Scenes from Graduation 2018-2019

On May 9, 2019, the Program in Jewish Studies along with family, friends, faculty, and community members celebrated the accomplishments of the Jewish Studies class of 2018鈥2019. This year, four undergraduates graduated with Jewish Studies听minors听and five graduate听students听with graduate certificates. We听also honored our numerous scholarship, fellowship, and award winners and听interns.

All of our students are doing incredible things after graduation or with their awards. Scroll down to learn more!


Minors in Jewish Studies

Danielle Rose Frank

Bachelor of Art in Psychology, Minor in听Jewish Studies

After graduation, Danielle aspires to pursue a Master鈥檚 degree in nutrition and work in the field of holistic health and nutrition.


Minors in Hebrew and Israel Studies

Gavriella Ben-Zaken

Bachelor of Art in Political Science, Minor in Hebrew and Israel Studies

Isaac Gesundhelt

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Minor in Hebrew and Israel Studies

Francesca Hannah Rubin

Bachelor of Art in Communication, Minor in Hebrew and Israel Studies

After graduation, Francesca plans to do some traveling in France before returning to Denver to begin a career in fundraising.

Paige Segall

Bachelor of Art in International Affairs, Certification in Peace and Conflict Studies, Minor in Hebrew and Israel Studies

While at CU, Paige completed two honors theses, one in Peace and Conflict Studies titled 鈥淛ewish Birthright: A Case Study on Why American Jewish College Students Travel to Israel,鈥 and the second for International Affairs titled 鈥淎 Letter to President Trump: A Historical Analysis of the U.S. ~ Israel Relationship.鈥

Upon graduation, Paiges plans to attend law school.


Graduate Certificate in Jewish Studies

Jeffrey William Baron

Master of Arts in Religious Studies听and Graduate Certificate in Jewish Studies
Thesis:听Perceptions of the Visigoths in the Iberian Peninsula

Jeffrey Baron's thesis,听Perceptions of the Visigoths in the Iberian Peninsula, examines the ways in which medieval and modern people have made sense of and formed identities around their perceptions of the Visigothic past 鈥 a relatively brief historical period that left a disproportionately enduring impact in popular, religious, and political culture in the Iberian Peninsula. This fall, Jeffrey will begin a PhD in History at the University of Rochester.

Emily Jean Frazier-Rath

PhD in German Studies and Graduate Certificate in Jewish Studies.
Dissertation:听Death, Deportation, Violence, Silence: Refugee Activism against Precarity in Germany

In Emily Frazier-Rath's dissertation, Death, Deportation, Violence, Silence: Refugee Activism against Precarity in Germany, she argues that refugee-activists and their allies active in the past 10 years in Germany expose and intervene in the historically-informed and powerful discursive constructions that continue to shape representations, perceptions, and understandings of difference in Germany. These discourses rely upon racialized understandings of who counts as human, whose lives are mournable, who is worthy of protection, and who belongs to Germany and Europe. Activists鈥 exposures and interventions are made possible through the construction of coalitions, the formation of new solidarities, and the creation of communities, through which new ways of conceptualizing race, immigration, and difference in Germany and Europe have begun to take shape. After graduation, Emily plans to begin working on her first book and pursue a career in academia.

Elana Lev Friedland

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing听and Graduate Certificate in Jewish Studies
Thesis:听An account of creation

Elana Lev Friedland's thesis, An account of creation, is a hybrid-genre collection of speculative writing centered on the Jewish supernatural, reproduction, and futurity. The project also considers the intersections of gender, sexuality, and Jewishness. Upon graduation, they plan to return to Boston to reconnect with its Jewish and artistic communities.

Sarah Jean Gavison

Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Documentary Media Practices and Graduate Endorsement in Jewish Studies
Dissertation: What To Do With The Jews?听

In her dissertation, What To Do With The Jews?, Sarah Gavison looks into Post-World War II Jewish refugees and the creation of Israel in US and Soviet policies. After graduation, Sarah plans to look for post-doc and academic jobs in Israel.听

Mark Joseph

Master of Arts in Religious Studies and Graduate Certificate in Jewish Studies
Thesis: Music/composition, psychoanalysis, Judaism, Israel/Palestine

While at 兔子先生传媒文化作品, Mark Joseph produced a long essay on Freud, psychoanalysis, and Jewishness. He also created a piece of music听with words from the Mishnah and an additional essay on the Talmudic alternatives to Jewish exclusivity in Israel. Upon his graduation, Mark plans to continue to compose music, edit and translate, write articles, and teach.


