Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies

Julian Bonder is principal of Julian Bonder & Associates and is on faculty at Harvard University Graduate School of Design and Roger Williams University. Bonder’s work on Argentina’s Desaparecidos, civil rights, the Holocaust, September 11, and slavery include the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University and with Wodiczko the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery in Nantes, France. Bonder is active in EUROM (European Observatory of Memories) and is a member of the Symbolic Reparations Research Project. His work has received numerous honors and he has been published in a variety of journals.

Alexandra Ciniglio is a Panamanian journalist, multimedia (radio and television) content and production manager, and author. She is currently producer and anchor of the Morning News of Radio Panama. Alexandra is author of Abraham Eisenman Un Hombre de Hierro (2017) and Los Papeles Secretos de Pape (2021).

Milton Cohen-Henriquez, native of Panama, has served as deputy to the National Assembly of Panama, Minister of Government (Interior and Justice) and Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain (2017-2019). He has served as Director of numerous magazines, radio and television networks. Cohen-Henríquez has directed and advised electoral campaigns and has taught at Universities in Panama and Spain. He is author of the novel Los Cuadernos Delirantes de Pedrarias (2018).

Professor Claudio Grossman is a distinguished  lawyer and Dean Emeritus of the American University Washington College of Law. A native of Valparaíso, Chile, Dr. Grossman has contributed to promoting the rule of law, human rights and legal education in both international and domestic organizations. He has chaired the United Nations Committee Against Torture and is consultant to the Prosecutor of the International Court of Justice. Professor Grossman's career also includes extensive litigation experience before the Inter-American and Universal systems on the rights of persons deprived of liberty, enforced disappearances, prohibition of non-discrimination and gender, political rights, rights of the child, indigenous populations, freedom of expression, prohibition of torture, and other fundamental freedoms. Professor Grossman has received numerous awards for his work in human rights and international law, including his commitment to promoting and protecting the freedom of expression and of the press for all people.

Sandra Mayo is an Argentinean artist and educator who specializes in printmaking and mixed media. Her work has been extensively exhibited, including at the Massachusetts State House, Boston Public Library, Monserrat School of Art, Brandeis University, Brown University, and has been acquired by private and corporate collections in Argentina, Israel, Germany, France, Italy and the US. She also conducts workshops on genograms at community organizations and academic institutions.

Ariana Neumann is the New York Times bestselling author of When Time Stopped, recipient of the Dayton Peace Prize for Non Fiction in 2021 and Best Memoir at the Jewish Book Awards in 2020. She worked as a foreign correspondent for Venezuela’s The Daily Journal and her writing has appeared in a variety of publications including The European, the Jewish Book Council and The New York Times. Born and raised in Venezuela, Ariana currently lives in London where she is working on her 2^nd book.

Dalia Pollak is President of Museo Judio Chile (founded 2014) and Founder of RedLaes (Red Latinoamericana de educación en Shoa/Latin American Network for Holocaust Education, founded 2020). She is a clinical psychologist by training, dedicated to preserving memory and education through museum and academic networks.

Dina Siegel Vann, a native of Mexico City, is Director of America Jewish Committee’s Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs in Washington, DC. Prior to her role at AJC, Siegel Vann served as UN and Latin American Affairs Director for B’nai B’rith International. She also served as Political Affairs Director for the Mexican Jewish Community and is a recipient of the prestigious Mexican National Ohtli Award. In 2016, King Felipe VI of Spain awarded her the Order of the Civil Merit for her role in supporting his country’s efforts to re- engage Sephardic Jews and for helping connect the different layers of the Hispanic universe.

Susana Pesis Werthein is an environmental literacy advocate and founder of TESA (Taller de Economia Sustentable Ambiental). She is the founder of Casa de Abraham, Argentina, and a thought leader in inter-religious dialogue. Dr. Pesis is the recipient of numerous international awards for her work in human rights, ethics and environmental sustainability.

Dalia Wassner, PhD, is the director of Jews of the Americas, an initiative of Brandeis University at the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies. Dr. Wassner is a historian whose research and teaching is dedicated to providing more inclusive and interdisciplinary approaches to the Jewish Diaspora and broadening the academic fields of Jewish Studies, Latin American Studies and Diaspora Studies.

Dr. Wassner is the author of Harbinger of Modernity: Marcos Aguinis and the Democratization of Argentina (Boston: Brill, 2014), which illuminates the intersecting roles of Jews and public intellectuals in bringing democracy to post-dictatorship Argentina. She is guest-editor of the launching issue of the journal Latin American Jewish Studies (Spring 2022), and her scholarship has been published in numerous academic journals, including Latin American Research Review, Iberian and Latin American Studies, Contemporary Jewry, and Journal of Modern Jewish Studies. Dr. Wassner serves on the Latin American Jewish Studies Association Board of Directors, the Jewish Women's Archive Encyclopedia Editorial Board in the field of Latin America, and the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry Board of Directors.