CASJE (Collaborative for Applied Studies in Jewish Education), housed at The George Washington University, is delighted to announce the second cohort of its Applied Research Fellowship Program. This summer, three fellows began the two-year program, which recruits social scientists to become adept at developing knowledge-for-use in Jewish education and American Jewish life.
The fellows, all of whom hold doctorates in social science or education, bring diverse foci, issues of inclusion and belonging of Sephardi youth in Jewish educational institutions, collective identity and action in relation to suffering, healing and resilience, and addiction-recovery and peer support experiences of American Jews. The fellows will develop partnerships with Jewish organizations that share their interests in order to build collaborative research projects that address real world problems in Jewish education and communal life.
Jewish educational and communal leaders, funders, and policy makers seek research-based evidence that can guide practice and help frame investments. CASJE's aim is to develop and support practice-relevant research that results in knowledge that is usable, and widely shared among those on the front lines of Jewish education and communal decision-making.
The fellowship program involves several components, starting with an ongoing seminar about applied research in the American Jewish context. To widen their methodological and conceptual reach as social scientists, each fellow is paired with a faculty mentor. As a cornerstone of the fellowship, fellows will develop and carry out an applied study in conjunction with a Jewish institutional partner.
Dr. Yael Findler
Yael Findler, Ph.D., is a sociologist who studies collective identity and action in relation to suffering, healing and resilience.
Dr. Findler recently completed her doctorate at the University of Southern California. Her dissertation focused on approaches of Israeli non-profit organizations to addressing legacies of trauma. She is interested in studying how narratives of trauma and healing shape American Jewish communal identities in turbulent times.
Faculty Mentor: Professor Briana Barocas of New York University
Dr. Zachary Nichols
Zachary Cooper Nichols, Ph.D., is interested in the addiction-recovery and peer support experiences of American Jews, as well as the experience of Jews and other religious minorities in rural geographies.
Dr. Nichols' research has focused on addiction and recovery in the context of higher education and the criminal justice system. He holds a doctorate from Texas Tech University, as well as an MBA, and is a licensed chemical dependency counselor who has worked at the Menninger Clinic.
Faculty Mentor: Professor Michal Kurlaender of the University of California, Davis
Dr. Elana Riback Rand
Elana Riback Rand, Ph.D., studies issues of inclusion, dissonance and belonging in Jewish educational institutions, with a particular focus to date on the experiences of Sephardi youth.
She holds a PhD in Jewish Education from Yeshiva University and an MA in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University, Dr. Rand most recently served as the Editor-in-Chief of the JIMENA (Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa) Sephardi & Mizrahi Education Toolkit.
Faculty Mentor: Professor Rebecca Lowenhaupt of Boston College
The CASJE Research Fellowship is made possible by a grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation. CASJE’s mission is to improve the quality of knowledge that guides Jewish education practice and policy. Its process to develop research is highly collaborative, bringing together scholars, educators, and policymakers to identify areas of focus, formulate critical researchable questions and frame evidence-based interventions. CASJE is housed at The George Washington University in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development. Core operations are supported by grants from the Jim Joseph Foundation and Crown Family Philanthropies.
CASJE’s Advisory Board includes co-chairs Dr. Benjamin M. Jacobs (GW) and Dr. Susan Kardos (Abraham Joshua Heschel School); members Dr. Henry Braun (Boston College), Dr. Rena Dorph (Lawrence Hall of Science), Dr. Charles “Chip” Edelsberg (formerly of the Jim Joseph Foundation), Dr. Gage Gorsky (Stanford University), Dr. Heather Hill (Harvard University), Dr. Sharon Feiman-Nemser (Brandeis University), Dr. Michael Feuer (GW), Dr. Ellen Goldring (Vanderbilt University), Dr. Ari Kelman (Stanford University), Adam Weisberg (Urban Adamah), and Dr. Tali Zelkowicz (Wexner Foundation); and Advisory Board chairs emeritus Dr. Lee Shulman (Stanford University) and Rabbi Mitch Malkus, Ed.D. (Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School).