Who Shapes Campus Conversation? What research tells us about faculty attitudes toward Israel and Jews

Director of Programs and Partnerships

Bio

Raeefa Shams is the Director of Communications and Programming at the Academic Engagement Network. In her role, Raeefa is responsible for communications with AEN members, supporters, media outlets, and AEN’s partner organizations and stakeholders; developing select AEN programs and initiatives, such as the Short Course, regional convenings, and faculty missions to Israel; and contributing to the development of AEN’s overall organizational strategy. She has written for publications such as Religions, eJewishPhilanthropy, the Jewish Journal, and the Algemeiner, and she has spoken about AEN's work at conferences in the US, UK, and Israel. Prior to joining AEN, Raeefa consulted for higher educational institutions and international development organizations. Raeefa earned her B.A. in History from Wellesley College and her M.A. in International Relations from the University of Chicago. She is a board member of Jewish National Fund-USA. 

Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies and Social Policy

Bio

Leonard Saxe is Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies at Brandeis University where, for two decades, he directed the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and Steinhardt Social Research Institute. He is a social psychologist whose current work focuses on antisemitism, engagement with Israel, and socio-demography. His ongoing programs of research include studies of antisemitism in higher education and the impact of Birthright Israel.

He is committed to the conduct of rigorous research that supports evidence-based policies and programs. Saxe is widely published and has received multiple awards, including the Association for the Scientific Study of Jewry’s Sklare award for lifetime contributions to the understanding of Jewish life. www.brandeis.edu/cmjs 

Professor of Philosophy

Bio

Dr. Graham Wright is an Associate Research Professor at the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and the Heller School for Social Policy at Brandeis University. Graham is a political scientist, political theorist, and quantitative methodologist. He is the author of  Persuasion, Integration, and Deliberative Democracy: The Will of the Whole (Routledge 2025). He has published numerous academic articles exploring the complex intersection between attitudes and identities in American politics, the dynamics of contemporary antisemitism, and American Jews’ relationship to Israel. 

His work at the  Cohen Center primarily focuses on antisemitism and studies of US college campuses. At the Heller School he teaches classes on statistics and research design.

Professor of Philosophy

Bio

Yuval Avnur is Professor of Philosophy at Scripps College, Claremont. As a philosopher, he is author of numerous works on skepticism, contemporary issues concerning the spread of information, the history of modern philosophy, and philosophy of religion. His latest book is Why Read Pascal Today? (Cambridge University Press). In the field of higher education he is co-author (with Jon Shields and Stephanie Muravchik) of a large project on college syllabi which studies how controversial issues are taught at universities. He is also director of a new non-profit organization, The Curricular Review Council, which promotes improvement in higher education through analysis and informed public discussion.

Research Digest Editor

Bio

Dr. Sasha Volodarsky is CASJE's research analyst and editor of the CASJE Research Digest. Dr. Volodarsky's research focuses primarily on antisemitism at US campuses, the impact evaluation of educational programs, and American Jews’ relationship with Israel.

He has authored academic papers on various topics, including operational ideology in the United States, perceptions of antisemitism, the impact of COVID-19 on students' mental health, and the effectiveness of online education.

Before joining CASJE, he worked as a researcher at the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute for Applied Research in Israel. He is fluent in Hebrew, Ukrainian, and Russian.

Managing Editor

Bio

Judah Ari Gross is managing editor at eJewishPhilanthropy. Prior to joining eJP, Judah was a correspondent for the Times of Israel, reporting first on the military and then on Israel-Diaspora affairs and religion. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, and Haifa University. Judah is an inaugural Elson Israel fellow at the Jewish Federation of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and lives with his family in Zichron Ya’akov, Israel.