submit a report upon completion of the Fellowship describing her/his experience as a Center Fellow

Eligibility

Open to qualified doctoral candidates in accredited institutions
For non-USA citizens, it is the responsibility of the applicant to have the appropriate visa for acceptance of the stipend (award) and for the required duration of the award. The Center for Jewish History is not a visa-granting institution.

Requirements for Application

Cover letter stating area of interest and knowledge of relevant languages, and how the project relates to the mission of the Center for Jewish History.
Curriculum Vitae, including contact information, education, publications, scholarly and/or museum activities, teaching experience, and any other relevant work experience
Specific research proposal of no more than three pages, including specific reference to the collections at the Center and aims for research during the period of the fellowship
Official graduate school transcript
Three letters of recommendation, including from the students' academic advisors, which address the significance of the candidate's work for the field as well as the candidate's ability to fulfill the proposed work
Please send all application materials together electronically as one PDF continuous document.
Letters of recommendation may arrive under separate cover.

The schedule for the application process is as follows:

All application material, including letters of reference, must be received by February 1, 2012 for consideration.
Committee to review applications by March 15, 2012
Announcement of grant recipients by April 2012
Commencement of grant period, August 15 - September 15, 2012
Conclusion of grant period, June 30, 2013

Applications are to be submitted to:

Judith C. Siegel
Director of Academic and Public Programs
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
United States of America
Email: fellowships@cjh.org

Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Advanced undergraduate students at North American universities are invited to apply to carry out research in the archives and libraries of the Center's partner institutions. This fellowship is designed for third and fourth year undergraduates preparing theses or other major projects in Jewish history and related fields. Projects require substantive use of archival and printed sources (e.g., newspapers, collections of sermons, memoirs, institutional reports) housed at the Center and not available at the student's home institution. The amount of the fellowship is up to $1,000 and students are encouraged to seek matching funding from their home institutions. The award may be used for travel purposes and lodging while at the Center.

Application Guidelines

Advanced undergraduate students at North American universities are invited to apply for fellowships to carry out research in the archives and libraries of the Center for Jewish History's partner institutions.

This fund is designed for third and fourth year undergraduates preparing theses or other major projects in Jewish history and cognate fields. Projects to be supported would require substantive use of archival and printed sources (e.g., newspapers, collections of sermons, memoirs, institutional reports) housed at the Center and not available at the student's home institution. The opportunity to work with these sources can not only enhance the quality and originality of the student's projects but also expose them to the rewards of primary-source research and encourage them to pursue graduate study.

Fellowship amount: Up to $1,000 and students are encouraged to seek matching funding from their home institutions.

Permissible expenses: economy-class air, rail or bus fare to New York; lodging, duplication services; per diem of $30 per day.

After completing their projects, fellowship holders will be required to submit a brief summary of their findings and indicate the role played by Center resources in their research as a whole. These reports will be public documents and may be cited, in whole or in part, for Center publicity.

Requirements for Application

Electronic submission of a cover letter and unofficial transcript
1,500-word project proposal with specific description of the Center resources to be consulted; projected budget
Submission, under separate cover, of a letter of recommendation from the student's thesis or project advisor
Please send all application materials together electronically as one PDF document.

Applications are to be submitted to:

Judith C. Siegel
Director of Academic and Public Programs
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
United States of America
Email: fellowships@cjh.org

Joseph S. Steinberg Emerging Jewish Filmmaker Fellowship

Undergraduate and graduate emerging filmmakers working on their own original projects on topics related to modern Jewish history are encouraged to apply for this fellowship, which supports research in the archives housed at the Center. The award is designed to help further existing projects, or to start new projects, whose subject matter is in line with the collections housed at the Center. Recipients are eligible for awards of up to $5,000 and are provided with access to the resources at the Center. Students are selected for one academic year of research through a rigorous and competitive process and are expected to present finished works, or works in progress, to a public audience at the Center.

Application Guidelines

The application deadline for the 2012-2013 academic year is October 15, 2011.

