Hadassah-Brandeis Institute

Academic Advisory Committee

The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute Academic Advisory Committee is composed of recognized experts in a range of disciplines within Jewish Women’s and Gender Studies.  Each year, they share their time and expertise with us to conduct evaluations of proposals submitted to the HBI Research Awards Program.  A subset of this group acts as the final Research Awards Selection Committee.  The 2026 Research Awards Selection Committee is Lisa Fishbayn Joffe (Brandeis University), Rachel Adelman (Hebrew College), Deidre Butler (Carleton University), Laura Jockusch (Brandeis University), Debra Kaufman (Northeastern University, emerita), Melissa Klapper (Rowan University), Tova Mirvis (Independent), Vanessa Ochs (University of Virginia, emerita), and Ilana Szobel (Brandeis University).

 

2026 Committee Members

Rachel Adelman, Hebrew College*

Lisa Anteby-Yemini, Aix Marseille University-CNRS

Joyce Antler, Brandeis University 

Orit Avishai, Fordham University

Yaëlle Azagury, Independent

Monique Balbuena, University of Oregon 

Edna Barromi-Perlman, University of Haifa, Kibbutzim College

Elissa Bemporad, CUNY

Aviva Ben-Ur, University of Massachusetts

Susan Berrin, Sh’ma

Marla Brettschneider, University of New Hampshire

Ayelet Brinn, University of Hartford

Bernadette Brooten, Brandeis University (emerita)

Deidre Butler, Carleton University*

Jennifer Caplan, University of Cincinnati

Elisheva Carlebach, Columbia University

Esther Carmel-Hakim, University of Haifa

Rebecca Cypess, Yeshiva University

Jonathan Decter, Brandeis University

Debórah Dwork, CUNY

Carlotta Ferrara degli Uberti, University College London

Adam Ferziger, Bar-Ilan University

Miri Freud-Kandel, University of Oxford

Sylvia Fuks Fried, Brandeis University

Karen Frostig, Brandeis University, Lesley University

Shoshannah Frydman, Independent

Shulamit Gilboa, Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature

Abigail Gillman, Boston University

Nora Gold, University of Toronto

Andrea Gondos, University of Michigan

Elizabeth Graver, Boston College

Rachel B. Gross, San Francisco State University

Nina Grunfeld, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

Anna Hájková, University of Warwick

Chaya Halberstam, King's University College

Viva Hammer, Independent

Rachel Harris, University of Illinois

Lori Harrison-Kahan, Boston College

Kathryn Hellerstein, University of Pennsylvania

Catherine Hezser, SOAS University of London

Janine Holc, Loyola University Maryland

Rita Horváth, Yad Vashem

Rabbi Shirley Idelson, HUC-JIR

Sarah Imhoff, Indiana University Bloomington

Laura Jockusch, Brandeis University*

Lisa Fishbayn Joffe, Brandeis University* 

Janet Elise Johnson, Brooklyn College

Jenna Weissman Joselit, George Washington University

Norma Joseph , Concordia University

Tamar Kadari, Schechter Institute

Debra Kaplan, Bar-Ilan University

Judith Katz, University of Minnesota (emerita)

Debra Kaufman, Northeastern University (emerita)*

Alexander Kaye, Brandeis University

Lynn Kaye, Brandeis University

Melissa Klapper, Rowan University*

Anat Koplowtiz-Breier, Bar-Ilan University

Rachel Kranson, University of Pittsburgh

Jonathan Krasner, Brandeis University

Adrianne Krstansky, Brandeis University

Gail Labovitz, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, American Jewish University

Lori Lefkovitz, Northeastern University

Jon Levisohn, Brandeis University

Laura Levitt, Temple University

Laura Limonic, Old Westbury SUNY

Shoshana Madmoni-Gerber, Suffolk University

Bindu Malieckal, Saint Anselm College

Samira Mehta, University of Colorado Boulder

Renée Levine Melammed, Schechter Institute

Joanna Michlic, University College London

Yehudah Mirsky, Brandeis University

Tova Mirvis, Independent*

Yael Munk, The Open University of Israel

Heather Munro, University College London

Beth Naditch, Hebrew SeniorLife

Heather Nathans, Tufts University

Vanessa Ochs, University of Virginia (emerita)*

Miriam Offer, Western Galilee College

Tahneer Oksman, Marymount Manhattan

Rachel Perry, University of Haifa

Shari Rabin, Oberlin College

Mark Raider University of Cincinnati

Michal Raucher, Rutgers University

Shulamit Reinharz, Brandeis University (emerita)

Larissa Remminick, Bar-Ilan University

Anna Rich-Abad, University of Nottingham

Noya Rimalt, University of Haifa

Chantal Ringuet, Independent

Sara Ronis, St. Mary's University

Jonathan D. Sarna, Brandeis University (emeritus)

Charlotte Schallié, University of Victoria

Naomi Seidman, University of Toronto

Ruth Knafo Setton, Independent

Rivka Neriya-Ben Shahar, Sapir Academic College

Toni Shapiro-Phim, Brandeis University

Margalit Shilo, Bar-Ilan University

Anna Shternshis, University of Toronto

Gila Silverman, Independent

Maina Singh, American University

Ellen Smith, Brandeis University (emerita)

Haim Sperber, Western Galilee College

Nina S. Spiegel, Portland State University 

Leslie Starobin, Framingham State University (emerita) 

Ilana Szobel, Brandeis University*

Caron Tabb, Independent

Ephraim Tabory, Bar-Ilan University

Lea Taragin-Zeller, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Liliane Targownik, Tel Aviv University

Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz, University of Manchester

Elly Teman, Ruppin Academic Center

Yofi Tirosh, Tel Aviv University

Rivka Tuval-Mashiach, Bar-Ilan University

Ellen Umansky, Fairfield University

Ashley Valanzola, Middle Tennessee State University

Mira Wasserman, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

Shayna Weiss, Brandeis University 

Tanya Zion-Waldoks, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Linda Zisquit, Bar-Ilan University (emerita)

 

*  2026 Research Awards Selection Committee