Jewish Studies Scholarship and Fellowship Recipients

2018-2019 Scholarship & Fellowship Winners

Madeleine Alexis Bendalin
Madeline Bendaline is currently a Major in Strategic Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations. She is also pursuing a double Minor in Jewish Studies and Media Studies. Madeline is this year's recipient of the听Jewish Studies Freshman & Sophomore Scholarship, a tuition scholarship that rewards academic merit of freshman and sophomore students pursuing a Jewish Studies major or minor.听She is part of the Program in听Jewish Studies because she is interested in learning about the history of her ancestors and Jewish culture. In the future, she plans to pursue a career in the Jewish non-profit sector.

Undergraduate

Madeleine Alexis Bendalin
Madeline Bendaline is currently a Major in Strategic Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations. She is also pursuing a double Minor in Jewish Studies and Media Studies. Madeline is one of the undergraduate recipients of the听Jewish Studies Global Initiatives Scholarship. This scholarship will support her听as she studies abroad in Prague and takes Jewish studies courses this fall.听

Agnus Gregg MacDonald
Agnus MacDonald is currently a Major in Computer Science. He will use his Global Initiatives Scholarship to support his 10-week study abroad trip in Tel-Aviv, Israel this summer. The program will provide information on modern problems in the area including politics and conflict resolution.听


Graduate

Tiffany Beebe
Tiffany Beebe is a听PhD candidate in Modern European and British History whose research focuses on 20th-century minority populations, immigration/migration, and gender/sexuality. Her听dissertation explores German-Jewish refugees from the Third Reich who moved to rural areas of Britain and opened new businesses under a "refugee industrialist" scheme created by the British government and various voluntary organizations. The听Jewish Studies Global Initiatives Scholarship will support Tiffany's听research in the UK this fall.听

Gregg Drinkwater
As a PhD candidate in History and Jewish Studies, Gregg Drinkwater explores the history of gay and lesbian synagogues in the United States. He will use hisGlobal Initiatives Scholarship to help support听his participation in Yiddishkayt鈥檚 Helix project, an immersive global seminar focused on the Yiddish language, the history of Yiddish culture, and the Jews of Eastern Europe. In July, Gregg will travel for three weeks through the historic heartland of Yiddish culture in Belarus and Lithuania.

Leah Whitney Woods
Leah Woods is currently an MFA candidate in Dance with a Somatic Emphasis听and Performance and Culture. She researches performance practice as catharsis in the wake of collective tragedy and communal trauma. She looks at forms like GaGa technique which were developed in Israel post-Holocaust as liberatory mediums for the expression of pain, healing, and transformation based in the body. Leah will use the听ACE Jewish Arts Grant to support her travel to the b12 Festival in Berlin. There, she will continue to explore GaGa technique and post-Holocaust performance practices informed by movement-based research around the arts and collective tragedy in Germany. Leah will also be developing new work at the b12 Festival where she will be studying with cutting edge contemporary artists in the field of dance and performance.

Savannah Ames
Savannah Ames is pursuing a Major in Speech-Language and Hearing Sciences as well as a听Minor in History. In partnership with the University Libraries鈥 Special Collections, Archives and Preservation, PJS annually supports an undergraduate student to conduct research in the Post-Holocaust American Judaism Collections. By working in the Collections this past year, Savannah believes she has an inside look at the effects the Holocaust had in America and has led her to a better understanding of how the past continues to influence the present. 听

Brynn Elizabeth Tully
Brynn Tully is currently a Major in Jewish Studies and the second beneficiary of the Jewish Studies Adopt-A-Student program. She will benefit from tuition assistance and the opportunity to build a relationship with our generous donors, Lori and Steve Berman. Brynn is excited to pursue an education in Jewish Studies because it has opened many doors for her learning, from the Kabbalah to writing skills.听She looks forward to the Adopt-A-Student program and to gain both听academic and personal mentors.

Abigail Mendel
In addition to her Major in Psychology, Abigail Mendel is also pursuing Minors in Hebrew & Israel Studies and Leadership Studies, and a Certificate in Peace, Conflict, and Security Studies. The听Katherine Jacob Lamont Scholarship will support her听academic work at CU. Abigail aspires to work as a leader in a non-profit organization in order to help resolve social conflict on a global scale within听both Jewish and non-Jewish communities.听Her dedication to interdisciplinary studies in the humanities makes her an outstanding recipient for the Lamont scholarship.