The Center for Jewish History is proud to announce the establishment of the Joseph S. Steinberg Fund for Emerging Jewish Filmmakers. The Fund will support research in the archives housed at the Center for Jewish History, with the goal of ultimately presenting finished works, or works in progress, at the Center to a public audience.

Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to apply for funding to further existing projects, or to start new projects, whose subject matter is in line with the collections housed at the Center for Jewish History. All applicants should be prepared to indicate which specific materials and collections they intend to include in their project. The goal of this fellowship is to provide small stipends to emerging filmmakers working on topics related to modern Jewish history, and is not limited to film students.

The Fund will work to support projects that address significant subjects; offer fresh, challenging perspectives; engage audiences across cultural lines; and expand the understanding of Jewish experiences based on the collections of the Center's five partners.

Fund recipient(s) will be eligible for awards up to $3,000 and will be provided with complete access to the resources at the Center for Jewish History.

The artist(s) are to be selected for one academic year of research in the Lillian Goldman Reading Room through a rigorous and competitive process. A committee of distinguished filmmakers, scholars, and experts will carefully review applicants.

Requirements for Application

The prospective artist(s) are to be chosen, not only on the basis of academic excellence and promise, but on how useful the resources of the Center archives and libraries will be to their work.

Completed application (click to download)
At least one, preferably two, letter(s) of recommendation/support
Please send all application materials together electronically as one PDF document.

Applications are to be submitted to:

Judith C. Siegel
Director of Academic and Public Programs
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
United States of America
Email: fellowships@cjh.org

Current Center Fellows

Past Center Fellows

2011

Dr. Jay Berkovitz, University of Massachusetts

Protocols of Justice: Marriage, Family and Community in Early Modern France

Dr. Berkovitz's project will investigate the civil proceedings of the Metz Rabbinic Court (1771-1789).

Rebecca Kahn Bloch, Oberlin College

Radical Judaism in a Radical Campus: The Emergence of a New Jewish Community at Oberlin College

This project will explore the varying facets of Jewish student life and engagement at a small, liberal arts campus whose student body is almost 30% Jewish but where active involvement in traditional Jewish campus life is minimal. By exploring both the present and the often radical past of Jewish life on the Oberlin campus, from the 1960s to the present, this project will endeavor to understand this fracture, to trace its historical roots using collections housed at the Center, and to contextualize this place and time not only within the history of Oberlin College, but also within that of American collegiate Jewish communities.

Jan Lanicek, formerly of the Czech Republic

Dr. Lanicek’s work focuses on bystanders’ studies and the responses of the Czechoslovak exiles to the Jewish plight between 1938 and 1948 as well as a comparative analysis of Jewish/non-Jewish relations in Nazi-occupied East Central Europe.

Jolanta Mickute, Lithuania

Dr. Mikute is researching a manuscript on Jewish women nationalists in interwar Poland and Lithuania.

Mina Muraoka, Brandeis University

Jews and the Russo-Japanese War: The Triangular Relationship between Jewish POWs, Japan, and Jacob H. Schiff

Adam Sacks, Brown University

European Jews and the Question of Wagnerism

David Sclar, CUNY Graduate Center

He Will Flourish like a Cedar in Lebanon: the Life and 'After-Life' of Moses Hayyim Luzzatto

David Weinfeld, New York University

What Difference Does the Difference Make? Horace Kallen, Alain Locke, and the Birth of Cultural Pluralism

Marianna Yarovskaya, University of Southern California (graduate)

Survival in Easter Siberia: The Other Jewish Side

This project will reveal one of the most intriguing chapters in 20th century Jewish and Russian histories - the creation in 1934, by Stalin, of the Jewish Autonomous Region of Birodbijan in Siberia. At its peak, Birodbijan was home to 45,000 Jews, serving as a "homeland" for Soviet Jews. Over the decades, however, ravaged by disease and Stalin's "Great Terror", this Jewish community all but ceased to exist, and by the late 1990s, there were barely a few thousand Jews left in the region. Now, however, with the renaissance of Yiddish culture and language, just as it seemed that the Stalinist attempt to create a socialist Jewish homeland in the wilderness would fade into history, local Jews have effected a remarkable revival, even as the Russian parliament moves to remove the J.A.R. from the map of Russia.

