2021 Gilda Slifka Internship Program

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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. (Note: the 2021 Gilda Slifka Internship Program will run remotely. )

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.

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.