Keren McGinity

Lecturer in American Studies

Departments/Programs

American Studies
Hadassah-Brandeis Institute

Degrees

Brown University, Ph.D.
Brown University, A.M.
Harvard University, ALM
Rutgers University, B.A.

Expertise

Jewish Women's History, U.S. Gender History, American Jewish Intermarriage, Modern American History, U.S. Urban and Social History, Cultural Studies, #MeToo

Profile

Keren R. McGinity teaches in the American Studies Program, is a Research Associate at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, and is the Interfaith Specialist at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. She was the inaugural director of the Interfaith Families Jewish Engagement graduate program at Hebrew College. Dr. McGinity is the author of Still Jewish: A History of Women & Intermarriage in America (NYU Press, 2009), a National Jewish Book Award finalist, and Marrying Out: Jewish Men, Intermarriage, and Fatherhood (Indiana University Press, 2014), as well as many scholarly and popular articles. She was the inaugural Mandell L. Berman Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Contemporary American Jewish Life at the University of Michigan’s Frankel Center for Judaic Studies (2008-2010) and earned her Ph.D. from Brown University, where she subsequently held an appointment as a visiting assistant professor of history (2005-2008). She also earned degrees from Rutgers and Harvard Universities, and a Teaching Certificate from the Sheridan Center for Teaching at Brown University. Among her many awards, Dr. McGinity is a 2018 Forward 50 honoree of most influential American Jews for her clarion call for a Jewish response to the #MeToo movement.

Courses Taught

AMST	121a	The American Jewish Woman: 1890-1990s
AMST	123b	Interfaith, Interethnic, Interracial America
AMST	124b	Sex, Love, and Marriage in America

Awards and Honors

Jewish Boston Top Pick (2019)

Forward 50 America's Most Influential Jews (2018)

Hadassah-Brandeis Institute Senior Research Award (2018)

Lilith Magazine 7 Feminist Highlights (2018)

Schusterman Institute for Israel Studies Fellowship (2018)

Merle Orren Scholars Transformation Award (2016)

Association for Jewish Studies Women’s Caucus Travel Grant (2014)

Association for Jewish Studies Women’s Caucus Travel Grant (2011)

Rosalie Katchen AJS Travel Award, Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, (2011)

Lucius N. Littauer Foundation Grant (2010)

Mandell L. Berman Foundation Grant (2010)

Director’s Discretionary Research Award, University of Michigan’s Frankel Center for Judaic Studies (2009)

National Jewish Book Awards Finalist in Women’s Studies (2009)

Mandell L. Berman Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, University of Michigan's Frankel Center for Judaic Studies (2008 - 2010)

Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture Dissertation Fellowship (2003)

National Women’s Studies Association Jewish Women’s Caucus Scholarship (2002)

Steven Robert Graduate Fellowship, Brown University (2002)

Wellesley College Mary McEwen Schimke Fellowship (2002)

Hadassah-Brandeis Institute Junior Research Award (2001)

Brown University Fellowships (1999 - 2005)

Harvard Extension Dean’s Outstanding Social Sciences Thesis Prize (1997)

Scholarship

McGinity, Keren. "The Unfinished Business of the Sexual Revolution." American Jewish History 104. 2/3 (2020): 207-213.

McGinity, Keren. "Why It Was So Hard to Say #MeToo And What I Learned When I Finally Did." AJS Perspectives Spring/Summer. (2019).

McGinity, Keren. "From the December Dilemma to the December Delights." Jewish Educator December 2018. (2018).

McGinity, Keren. "The Gendered Reality of Intermarriage in America." Humanistic Judaism 36. 1 (2017): 18-27.

Men, Women, and Intermarriage. Expert McGinity, Keren. Judaism Unbound, 2016.

McGinity, Keren. "Big Tent Judaism’s Study About Conservative Rabbis Deserves More Credit." eJewish Philanthropy -. - (2016): <http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/big-tent-judaisms-study-about-conservative-rabbis-deserves-more-credit/>.

McGinity, Keren. "McGinity is Not a Jewish Name." Mayyim Hayyim -. - (2016): <https://mayyimhayyimblog.com/2016/01/06/mcginity-is-not-a-jewish-name/>.

McGinity, Keren, Dale Allison. "Intermarriage--Judaism--Modern Judaism." Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception. 1 ed. 12 vols. 2015.

McGinity, Keren, ed. "Intermarriage and Authenticity," Journal of Jewish Identities. Youngstown: Youngstown State University, 8 no. 1 2015.

McGinity, Keren. "Do It For Your Son." Jewish Daily Forward 20 June 2015: Seesaw -.

McGinity, Keren. "Find Other Ways to Explore Colombian Heritage." Jewish Daily Forward 19 September 2015: Seesaw -.

McGinity, Keren. "From Brit Bat to Bat Mitzvah: How Love & Tradition Work Together." RitualWell -. - (2015): <http://www.ritualwell.org/blog/brit-bat-bat-mitzvah-how-love-tradition-work-together>.

McGinity, Keren. "Help Make Services Less Boring." Jewish Daily Forward 17 October 2015: Seesaw -.

McGinity, Keren. "In Jewish Studies, Women Remain ‘Second Sex,’." Jewish Daily Forward 5 January 2015: Editorial -.

McGinity, Keren. "Intermarriage is an Opportunity, Not a Threat." Fresh Ideas from HBI Blog -. - (2015): <http://blogs.brandeis.edu/freshideasfromhbi/intermarriage-is-an-opportunity-not-a-threat/>.

McGinity, Keren. "Introduction." Journal of Jewish Identities 8. 1 (2015): 1-3.

McGinity, Keren. "Man Cannot Live on Matzo Alone." Jewish Daily Forward 4 April 2015: Seesaw -.

