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
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
Bindu Malieckal, Saint Anselm College
Samira Mehta, University of Colorado Boulder
Renée Levine Melammed, Schechter Institute
Joanna Michlic, University College London
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
Sara Ronis, St. Mary's University
Jonathan D. Sarna, Brandeis University (emerita)
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