Master's Students
Rebecca completed her undergraduate studies at American University in DC, receiving her BA in Justice and Law. After graduating, she spent three years working in New York for a nonprofit focused on Middle East engagement. Her education and professional experience gave her a passion for women’s issues in the Middle East and an abiding desire to understand the complex dynamics of faith and gender that affect women’s daily lives. Through her work in the Middle East, she was able to see the political and religious intersections of the three Abrahamic faiths, better understand the Jewish community in Israel and abroad, and view Israel in the context of the entire region. With a unique dedication to the Jewish community, she is excited to learn from her peers and professors in the 'Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership and Near Eastern & Judaic Studies Program' at Brandeis University. 
Lingxuan Liang is a master’s student in the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies program. Born and raised in China, she became aware of the lingering anti-Semitic prejudice among her peers while studying in Atlanta in 2017. After completing a BA in History with a minor in Jewish studies at Boston University, Ling is excited to continue pursuing her education in Jewish history and modern Hebrew at Brandeis University. Her research interest lies in different narratives of the Shoah during the post-WWII era, namely how they continuously contribute to shaping Jewish identities in America and Israel. After class, she is a comic artist who engages in social justice activism and intercultural communications with communities in the Greater Boston area.
Born and raised in Laramie, Wyoming, Conor McCracken-Flesher is studying for a joint master’s in the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department and the Heller School’s Conflict Resolution and Coexistence program. His BA comes from Boston University, where wrote his thesis on male choirs as activators of national identity in the 19th century German states. He holds a graduate certificate in Near Eastern Languages with a focus on Arabic and Modern Hebrew from the Polis Institute in Jerusalem and spent a year on the staff of the W. F. Albright Institute for Archaeological Research. Conor has also served as staff on archaeological digs in Israel, most recently at Legio with the Jezreel Valley Regional Project. He is particularly interested in the ethics of archaeological practice and cultural memory in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.