McGinity, Keren. "My Daughter's Bat Mitzvah Isn't Jewish Enough for You?." Jewish Daily Forward 17 January 2015: Seesaw -.

McGinity, Keren. "Remembering Anne Meara: Jewish Mother by Choice." Jewesses with Attitude -. - (2015): <http://jwa.org/blog/remembering-anne-meara-jewish-mother-by-choice>.

McGinity, Keren. "This is Really About How You Envision Your Family’s Religious Life." Jewish Daily Forward 21 March 2015: Seesaw -.

McGinity, Keren. "Time for Him to Make His Own Choices." Jewish Daily Forward 1 August 2015: Seesaw -.

McGinity, Keren. "Does Hubby No. 2 Really Need to Be Jewish?." Jewish Daily Forward 5 October 2014: Seesaw -.

McGinity, Keren. "How Can She Believe in God?." Jewish Daily Forward 24 November 2014: Seesaw -.

McGinity, Keren. "If We Can Intermarry—Why Not Inter-Bury?." Jewish Daily Forward 11 June 2014: Seesaw -.

McGinity, Keren. "I’m a Jew Contemplating Conversion to Judaism." Jewish Daily Forward 3 September 2014: Seesaw -.

McGinity, Keren. "New Jewish Women: How Intermarried Christian-Raised Women Become ‘Jews-by-Choice’." Why Jewish Women’s History Matters: An Archive of Stories in Honor of Gail Reimer. 1 ed. vol. 1 Ed. Joyce Antler. Boston: eBook, 2014. -.

McGinity, Keren. "Should I Let My Bisexuality Get In the Way of Conversion?." Jewish Daily Forward 7 May 2014: Seesaw -.

McGinity, Keren. "What Kind of Jewish Name Is O’Donnell?." Jewish Daily Forward 14 May 2014: Seesaw -.

McGinity, Keren. "Will Jewish Camp Turn My Sons Into Members of Tribe?." Jewish Daily Forward 16 July 2014: Seesaw -.

McGinity, Keren. Marrying Out: Jewish Men, Intermarriage, and Fatherhood. First ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2014.

McGinity, Keren, Matti Bunzl, Rachel Havrelrock, ed. “The Hand that Rocks the Cradle: How the Gender of the Jewish Parent Influences Intermarriage.”. - 2013.

McGinity, Keren, Eli Valley, ed. Gender Matters: Jewish Identity, Intermarriage, and Parenthood. 14 2012.

McGinity, Keren. "The November Dilemma: How Personal is the Political?." Sh’ma, the Journal of Jewish Ideas -. - (2012): -.

McGinity, Keren, Judith Baskin. "“Intermarriage.”." The Cambridge Dictionary of Judaism and Jewish Culture. - ed. - vols. 2011.

McGinity, Keren, McGinity, Keren. Love & Tradition Institute. 2016. Love & Tradition Institute. <http://www.loveandtraditioninstitute.org/>.

McGinity, Keren. "“Mandell ‘Bill’ Berman: Man of Vision and Valor,”." ASSJ Newsletter 2. 2 (2010): -.

McGinity, Keren. "Birth of A Jewish Matriarch." InterfaithFamily.com -. - (2009): <http://www.interfaithfamily.com/news_and_opinion/synagogues_and_the_jewish_community/Birth_of_A_Jewish_Matriarch.shtml>.

McGinity, Keren. "“Intermarriage.”." Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions,. 1 ed. 1 vols. 2009.

McGinity, Keren. Still Jewish: A History of Women and Intermarriage in America. First ed. New York: NYU Press, 2009.

McGinity, Keren, L. Greenspoon, R. Simkins, and J. Cahan., ed. “Were Women Who Intermarried Still Jewish? A Twentieth Century History of Identity in America.”. Omaha: Creighton University Press, 18 2008.

McGinity, Keren, Fedwa Malti-Douglas. "“American History and Historiography.”." The Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender. 1 ed. 4 vols. 2007.

McGinity, Keren. ""Mary Antin" and "Phyllis Chesler"." Encyclopedia Judaica. - ed. - vols. 2006.

McGinity, Keren. "Gender History as a Key to Understanding Intermarriage." InterfaithFamily -. - (2005): <http://www.interfaithfamily.com/spirituality/spirituality/Gender_History_as_a_Key_to_Understanding_Intermarriage.shtml>.

McGinity, Keren. "Daughter of the Covenant." InterfaithFamily.com -. - (2004): <http://www.interfaithfamily.com/life_cycle/pregnancy_and_birth_ceremonies/Daughter_of_the_Covenant.shtml>.

McGinity, Keren. "The Island Within the Island: A Call for Inter-Graduate Student Support." AJS Perspectives Spring. Spring/Summer (2004): 17.

McGinity, Keren, L. Greenspoon, R. Simkins, and J. Cahan, ed. “Immigrant Jewish Women Who Married ‘Out’.”. Omaha: Creighton University Press, 14 2003.

McGinity, Keren. "Intermarriage Spurs Renewal of Faith." InterfaithFamily.com -. - (2003): <http://www.interfaithfamily.com/news_and_opinion/synagogues_and_the_jewish_community/Intermarriage_Spurs_Renewal_of_Faith.shtml>.

McGinity, Keren. "The New Woman of the late nineteenth century was constrained by the culture’s concern with body consciousness." History in Dispute 3: American Social and Political Movements, 1900-1945: Pursuit of Progress. 1 ed. vol. 3 Ed. Robert Allison.. Farmington Hills: St. James Press, 2000. 169-173.

McGinity, Keren. "The Real Mary Antin: Woman on a Mission in the Promised Land." American Jewish History 86. 3 (1998): 285-307.