Applied Research Fellowship

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. Professor Rebecca Lowenhaupt of Boston College will serve as her mentor.

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. Dr. Findler’s mentor will be Professor Briana Barocas of New York University.

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. Professor Michal Kurlaender of the University of California, Davis will serve as his faculty mentor.

Esther Friedman’s research interests include professional development of teachers, ways to improve teaching and learning when teachers and students hold different beliefs and ideological orientations, and education across the spectrum of Orthodoxy.

Dr. Friedman, who recently completed her doctorate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and has won several research awards during her doctoral career, brings deep experience as a Jewish educator, curricular designer, department chair, new teacher mentor and professional development provider. Professor Adam Cohen of Arizona State University will serve as her faculty mentor.

Talia Hurwich will delve into design-based implementation research and examine non-traditional educational tools such as online games for Jewish communities.

Dr. Hurwich is an education researcher whose work has spanned Jewish education, STEAM, and ELA education. She recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Drexel University, evaluating a project designed to boost graduate students' creativity through interdisciplinary collaboration. Her doctoral research at NYU was about how graphic novel adaptations of classic Jewish texts bolster reader agency and autonomy, with a particular focus on gender. Dr. Hurwich’s mentor will be Professor Jessica Hammer of Carnegie Mellon University.

Tal Vaizman is a social musicologist whose research lies at the nexus of popular culture, migration, and identity/community. He will be studying the ways that engaging with popular culture, especially music, serves as a means of expression, identity and belonging among Israeli Jewish youth in the USA and other American Jews.

Dr. Vaizman completed his doctorate at the University of Haifa, where he studied musicology and education. His current research includes music mentoring and personal characteristics; music in everyday life of Jewish religious women; and music in the streaming era as a cultural pillar among immigrant communities. Dr. Vaizman will be working with Professor Yotam Shmargad of the University of Arizona.