Jonathan Krasner

Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Associate Professor of Jewish Education Research

Departments/Programs

American Studies
Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education
Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

Degrees

Brandeis University, Ph.D.
Harvard University, M.Ed.
Brandeis University, B.A.

Expertise

American Jewish history, History of American Jewish Education, History of American Education, Contemporary Jewish Studies, Jewish Cultural Studies, History of American Youth and Childhood, Jewish Gender and Sexuality Studies

Profile

Jonathan Krasner is the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Associate Professor on Jewish Education Research at Brandeis University. His most recent book, Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps (co-authored with Sarah Bunin Benor and Sharon Avni), was published in 2020 and was the recipient of a National Jewish Book Award. He is also the author of The Benderly Boys and American Jewish Education (Brandeis University Press, 2011), which won the 2011 National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Studies. He was a finalist for the 2012 Sami Rohr Prize in Jewish Literature. From 2002-2012 he was a professor of the American Jewish Experience at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Jonathan is the past chair of the Network for Research in Jewish Education and an associate editor of the Journal of Jewish Education. He serves on the editorial board of the American Jewish Archives Journal and is also the co-director of the National Educators Institute at the National Museum of American Jewish History.

Jonathan's articles have appeared in a variety of journals including American Jewish History, Contemporary Jewry, Jewish Social Studies, Modern Judaism, the American Jewish Archives Journal, Shofar, Polin, Images, and the Journal of Jewish Education. He also has chapters in a number of edited volumes, including Sisterhood, Love, Marriage and Jewish Families, and Queer Jews. His research interests include the history of American Jewish education, contemporary American Jewish life, the history of Jewish youth, American Jewish culture, and gender and sexuality, including the mainstreaming of LGBTQ Jews in American Jewish life. His current project is a history of Jewish day schools in North America.

Jonathan is an Executive Board Member of Moving Traditions, a gender and sexuality educational organization for Jewish pre-teens and teens, and the founder of Keshet, a national organization working for LGBTQ equity and inclusion in Jewish life. He has also worked as a Jewish educational consultant for various foundations and organizations.

Courses Taught

AMST	150a	The History of Childhood and Youth in America
AMST	180b	Topics in the History of American Education
NEJS	161b	American Jewish Family Matters
NEJS	169b	From Sunday Schools to Birthright: History of American Jewish Education
NEJS	171a	Teaching and Learning Modern Jewish History, the Holocaust, and Israel
NEJS	271c	Teaching and Learning Modern Jewish History, the Holocaust, and Israel

Awards and Honors

2020 National Jewish Book Award in Education and Jewish Identity for "Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps" (2021)

Sylvia and Moshe Ettenberg Research Grant in Jewish Education (2020 - 2021)

Brandeis University Library Information Literacy Grant (2018)

Wasserman Essay Prize, American Jewish Historical Society, Honorable Mention (2016)

Scholarship

Krasner, Jonathan. "Imperfect Panacea? American Jewish Education and the Response to Crisis." Association for Jewish Studues, online. December 13, 2020.

Krasner, Jonathan. "The Arc of the Covenant: Educational Success on the Upper Mississippi." Rev. of The Arc of the Covenant: Jewish Educational Success on the Upper Mississippi, by Schwartz, Earl. Journal of Jewish Education vol. 86 July 1, 2020: 367-369.

Krasner, Jonathan. "Touched with Fire: Morris B. Abram and the Battle Against Racial and Religious Discrimination." Rev. of Touched with Fire: Morris B. Abram and the Battle Against Racial and Religious Discrimination, by David E. Lowe. Southern Jewish History vol. 23 2020: 198-203.

Krasner, Jonathan B., Sarah Benor, Sharon Avni. Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps. New Brunswick: NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2020.

Krasner, Jonathan. ""Day School Matters"." Consortium for Applied Research in Jewish Education Convening. New York, NY. 12/09/2019.

Krasner, Jonathan. "Masculinity and the Making of American Judaism." Rev. of Masculinity and the Making of American Judaism, by Sarah Imhoff. American Historical Review vol. 124 06/2019: 1114-1116.

Krasner, Jonathan. "“Conflicting Ideologies of Hebrew in Summer Camp”." The Power of Jewish Summer Camps: A Research Conference (Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education), Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. 11/17/2019.

Krasner, Jonathan. "“From Holy Grail to Kryptonite: Integration and the American Jewish Day School"." Association for Jewish Studies, San Diego. 12/17/2019.

Krasner, Jonathan. "“From Rigor to Relevance: Integration and the Jewish Day School Curriculum”." Yiddish Book Center -- Great Jewish Books Summer Seminarr. Amherst, MA. 07/22/2019.