Jennifer Young, New York University

American Jewish Communists, Anti-Fascism, and the Shaping of Ethnic Culture in the International Workers Order, 1930-1956

Polly Zavadivker, University of California at Santa Cruz

Soviet History, Jewish Fate: The War Writings of S. An-sky, Isaac Babel, and Vasily Grossman, 1914-1948

2010

Miriam Intrator, Graduate Center, CUNY

Wartime Planning, Postwar Response: UNESCO and the Renewal of Jewish Libraries, Books and Reading in Post-Holocaust, Early Cold War Europe, 1944-56

Agnieszka Legutko, Columbia University

Possessed by the Other: Spirit Possession as Modern Jewish Identity: Dybbuk Possession Trope in 20th and 21st Century Jewish Literature and Beyond

Stanley Mirvis, Graduate Center, CUNY

The Jewel of a Sephardic Empire: A Social and Cultural History of Colonial Jamaican Jewry, 1670-1820

Zachary Lara M. Silberklang, University College London

The Reality of Displacement: Displaced People after the Second World War

2010

Joshua Z. Teplitsky, New York University

Between Court Jew and Jewish Court: David Oppenheim, the Prague Rabbinate, and 18th-Century Jewish Politics

Magdalena M. Wrobel, University College London

The Jewish Emigrants from Poland to Palestine, 1924-1928 (As an Example for a Transnational Migration of Polish Jews)

2009

Helaine Blumenthal, University of CA, Berkeley

The Slansky Affair: Czechoslovak Political Purge Trials of 1952

In 2003, Helaine graduated from Swarthmore College with Highest Honors in the fields of History and English Literature. In 2005, she began her graduate career as a doctoral student in the Department of History at UC Berkeley. Her fields of specialization include Modern Jewish and East/Central European History. At UC Berkeley, she has been the recipient of several fellowships and honors including the Chancellor's Fellowship for Graduate Study, the Albert Newman Fellowship for Visually Impaired Students, and the Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Instructors. In addition to her time at Berkeley, she has spent a great deal of time in the Czech Republic where she engaged in intensive language training as well as historical research. She is currently conducting dissertation research at the Center for Jewish History where she holds the title of 2009-2010 Cahnman Foundation Fellow. Her dissertation entitled Communism on Trial: The Slansky Affair and the Making of Post-WWII Jewish Identities embraces her primary academic interests-i.e. Czech, Soviet, and Jewish history. She plans to finish the doctoral degree by May 2011.

Rebecca Cutler, University of PA

American Jews and the Politics of Medicine in the Post-World War II Era

Rebecca Cutler is a Ph.D. candidate in modern Jewish history at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests include American Jewish history, the history of Zionism and the State of Israel, and the history of medicine. Cutler is currently working on her dissertation entitled: The Politics of American Jewish Medical Activities in the Post World War II Era. She is currently the Morris and Alma Schapiro Fellow at the Center for Jewish History and the Annenberg History Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania.

Rachel Gordan, Harvard University

Post-WWII American Judaism: How Judaism Became an American Religion

Rachel Gordan is a doctoral candidate in American religious history at Harvard. She did her undergraduate work in American Studies at Yale, and received her masters in American religious history from Yale Divinity School. Rachel is working on a cultural and intellectual history of post-WWII American Judaism, “How Judaism Became an American Religion.” She grew up outside of Boston and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

CJH Collections Used: Milton Steinberg collection at AJHS
YIVO's American Jewish Committee collection on anti-Semitism

Zachary Paul Levine, New York University

Chevrolets to Budapest: Transnational Cooperation and a Jewish Aid Regimen for the Cold

