Schusterman Center for Israel Studies

Gal is a first-year doctoral student in Anthropology. Her research interests lie at the intersection of law, ethics, and reproductive technologies, and include cultural, medical, and science anthropology, as well as gender and sexuality. Gal earned her LL.M. from Harvard Law School as an E. David Fischman Scholar. She also holds an M.A. in Cultural Studies from the Mandel School for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, and an LL.B. and a B.A. from the “Amirim” Interdisciplinary Honors Program in the Humanities, both from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Gal gained experience as a lawyer and worked in both the private and public sectors. She served as the chief editor of a law review and held positions as a teaching and research assistant.

Skyler Inman is a PhD student in Anthropology. Her research interests include ethnicity and migration, nationalism and the self, as well as family, identity, and belonging. She has a BA in English from Yale University, and has previously worked as a journalist and radio producer. Her dissertation will look at the temporal experience of migration, bureaucracy, and everyday life amongst the Eritrean asylum-seeker community in Israel.

Gilli is a PhD student studying Modern Jewish History in the Department of Near Eastern & Judaic Studies. He is interested in the intellectual history of Zionism, Jewish communal politics in the modern period, and the ideological and institutional relationships between the World Zionist Congress and Jewish polities during the pre Israeli state period. He is particularly keen to investigate the role that Zionist leaders, thinkers, and institutions played in the development of a modern Jewish politics distinct from previous epochs. Before coming to Brandeis Gilli was a Netziv fellow at the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies after receiving his MS (Master of Studies) from The University of Oxford, and his BA from McGill University.

Jen Mabray is a Ph.D. student in NEJS and a fellow of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies. She has a BA in History with a focus in American Foreign Policy with Israel, an MA in Jewish Studies from Washington University, and an MTS from Saint Louis University with a particular focus in Rabbinic literature. Her dissertation examines the emergence of institutional cooperation between the United States Air Force and the Israeli Air Force from the early 1960s through the 1970s, and argues that this military partnership was a central mechanism through which U.S.–Israel relations moved from constraint to alliance during the early Cold War. Situating air force cooperation within the history of modern Jewish statehood, American foreign policy, and Cold War geopolitics, the project traces Israel’s shift from reliance on non-U.S. suppliers to sustained military partnership with the United States. Focusing on the Kennedy and Johnson administrations and the role of American Jewish actors, the dissertation shows how training exchanges, shared doctrines, and advanced aircraft transfers transformed military collaboration into a durable institutional relationship. By treating military cooperation as a political and institutional process rather than a purely technical one, the project contributes to modern Jewish history by demonstrating how Israel’s integration into American military systems reshaped U.S. political discourse, Jewish sovereignty, and the place of Israel in American public life.

Inbar Shifrin is a PhD student in Musicology. She has a BA in musicology, sociology and anthropology and an MA in musicology from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research involves the contemporary musical choices in synagogues and Jewish music renewal in Israel and their mutual relations with congregations in the US. Before coming to Brandeis she worked in the Music and Social Development Lab at Haifa University, where she conducted experiments regarding synchronization and its effect on group activities. She also led food tours in downtown Haifa. Her research interests include Voice communities, liturgical music, Jewish identity and gender relations and roles in the Jewish communities. She is interested, as well, in other factors contributing to the change in the objectives and content of the local Jewish prayer. For example, the current search for secular spiritual experiences as well as the rising popularity of religious pop music, when those Israeli trends and others challenge the binary categories of secular and sacred. She is also a Shofar blower and loves to give workshops on Shofar blowing. 

Anastasia Shteinert is a PhD student in History focusing on modern Jewish and Russian history. She is particularly interested in the history and literary representations of Saint Petersburg. Her current research explores late- and post-Soviet transformations in Petersburg from multiple angles—from the revival of Jewish life and emigration to Israel to regionalism and the search for the city’s place within both Russian and European contexts. Anastasia also works as a lecture host and writer at the Russian History Museum in Jordanville, NY. Anastasia does freelance journalism, and her writings have appeared in Teen Vogue, First Things, Eurozine, Echo of Moscow, Vedomosti, Vot Tak, and other Russian- and English-language publications.

Leighton Souza is a PhD student in the Department of Near Eastern & Judaic Studies (NEJS). With a lifelong passion for history, Leighton received her BA in history with a minor in Jewish studies at the University of CA, Santa Cruz and her MA in NEJS at Brandeis. Her research focuses on Mizrahi history in the late 20th century, particularly analyzing the state and social discrimination against Mizrahim in Israel. She will be focusing on Mizrahi resistance and agency in the face of oppression, namely the Israeli Black Panther Party, and researching the impact of communism and transnational politics. In her free time, Leighton enjoys reading for pleasure and digital and film photography.