PhD Students
Tamar Aizenberg is a PhD student in Jewish Studies. Tamar’s research focuses on the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors and the grandchildren of perpetrators. She examines how these sets of grandchildren have been taught to talk about and remember this history by their families and how they do so themselves as they grow older. In particular, Tamar analyzes how this memory was transmitted, compares the methods of transmission between the sets of grandchildren, and assesses the significance of the similarities and differences in the transmission. She holds a BA in History and Jewish Studies from Williams College. 
Luis Cabrera is a PhD student in Sephardic and Medieval Jewish Studies. His research interests include Jewish philosophy and science in the Christian kingdoms of southern France and northern Spain during the late Middle Ages. He is particularly interested in the works of Hasdai Crescas and Levi ben Gershom and in their scathing critique of Aristotelianism. Additionally, he is exploring the use of philosophical and rhetorical strategies in the medieval interreligious debates between Christians and Jews and how these debates led to the converso problem. Before joining the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis Luis earned a BA in Philosophy and a MA in Philosophy of science at UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) in Mexico City. He also has professional training in Music and he is a classical pianist and composer.
Gilli is a doctoral student in Modern Jewish History and a Schusterman Fellow. He is interested in the intellectual history of Zionism, Jewish communal politics in the modern period, and the ideological and institutional relationships between the World Zionist Congress and Jewish polities during the pre Israeli state period. He is particularly keen to investigate the role that Zionist leaders, thinkers, and institutions played in the development of a modern Jewish politics distinct from previous epochs. Before coming to Brandeis Gilli was a Netziv fellow at the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies after receiving his Master of Studies from The University of Oxford, and his Bachelor of Arts from McGill University.
Selma comes from Turkey, where she studied both Thoelogy and Religious Studies. She also has an MA from The University of Haifa in Jewish Studies. At Brandeis she hopes to work on combining her background in both Islamic and Jewish Studies to learn more about Jewish philosophy in Medieval Europe.
Lingxuan Liang is a PhD student in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. Ling has received a BA in History with a minor in Jewish studies at Boston University and a dual MA in NEJS-WGS at Brandeis University. Her research interest lies in American Jewish history, Jewish identities, and the intersection of race and religion, especially the mutual reinforcement between antisemitism and racism in legal and social systems. In her free time, she enjoys drawing, gardening, and spending time with her friends at TBI Waltham.
Anthony Lipscomb is a PhD student in Bible and Ancient Near East. His research interests include the formation of the Hebrew Bible, Ezekiel, the reception of biblical traditions in the Second Temple period, emotions in the Bible, and history of emotions. Prior to Brandeis, he completed an MA in Biblical Studies at Regent University and a ThM in Hebrew Bible at Trinity International University. He is happily married and a proud father of two awesome kiddos.
Jen Mabray is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Near Eastern & Judaic Studies and a fellow of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies. She has earned a BA in History with a focus in American Foreign Policy with Israel, an MA in Jewish Studies from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MTS from Saint Louis University with a particular focus in Rabbinic literature. Jen’s current research interests include the American experience in Jewish-Christian religious cultural exchanges and belonging in Israel, and intersections of Israeli culture and arts.
Stephen's research focus is Holocaust studies, with an emphasis on the impact of wartime and postwar testimony on Holocaust historiography and memory. He is particularly interested in the evolution of audiovisual testimony, and grassroots archival activism. Stephen has worked as an archivist/librarian since 2003, when he received his MSIS from the Univ. of Texas, Austin. He pursued a Magister in Jewish studies at the Freie Universitaet Berlin and history at the Zentrum fuer Antisemitismusforschung, TU. Stephen is currently the director of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies as he works part-time towards his PhD at Brandeis.
Inbar Shifrin is a PhD student in the Musicology department and a fellow at the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies. She has a BA in musicology, sociology, and anthropology and an MA in musicology from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research focuses on contemporary musical choices in Jewish prayer in Israel and how Jewish and Israeli identities are portrayed through those choices. Her research interests include Voice communities, the creation and curation of local liturgical music, and the mutual musical relations with congregations in Israel and the US. Inbar is also a Baalat Tekiyah who loves to give Shofar workshops.
Carey received his MA from Brandeis in NEJS, and his BA from the Univ. of Washington in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, with a minor in Greek. Carey is interested in the languages and cultures of the broader ancient Near East; in particular, in the composition of ancient literary texts, wherein scribes use particular literary tools for particular purposes. Currently, Carey is exploring the use of paronomasia in prophetic texts as a means of effectuating the divine and human will.
With a lifelong passion for history, Leighton received her bachelor's in History with a minor in Jewish Studies at the University of CA, Santa Cruz and her MA in NEJS at Brandeis. Her research focuses on Mizrahi history in the late 20th century, particularly analyzing the state and social discrimination against Mizrahim in Israel. She will be focusing on Mizrahi resistance and agency in the face of oppression, namely the Israeli Black Panther Party, and researching the impact of communism and transnational politics. In her free time, Leighton enjoys reading for pleasure and digital and film photography.
Maham, a fellow at the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, is writing her dissertation on the legal history of Israel from 1992 to 2013. Her research stems from interest in comparative citizenship, boundaries of membership in nation-states, and courts as political institutions. In Spring 2021, she taught “Defining Status in the Modern State,” an original course on citizenship, nationalism, indigeneity, and migration. She received her BA in International Studies from the Univ. of Chicago, where she wrote her thesis on citizenship law in Bangladesh.
Carl Weinstein is a PhD student in Jewish Studies. He studies the aftermath of the Holocaust, looking at survivors' lives in DP camps and family formation after the war. His research interests include gender and sexuality. Carl previously earned a BA in Judaic Studies from the University of Tennessee Knoxville.
Rabbi Seth Winberg is a part-time PhD student whose research explores the immigrant experience and the writing of American Jewish legal (halakhic) texts. He earned an MA in Medieval Jewish History from Yeshiva University and a BA from York University. He currently serves as Executive Director of Brandeis Hillel and as the University's Senior Chaplain while working towards his PhD.
Henry studies the Jews and Judaism of the Islamic world with a focus on the Middle Ages. His interests include Hebrew and Arabic poetry, biblical exegesis, Talmudic commentary, and medieval texts of Jewish law and philosophy. Henry did his second-year paper on Maimonides’s approach to gambling in Jewish law, where he shed light on how his position as a Jewish community leader within a Muslim society may have influenced his interpretation of the Talmud and his legal rulings.