Zachary Levine is a PhD candidate in the Hebrew and Judaic Studies and History departments at New York University, and a 2009-2010 Dr. Sophie Bookhalter Fellow in Jewish Culture at the Center for Jewish History. His dissertation, Chevrolets to Budapest: Transnational Cooperation and a Jewish Aid Regimen for the cold War, 1948-1957, looks at the semi-clandestine efforts of a network of international Jewish philanthropies and the Israeli government to send material and financial aid to Jews in communist eastern Europe. Before attending NYU, Zachary received a Master’s Degree in History at Central European University where he completed a thesis on clandestine Jewish social organizations in Communist Hungary. His research interests include the history of East and Central European Jews, the politics of nationalist ideology and movements, the history and theories of material culture, and the study of science and technology. When not wiling away the hours on his dissertation, Zachary runs around photographing graffiti art and can sometimes before struggling to play his baritone ukulele.

Lara Rabinovitch, New York University

Feeding Identity: Romanian Jewish Immigrants in New York City and Montreal, 1890-1939

Lara Rabinovitch is writing her PhD dissertation at New York University on early 20th century Romanian Jewish immigrants and their foodways in New York City and Montreal. She is also co-editor of Choosing Yiddish: New Frontiers of Language and Culture (Wayne State University Press, forthcoming), a book highlighting a young generation of scholars approaching Yiddish Studies through diverse interdisciplinary research.

Samuel Spinner, Columbia University

The Museum of the Jews: Ethnography and Literature about Jews in the 20th Century

2008

Amos Bitzan, University of California Berkeley

Eastern European Jewry under Occupation, 1915-1918: Practice and Experience

Jessica Hammerman, Graduate Center, CUNY

The Heart of the Diaspora: French Jewry in Conflict During the Algerian War, 1954-1967

Jessica R. Hammerman is completing a dissertation which explores the French Jews of the 1950s in both Algeria and France. Her research has illustrated the diversity of political, cultural, and intellectual engagement with the Algerian War for Decolonization. Specifically, she is interested in how the war caused individuals to reflect their own religious or ethnic identities. Ms. Hammerman's research has earned her awards in both Jewish Studies and Holocaust Studies. She is currently serving as Instructional Technology Fellow at CUNY Macaulay Honors College, where she helps both professors and students to effectively integrate the newest technologies into their curricula.

Kelly Scott Johnson, Harvard University

Sholem Schwarzbard: Life and Times of a Yiddish Assassin

David Koffman, New York University

The Jews' Indian: Native Americans in the Jewish Imagination and Experience, 1824-1945

David S. Koffman is a doctoral candidate in NYU's departments of History and Hebrew and Judaic Studies, finishing a dissertation about encounters between Jews and Native Americans. He holds masters degrees in Anthropology (University of Toronto), Hebrew and Judaic Studies (NYU) and Public Administration (Wagner School of Pubic Service, NYU) and a BA in Anthropology (McGill University). He is a junior faculty member at the Network for the Teaching of Jewish History, a board member of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies, and a member of the Jews/Media/Religion Working Group at the Center for Religion and Media. He has held numerous awards and fellowships, including those from the Wexner Foundation, the American Jewish Archives, the Foundation for Jewish Culture and the Center for Jewish History.

CJH Collections Used: Ehrenreich Papers

Joshua Nathaniel Aaron Lambert, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Unclean Lips: Obscenity and the Jews in North American Literature and Culture

Josh Lambert is a Dorot Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow in the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University. He received his PhD in English literature from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2009, and his AB in English from Harvard in 2001. His publications include American Jewish Fiction: A JPS Guide (2009), articles in Cinema Journal and The Jewish Graphic Novel (Rutgers, 2009), and many books reviews, interviews, and essays for Tablet Magazine, the Forward, and other national newspapers and magazines.

