Ziva R. Hassenfeld
Assistant Professor
Ziva R. Hassenfeld is the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Assistant Professor in Jewish Education at Brandeis University, and Assistant Director of Research for the Mandel Center. She studies reading comprehension from a sociocultural perspective, focusing on how children develop interpretations of the Hebrew Bible as a case of student reading development. She uses a variety of qualitative methods including ethnographic observation, stimulated recall interviewing, and think-aloud interviewing.
These investigations connect her to the worlds of biblical hermeneutics, both contemporary and rabbinic, as well as literary theory and criticism. Her recent publications can be seen in ScholarWorks.
In addition to her research, Ziva is a passionate educator. She has taught Hebrew Bible in a variety of settings, including at JCDS, Gann Academy, Genesis/BIMA at Brandeis, Silicon Valley Beit Midrash, Stanford Hillel, Congregation Beth Jacobs, and Congregation Emek Beracha. She is a Wexner Fellow and Davidson Scholar, Class 25.
Her courses at Brandeis include Reading (and Talking Back) to Educational Research (ED 165a); Teacher Research: Principles, Methods, and Design (ED 266a); and Teacher Research: Analysis and Publication (ED 266b). She has previously taught The Centrality of Literacies in Teaching and Learning, a required course for all teacher candidates in the Stanford Teacher Education Program.
Read the latest interview with Ziva about her work