Krasner, Jonathan. "“Negotiating Identities Through Education: Jewish Americans in the 19th and 20th Centuries”." History of Education Society, Columbus, OH. 10/31/2019.

Krasner, Jonathan. "“The American Jewish Supplementary School: Old Models, New Paradigms"." Network for Research in Jewish Education Annual Conference, Chicago, IL. 06/18/2019.

Krasner, Jonathan B. and Sharon Avni. "Israeli Shlichim in American Summer Camps." Network for Research in Jewish Education, Washington, DC. June 2018.

Krasner, Jonathan B., ed. Jewish Summer Camps as Educational Resources. Taylor & Francis, 84 2019.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. "Jonathan Woocher and the Imperative of Jewish Community in the Age of the Sovereign Self." Where Jewish Education Helps Students Thrive (Gedenkschrift). 1st ed. vol. - Ed. David Bryfman and Beth Cousens. New York: Lippman Kanfer Foundation, 2019. 42-51.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. "Sexing American Jewish History." "Fractured Paradigms," Scholars Biennial Conference, American Jewish Historical Society, Philadelphia. June 2018.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. "“Hebrew at the Center: Evolving Rationales for a Hebrew-Centric Curriculum in the Modern American Day School”." Association for Jewish Studies, Boston. December 2018.

Krasner, Jonathan B., ed. Jewish Historical Understandings. Taylor & Francis, 84 2018.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. "“Scaling Success: What History Tells Us About Spreading Innovations and Excellence in Jewish Education"." Gleanings 5. 2 (2018).

Krasner, Jonathan B., Sarah Benor, Sharon Avni. Connection, Not Proficiency: Survey of Hebrew at American Jewish Summer Camps. Waltham Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education: 2016.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. "American Jewry at Risk: A Time to Act and the Prioritization of Jewish Education." Contemporary Jewry 36. 1 (2016): 85-123.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. "On the Origins and Persistence of the Jewish Identity Industry in Jewish Education." Journal of Jewish Education 82. (2016): 132-168.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. "“A Golden Age? Reconsidering American Jews in the Post-World War II Era”." Organization of American Historians, Providence, RI. April 2016.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. "“Choosing Jewish Day School: The Reform Experience”." Biennial Scholars Conference in American Jewish History, New York City. June 2016.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. "“Competing Ideologies of Hebrew Pedagogy and American Jewish Summer Camps”." Network for Research in Jewish Education, New York City. June 2016.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. "“From Immersion to Infusion: The History of Hebrew Language at Jewish Residential Camps”." May, 2015.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. "“Hebrew at Camp: The Role of Israel and Israelis”." Association for Jewish Studies, Boston, MA. December 2015.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. "“Nostalgic Narratives: Memory and Jewish Summer Camp”." Association for Jewish Studies, San Diego. December, 2016.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. "“The Evolving Relationship Between Jewish Education and Psychology”." Network for Research in Jewish Education, New York City. June 2015.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. "“‘We All Still Have to Potty Train’: Same Sex Couple Families and the Jewish Community”." Love, Marriage and Jewish Families: Paradoxes of a Social Revolution. 1st ed. Ed. Sylvia B. Fishman. Hanover, NH: Brandeis/UPNE, 2016. 73-107.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. "
"The Origins and Persistence of the Jewish Identity Industry in Jewish Education"." Inaugural Lecture of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Chair in Jewish Education. Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. April 15, 2015.

Krasner, Jonathan B. and Stephen Whitfield. ""Jewish Liberalism and Racial Grievance in the Sixties : The Ordeal of Brandeis University"." Modern Judaism 35. 1 (2015): 18-41.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. ""American Jews in Text and Context: Jacob Behrman and the Rise of a Publishing Dynasty"." Images 7. 1 (2015): 1-25.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. ""Seventeen Months in the President's Chair: Morris Abram, Black-Jewish Relations and the Anatomy of Failed Presidency"." American Jewish History 91. 1 (2015): 27-77.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. ""Morris Abram, Black-Jewish Relations, and the Anatomy of a Failed Presidency"." Blacks, Jews, and Social Justice in America, American Studies Conferenc, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. June 2014.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. ""The New "Journal of Jewish Education" at Ten : An Appraisal"." Journal of Jewish Education 80. 3 (2014): 160-192.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. ""The Place of Tikkun Olam and American Jewish Life"." Jewish Political Studies Review 25. 1 (2014): 59-98.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. ""What We Still Don't Know About Jewish Education"." Network for Research in Jewish Education, Los Angeles, CA. 6/2014.

Krasner, Jonathan B.. "On the Origins of the Jewish Identity Industry"." Association for Jewish Studies, Baltimore. 12/2014.