CJH Collections Used: The Henry Roth Papers

Jolanta Mickute, Indiana University, Bloomington

Modern, Jewish, and Female: Politics of Culture, Ethnicity, and Sexuality in Poland and Lithuania, 1918-1939

Born in Lithuania, Jolanta is a doctoral student majoring in Jewish history, with minors in Eastern European / Russian history and Jewish Studies. From September 2003 onward, she has been enrolled in the Department of History and the Jewish Studies Program at Indiana University (IU), Bloomington. In September 2007, she left the United States for Eastern Europe to conduct dissertation research in Polish and Lithuanian archives. In late November of 2008, she returned to the States from her research to begin writing her dissertation and conduct supplementary research at the Center for Jewish History in NYC. Under the generous guidance of Prof. Jeffrey Veidlinger and Prof. Marci Shore, she is presently working on her dissertation at IU and applying to conferences both within and outside of the country, while getting ready to teach for a summer history survey on Modern East Europe at Indiana University. Currently, she is writing about Zionist politics surrounding the Jewish woman's body and sexuality in the rebirth process of the Jewish nation as well as in the formation of a modern Jewish identity in interwar Poland. The chapter thus explores Jewish patriarchal structures and the discursive power and reach of Zionist ideology. It is part of her dissertation entitled “Modern, Jewish, Female: The Politics of Culture, Ethnicity, and Sexuality in Poland and Lithuania, 1918‑1939.” Her plan is to graduate at the end of this year.

CJH Collections Used: Vilna Collection
the Collection of Jewish Youth Autobiographies

2007

David H. Horowitz, Columbia University

Fractures and Fissures in Jewish Communal Autonomy in Hamburg and Altona, 1750-1811

David Horowitz earned a doctorate from the Department of History at Columbia University, where he also received an M.Phil. and M.A. He is fascinated with the intersection between legal and social history and currently researches the legal jurisdiction of the Jewish community in 18th century Hamburg. David holds a B.A. cum laude from Brown University.

2007

Emily Levine, Stanford University

Culture, Commerce, and the City: Aby Warburg, Ernst Cassirer, and Erwin Panofsky in Hamburg, 1919-1933

Ellie R. Schainker, University of PA

Imerial Hybrids: Russian Jewish Converts in the 19th Century

Elizabeth Strauss, University of Notre Dame

The Elderly in the Ghettos: A Study of Lodz, Vilna, and Riga, 1939-1944

Hilit Surowitz, University of Florida

La Nacion: Reconstructing Jewish Identity in the Early Modern Atlantic World

2006

Daniella Doron, New York University

Envisioning the Jewish Family: Children, Gender and Identity in Postwar France, 1944-1954

Jeremy Eichler, Columbia University

The Musical Migration from Germany to America, 1930s-1940s: The History of German-Jewish Composers in America

Dana Herman, McGill University, Canada

History of the Jewish Cultural Reconstruction Organization

Laura Jockusch, New York University

Collect and Record! Help Write the History of the Latest Destruction! Jewish Historical Commissions in Europe 1943-1953

2005

Elissa Bemporad, Stanford University

The Red Star on the Jewish Street: The reshaping of Jewish Life in Soviet Minsk

Elissa Bemporad, Assistant Professor of History, received her undergraduate degree in Slavic studies from Bologna University, her MA in Modern Jewish Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and her PhD in history from Stanford University. She has taught at Stanford University, Hunter College, and The New School, and has recently been appointed Jerry and William Ungar Assistant Professor at Queens College, CUNY. Dr. Bemporad's research focuses on the social, cultural and institutional history of Eastern European Jews. Her book Becoming Soviet Jews: The Bolshevik Experiment in a Jewish Metropolis, Minsk 1917-1939 , is forthcoming with Indiana University Press.

Maya Benton, Courtauld Institute of Art, London

Shuttered Memories of a Vanishing World: The Deliberate Photography of Roman Vishniac and its effect on Modern Jewish Subconsciousness

Maya Benton is director of the Roman Vishniac archive and adjunct curator at the International Center of Photography (ICP). Her work focuses on documentary photographs of Jewish life in Central and Eastern Europe, the intersection of photography and Jewish visual culture, and contemporary photography and art in Israel. Maya has ten years of experience working in museums and holds a B.A. in Archaeology and Ancient Art from Brown University, an Ed.M. in museum and arts education from Harvard, and Master's degrees in German Art and Cultural Politics 1890-1945 and in the History of Photography from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London; where she has not yet managed to finish her dissertation.

