Journey to Becoming an Academic
August 22, 2023
Anna Valcour | Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
In her consideration of which graduate school to attend, Shirah Malka Cohen, PhD ’23 in Near Eastern Judaic Studies, spoke with several professors and current students to learn more about the Brandeis experience. Her talk with Professor Emeritus Ilan Troen, the founding director of the Schusterman Center, inspired her to say YES to Brandeis for its many strengths. He highlighted the academic and financial support offered through the Schusterman Center as well as its caring community.
As a Schusterman scholar, Shirah loved the wonderful, interdisciplinary environment of the Schusterman Center. Founded in 2007, the Schusterman Center is dedicated to sharing knowledge of Israeli culture, politics, history, and society with the global community by supporting the next generation of scholars. They welcome guest speakers, staff, professors, and students of all backgrounds and beliefs to participate. That was Shirah’s favorite part – she enjoyed connecting with scholars, peers, and faculty from a variety of different departments and learning about their fields and projects. She also enjoyed studying at the Schusterman Center’s study spaces as a home away from home. Another highlight was attending the Schusterman Seminars. Shirah remarked, “It was a great opportunity to hear different kinds of projects, research, and opportunities. Those were nice perks!”
Looking back on her experiences, Shirah loved the flexibility that her PhD program allowed her. She took classes from diverse departments including courses in Japanese literature, European literature, music, and modernism. As an incoming graduate student, she had wanted to do comparative Japanese and Hebrew literature, but she soon realized she could include another one of her passions: music. She said, “Through writing papers and taking classes, I found this way to incorporate music into my studies. It was amazing to realize! I could take these two things that are so important to me and do my dissertation on them. That’s something I discovered during grad school – always be prepared to be surprised!”
Ultimately, her dissertation focused on early twentieth-century modernist Hebrew and Japanese literature, specifically how modernist writers used European classical music in their stories and novels. Both Ilana Szobel, Professor on the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Chair in Hebrew Literature, and Matthew Fraleigh, Associate Professor of East Asian Literature and Culture, were instrumental in helping to shape her PhD journey.
When asked what advice she would give to incoming graduate students, Shirah stressed the importance of really loving your topic. Overall, she said, “Brandeis offered me so many other opportunities (like internships, teaching classes, etc.). I had all these amazing experiences while I was there, and it really helped shape me into an academic. I’m thankful to Brandeis and GSAS for that.”