Jace Leigh Rosenthal
This year's Undergraduate Baer Scholar, Jace Rosenthal, is currently a triple major in Jewish Studies, Religious Studies, and English. For him, the Program in Jewish Studies has been an incredible source of mentorship, friendship, and academic enrichment. Jace is deeply committed to conducting interdisciplinary, academic research on the study of Jewish cultural and religious experience across time and place. He says that pursuing a degree in Jewish Studies provides him with the opportunity to better himself and his community through academic research and public work.听The Barry and Sue Baer Undergraduate Scholarship will support Jace in his academic endeavors.听

Tiffany Beebe
Tiffany Beebe is a听PhD听candidate in Modern European and British History whose research focuses on 20th-century minority populations, immigration/migration, and gender/sexuality. Her听dissertation explores German-Jewish refugees from the Third Reich who moved to rural areas of Britain and opened new businesses under a "refugee industrialist" scheme created by the British government and various voluntary organizations. The听Goldberger Study Abroad and Cultural Immersion Graduate Fellowship will support Tiffany as she completes her dissertation research in the UK.

Tiffany Beebe
Tiffany Beebe is a听PhD candidate in Modern European and British History whose research focuses on 20th-century minority populations, immigration/migration, and gender/sexuality. Her听dissertation explores German-Jewish refugees from the Third Reich who moved to rural areas of Britain and opened new businesses under a "refugee industrialist" scheme created by the British government and various voluntary organizations. The听Barry & Sue Baer Graduate Fellowship will support Tiffany's听research in the UK this fall.听

Laura Rachel Conway
As an MFA in Filmmaking, Laura Conway focuses on intergenerational trauma and Jewish mythology. She was awarded the Barry & Sue Baer Graduate Fellowship听to write and direct a short film investigating Jewish mythology and intergenerational Holocaust trauma. The film will look at children of a Holocaust survivor mother who experience dreams or "post-memories" of the Shoah which they never experienced.

Adi Nester
Adi Nester, pursuing a PhD in German and Jewish Studies, is听working on early 20th-century German-Jewish literature and music. She was awarded the Barry & Sue Baer Graduate Fellowship this past Fall 2018 to support her travel to the annual conference of the Association for Jewish Studies, where she presented a paper titled, "In a State of Exile: Stateless Identity in Joseph Roth and Erich Zeisl's Hiob.鈥

Leah Whitney Woods
Leah Woods is currently an MFA candidate in Dance with a Somatic Emphasis听and Performance and Culture. She researches performance practice as catharsis in the wake of collective tragedy and communal trauma. She looks at forms like GaGa technique which were developed in Israel post-Holocaust as liberatory mediums for the expression of pain, healing, and transformation based in the body. Leah will use the听ACE Jewish Arts Grant to support her travel to the b12 Festival in Berlin. There, she will continue to explore GaGa technique and post-Holocaust performance practices informed by movement-based research around the arts and collective tragedy in Germany. Leah will also be developing new work at the b12 Festival where she will be studying with cutting edge contemporary artists in the field of dance and performance.

Sally Claire Simpson
Sally Simpson听is an MA student in Classics with broad interests in medieval religion and literature, including the experience of religious minorities such as Jews in Western Europe. She was awarded this spring's Post-Holocaust American Judaism Collections Graduate Research Fellowship. Her research focused on modern history and archival research through the lens of American activism on behalf of Soviet Jews. She conducted research in the Jerry Kopel Collection and looked into issues of immigration, refugee status.

Jacob Flaws
Jacob Flaws is a PhD candidate in History where his studies focus on the spaces of Treblinka by exploring different witnesses and their sensory perception of the death camp. He will spend this summer in the听Post-Holocaust American Judaism Collections to create a new digital research project. Jacob will focus his summer archival research in the Harry W. Mazal Holocaust Collections, particularly exploring the life of Harry Mazal and creating an exhibit outlining how Mazal created his collection.

Avery Ryder Turner
Avery Ryder Turner is currently听pursuing听an MFA in Dance. His听research focuses on improvisation and movement as practice and research, shaped by the spiritual traditions of the Vajrayana Buddhism. Avery is curious how the Post-Holocaust American Judaism Collections might offer different pathways to experiential and embodied learning that honors both the visible and invisible experience we are living. His research in the Collections will help inform his MFA research on improvisation and movement.

Tiffany Beebe
Tiffany Beebe is a听PhD Candidate in Modern European and British History whose research focuses on 20th-century minority populations, immigration/migration, and gender/sexuality. Her听summer research in the PHAJ Collections will focus on 鈥渢ransmigrants,鈥 people who moved through more than one country before finally settling in one spot. She is particularly interested to see if the collections have information about people who moved through Britain on their way to the U.S., which will help inform her dissertation research.

2018-2019 Internships in Jewish Studies

Frederick Jacobs, V,听Boomtown Accelerator鈥嬧
Jack Alan Newhouse-Velie,听Boomtown Accelerator
Francesca Hannah Rubin,听Jewish Studies Advisory Board, TEDxCU
Davi Simone Sher,听Boomtown Accelerator鈥
Ari Sonnenberg,Temple Aaron
Bailey Wakefield,Sustainable Israeli-Palestinian Projects