Joshua Karlip, Jewish Theological Seminary of America

Modern Jewish Culture at the Crossroads: A Case Study of Jewish Socialism, Diaspora, Nationalism, and Yiddishism, 1905-1940

2004

Amy Blau, University of Illinois

Afterlives: Translation of German Weltliteratur into Yiddish

Mia S. Bruch, Stanford University

The Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Men: American Jews and American Religious Pluralism, 1941-1960

Sarah Bailey Felsen, University of CA, Berkeley

German or "Jargon"?: Jewish Language Writing and Assimilation

Tamar Kaplan, University of PA

Rabbinic Authority in late Imperial Russia, 1905-1917

2004

Julie G. Lieber, University of PA

Jewish Women during turn-of-the-century Vienna: A Study in Gender Construction

Edward A. Portnoy, Jewish Theological Seminary of America

The Creation of a Jewish Cartoon Space in the Yiddish Presses of New York and Warsaw, 1894-1939

Daniel B. Schwartz, Columbia University

Reclaiming Spinoza: The Heretic from Amsterdam in Modern Jewish Culture, 1832-1918

2003

Marcy Brink-Danan, Stanford University

Mother Tongue: Turkish-Jewish Ideologies of Language and Kinship

Maria Ecker, Universitaet Salzburg, Austria

The integration of Jewish Holocaust Survivors in the US, and the popular perception of the Holocaust in the US

Noah L. Gelfand, New York University

A People within and without: Sephardic Jewish Communities and Commerce in the 17th and 18th Century Dutch Atlantic World

Noam F. Pianko, Yale University

Reconstructing America: Diaspora Jewish Nationalism in American Jewish Thought, 1900-1950

David Ira Snyder, Princeton University

The Enduring Ghetto: Urban Renewal and the Jews in Modern Prague and Warsaw (Bridging Jewish and architectural history)

2002

Alisa Braun, University of Michigan

Becoming Authorities: Jews, Writing, and the Dynamics of Affiliation, 1890-1940

Jessica Cooperman, New York Universiy

The Jewish Diaspora and the First World War: Germany and the US

James Loeffler, Columbia University

The Role of Music as Means of Jewish Social and Cultural Modernization in late Imperial Russia

James Loeffler is Assistant Professor of Jewish History at the University of Virginia and Research Associate at the Jewish Music Research Centre at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research focuses on East European Jewish history, Jewish music, and modern Jewish politics in Europe, Israel, and the U.S. He received his B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. His book The Most Musical Nation: Jews and Culture in Late Imperial Russia (forthcoming from Yale University Press), won the Foundation for Jewish Culture’s 2009 Musher Prize for Best First Book in Jewish Studies.

Avinoam J. Patt, New York University

Jewish DP Youth and Zionism in Post-War Germany

Avinoam J. Patt, Ph.D. is the Philip D. Feltman Professor of Modern Jewish History at the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford, where he is also director of the Sherman Museum of Jewish Civilization. Previously, he worked as the Miles Lerman Applied Research Scholar for Jewish Life and Culture at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). He is the author of Finding Home and Homeland: Jewish Youth and Zionism in the Aftermath of the Holocaust (published by Wayne State University Press, May 2009), which examines the situation of young survivors in Europe in the aftermath of the Holocaust and their role in the creation of the state of Israel, and is the editor of a collected volume on Jewish DPs, titled We are Here: New Approaches to the Study of Jewish Displaced Persons (Wayne State University Press, February 2010). He is currently writing a new source volume (to published by the USHMM and Rowman and Littlefield) entitled Jewish Responses to Nazi Persecution, 1939-1940 for use by university professors and scholars.

Joshua Perelman, New York University

Choreographing Identity: Modern Dance and American Jewish Identity 1923-1964

Michaela Raggam-Blesch, Karl Franz Universitaet Graz, Austria

Jewish Women during turn-of-the-century Vienna

Michaela Raggam-Blesch, PhD at the University of Graz (Austria), is an associate at the Institute of "Culture Studies and the History of Theater" (IKT) at the "Austrian Academy of Science" (ÖAW) with a research project on the "Topography of the Shoah" in Vienna.

