2021 Gilda Slifka Internship Program
The HBI hopes to hold the 2021 Gilda Slifka Internship Program in-person. If COVID continues to make this impossible, we will run the program remotely.
Summer 2021 - June 7 through July 30
The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute accepts six undergraduate and two graduate students with a demonstrated interest in women’s studies, Jewish women’s studies or topics related to Jewish women/Jewish gender issues around the world to participate in our paid residential internship program. Applications are accepted from students attending universities in the U.S. and abroad.
Project Focus
Individual projects are an opportunity for interns to explore an area of Jewish gender studies of personal interest. Each intern is expected to produce a work — an academic paper, a short story, a website, an art work — that is original and personally meaningful, and draws on creative and intellectual energies. Past projects have included a Jewish women's health bibliography, a short film about the spiritual meaning of challah making, and a study of female protagonists of children’s Holocaust literature, the narratives of transgender-identified Jews, and the impact of second-wave feminism on Judaism’s views on reproductive rights.
Undergraduate Internship
The Gilda Slifka Internship Program provides undergraduate students with a variety of opportunities to learn about the work of Jewish women’s and gender studies, and to conduct original research in the field. Interns live on the Brandeis University campus in housing provided by HBI and receive a weekly stipend.
The four pillars of the program include assistance to an HBI-affiliated scholar, development of an individual research or art project, weekly outings to research archives and places of Jewish interest and weekly discussions with Jewish studies and gender studies scholars that expose interns to various methodologies and academic frameworks.
Expand All
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Participate in a 35 hour per week, Monday-Friday, internship program
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Produce, under staff supervision, an original piece of scholarly research or a creative and/or artistic project that focuses on Jewish gender issues
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Assist HBI-affiliated scholars and Brandeis offices with research and administrative tasks
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Learn about the daily operations of an academic research institute
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Visit local institutions and organizations of Jewish interest
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Meet local community activists
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Receive apartment style campus housing
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Receive a weekly stipend
Please submit each of the following items through the online application. (Available soon.)
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Two to four paragraphs identifying which TWO of the Supervised Projects listed below are of interest and a description of your qualifications.
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A 500-word essay explaining your interest in Jewish gender studies.
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One or two project ideas for an independent project
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Two references: one academic and one work related (extra curricular activity, work study, etc.). Can be emailed directly to dolins@brandeis.edu.
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C.V. / Résumé
2021 projects will be posted as they become available. The following projects were from summer 2020.
- Masculinity, Race & Millennial Jewish Stardom – Assist HBI Scholar in Residence, Jonathan Branfman, in developing his dissertation research on Jewish stars in US pop culture.
- Revolutionary Legacies: Jewish Feminist Political Thinking – Assist Marla Brettschneider, Professor of Political Science at the University of New Hampshire, with her book reexamining key 20th century Jewish political thinkers.
- The Words To Say It; The Ways To Do It: How definitions of feminism, Zionism and antisemitism impact identities and activism – Assist Women's Studies Research Center Scholar, Janet Freedman, with her project on the lexicon of social activism.
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The Influence of Jewish Women in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies in the U.S.A. - Assist Northeastern University Professor Emerita, Debra Kaufman, in updating her essay for the Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia (2021).
- Conceiving Motherhood: The Reception of Biblical Mothers in the Early Jewish Imagination - Assist Ph.D. candidate Sari Fein with her dissertation examining constructions of motherhood in the bible.
- HBI Blog Assistant – Provide assistance to the HBI Communications team by developing ideas for future HBI blogs.
- Themes in Contemporary Israeli Feminism - Work together with HBI Director Lisa Joffe in developing material for a course on Jewish feminism.
- Rebels in the Family: A Memoir from Creation to Now - Assist Women's Studies Research Center Scholar Penina Adelman in the research for her fictionalized family memoir.
- American Jewish and Israeli Feminism Archives Collaborative - Work with Brandeis archivist Surella Seelig to develop this new archive and create a digital exhibit.
- Acts of Resistance in Talmudic Judicial Narratives - Assist Brandeis Professor Lynn Kaye with her research on resistance to the judges in the Talmud.
Graduate Internship
Similar in structure to the undergraduate program, the graduate student interns also facilitate the research of HBI affiliated scholars while carrying out their own research projects. Graduate student interns interact closely with their supervisors, who act as their academic advisers. While not a requirement, the ideal candidates are working towards a degree in an area of study related to the supervisors’ expertise. All field trips and extracurricular activities are optional for the graduate student interns.
Expand All
-
Participate in a 35 hours per week, Monday–Friday, internship program
-
Produce under staff supervision, an original piece of scholarly research, a chapter from a dissertation, or a creative and/or artistic project that focuses on Jewish gender issues
-
Assist HBI-affiliated scholars and Brandeis Offices with research and administrative tasks
-
Learn about the daily operations of an academic research institute
-
Receive a weekly stipend
Optional Activities
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Visit local institutions and organizations of Jewish interest
-
Meet local community activists
-
Live on the Brandeis campus in apartment style housing
Please submit each of the following items through the online application. (Available soon.)
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Two paragraphs identifying which ONE of the Supervised Projects listed below are of interest and a description of your qualifications
- A description of your research
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Two academic references (References can be emailed directly to dolins@brandeis.edu)
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C.V. / Résumé
2021 projects will be listed as they become available. The following projects were from summer 2020.