Her publications include:
Monography “Zwischen Ost und West. Identitätskonstruktionen Jüdischer Frauen in Wien” (2008) as well as papers Jewish feminist movements (Geschlecht, Religion und Engagement, 2005) and on women of Jewish descent (“Mischlinge”) surviving the NS-Regime in Vienna (Frauen1938, 2008). Co-editor of a brochure on the topography of the Shoah in Vienna (2008).

CJH Collections Used: Memoir Collection at the Leo Baeck Institute
Austrian Heritage Collection (AHC) Interviews at the Leo Baeck Institute
Photo Collection at the Leo Baeck Institute

Partner Fellowship Programs

AJHS

Ruth B. Fein	Travel stipend for graduate research at the Society.	up to $1000
Sid and Ruth Lapidus	Graduate students/scholars research in 18th cent. American Jewish history.	variable by number of successful applicants
Schilder	Graduate student NYU for research at AJHS housed at the Center for Jewish History.	not determined
Wasserman	Brandeis Univ. graduate student working at Waltham Center on some aspect of American Jewish experience. Awarded by dept. of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies in consultation with AJHS.	not specified

For additional information about AJHS fellowships at the Center for Jewish History, please contact Susan Malbin at smalbin@ajhs.cjh.org.

LBI

LBI/DAAD	Doctoral students or recent Ph.D.'s. Financial assistance for dissertation research/or to academics for preparation of publication through LBI resources.	$2000/year two awarded per year
David Baumgardt Memorial	For academics whose research projects are connected with the writing of Prof. David Baumgardt or his scholarly interests.	up to $3000
Fritz Halbers	Doctoral students for research on culture and history of German–speaking Jewry.	up to $3000
Fred Grubel Fellowship	A paid summer internship program for a graduate student who will participate in work on a specific research topic (jointly determined by the candidate and the LBI) related to LBI collections, which can include archives, library, photo collection, and art collection.	$1,500 per month

For additional information about LBI fellowships at the Center for Jewish History, please contact Frank Mecklenburg at fmecklenburg@lbi.cjh.org.

YIVO

All recipients are expected to give a public lecture or submit a report on their research.

Dina Abramowicz Emerging Scholar Fellowship	Intended primarily for post-doctoral research on a topic in Eastern European Jewish Studies. The work should lead to a significant scholarly publication and may encompass the revision of a doctoral dissertation. For a period of two to three months and delivery of a public lecture.	$3000
Workmen's Circle /Dr. Emanuel Patt Visiting Professorship in Eastern European Jewish Studies	Established by the Van Cortlandt Workmen's Circle Community House, it is designed to support three months of post-doctoral research and a public lecture by the visiting faculty member.	$5000
Professor Bernard Choseed Memorial	This fellowship supports original doctoral or post-doctoral research in the field of East European Jewish studies. The fellowship is for a period of one to three months to conduct research and a public lecture by the holder.	$7500
Dora and Meyer Tendler	Established by Mr. Meyer Tendler in memory of his late wife, it is designed to support graduate research in Jewish Studies.	$3000
Abram and Fannie Gottlieb Immerman and Abraham Nathan and Bertha Daskal Weinstein Memorial	A fellowship in Eastern European Jewish Studies. Established by Mr. Brian Weinstein, it is designed to support travel for Ph.D. dissertation research in archives and libraries of the Baltic states, with preference given to research on the Jews of Courland and Latvia.	$2000
Samuel and Flora Weiss Research Fellowship	The Samuel and Flora Weiss Research Fellowship supports research on the destruction of Polish Jewry or on Polish-Jewish relations during the Holocaust period. The research should result in a scholarly publication.	$2500
Rose and Isidore Drench Memorial	Dedicated to American Jewish history. Special consideration for work on Jewish labor movement. For a period of one to three months. A public lecture is required.	$2500
Vladimir and Pearl Heifetz Memorial	A fellowship in Eastern European Jewish Music. Established by the estate of the late Vladimir and Pearl Heifetz, it is designed to assist an undergraduate, graduate or post-graduate researcher.	$1500
Aleksander and Alicja Hertz Memorial	For research on modern Polish-Jewish history particularly Jewish-Polish relations and Jewish contributions to Polish literature and culture. For a one to three months.	$1500
Vivian Lefsky Hort Memorial	For original research in Yiddish literature. For a period of one to three months. A public lecture is required.	$2000
Abraham and Rachela Melezin	For research on Jewish educational networks in pre–war Vilna/Vilna region. Period one to three months during spring semester.	$1500
Natalie and Mendel Racolin Memorial	This fellowship supports original doctoral or post-doctoral research in the field of East European Jewish history. The fellowship is for a period of one to three months to conduct research and a public lecture by the holder.	$1500
Maria Salit-Gitelson Tell Memorial	Original research in Lithuanian Jewish history, particularly the city of Vilnius. One to three months. A public lecture is required.	$1500
Joseph Kremen Memorial Fellowship	The Joseph Kremen Memorial Fellowship in Eastern European Jewish Music, is designed to assist a researcher at the YIVO Archives and Library.	$2000

For additional information about YIVO fellowships at the Center for Jewish History, please contact Paul Glasser at pglasser@yivo.cjh.org.

Fellowship Opportunities at the Center

Center for Jewish History Fellowship Programs

NEH Fellowship for Senior Scholars

Application Guidelines

Eligibility

Requirements for Application

The schedule for the application process is as follows:

Applications are to be submitted to:

Prins Foundation Fellowship for Senior Scholars

Application Guidelines

Eligibility

Requirements for Application

The schedule for the application process is as follows:

Applications are to be submitted to:

Prins Foundation Post-Doctoral and Early Career Fellowship for Emigrating Scholars

Application Guidelines

Eligibility

Requirements for Application

The schedule for the application process is as follows:

Applications are to be submitted to:

Visiting Scholars Program

Application Guidelines

Eligibility

Requirements for Application

Applications are to be submitted to:

Graduate Research Fellowship

Application Guidelines

Eligibility

Requirements for Application

The schedule for the application process is as follows:

Applications are to be submitted to:

Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Application Guidelines

Requirements for Application

Applications are to be submitted to:

Joseph S. Steinberg Emerging Jewish Filmmaker Fellowship

Application Guidelines

Requirements for Application

Applications are to be submitted to:

Current Center Fellows

Adam Teller, Associate Professor of Judaic Studies and History, Brown University

Daniel Lee, the United Kingdom

Anna Manchin, Hungary

Kataryzna Person, Poland

Allan Amanik, NYU

Joshua Furman, University of Maryland

Anna Koch, NYU

Amy Smith, Yale University

Brian Smollett, CUNY Graduate Center

Amy Weiss, NYU

Past Center Fellows

2011

Dr. Jay Berkovitz, University of Massachusetts

Rebecca Kahn Bloch, Oberlin College

Jan Lanicek, formerly of the Czech Republic

Jolanta Mickute, Lithuania

Mina Muraoka, Brandeis University

Adam Sacks, Brown University

David Sclar, CUNY Graduate Center

David Weinfeld, New York University

Marianna Yarovskaya, University of Southern California (graduate)

Jennifer Young, New York University

Polly Zavadivker, University of California at Santa Cruz

2010

Miriam Intrator, Graduate Center, CUNY

Agnieszka Legutko, Columbia University

Stanley Mirvis, Graduate Center, CUNY

Zachary Lara M. Silberklang, University College London

2010

Joshua Z. Teplitsky, New York University

Magdalena M. Wrobel, University College London

2009

Helaine Blumenthal, University of CA, Berkeley

Rebecca Cutler, University of PA

Rachel Gordan, Harvard University

Zachary Paul Levine, New York University

Lara Rabinovitch, New York University

Samuel Spinner, Columbia University

2008

Amos Bitzan, University of California Berkeley