Jewish Theological Seminary · Shalom Hartman Institute
Shira Billet
Assistant Professor of Jewish Thought and Ethics and academic director of JTS's Hendel Center for Ethics and Justice, following a Yale postdoctoral appointment and Princeton PhD. Her scholarship has earned support from the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Leo Baeck Fellowship, Laurance S. Rockefeller Graduate Prize Fellowship and the inaugural David Hartman Center Fellowship.
2026–27 Fellowship Project
"A Jewish Ethics of Creativity for a Technological Age" explores how Jewish ethical traditions can help people preserve creativity, human agency and intentionality in an era of ubiquitous artificial intelligence.
George Washington University
David A. Broniatowski
An MIT-trained professor at George Washington University, research director of GW's Trustworthy AI Initiative and deputy director of the NIST-NSF TRAILS Institute. A recipient of GW Engineering's Distinguished Research and Outstanding Junior Researcher awards, he has led major NIH-, NSF- and NIST-funded studies — including a $1.5 million NIH R01 — and produced internationally reported research on misinformation and public health.
2026–27 Fellowship Project
A series of public essays translating ideas from systems engineering into accessible ways of thinking about AI, risk, institutions, decision-making, public trust and the complex systems that shape everyday life.
University of Michigan
Andrea Gondos
The Padnos Family Professor of Jewish Thought at the University of Michigan and the author of Kabbalah in Print
, published by SUNY Press, as well as co-editor of Life of the Soul. She was selected as a 2026 Institute for the Humanities Faculty Fellow and previously conducted research with the prestigious Emmy Noether research group at Berlin's Free University.
2026–27 Fellowship Project
"Jewish Objects without Borders" brings Jewish magical objects held in museums, libraries and collections around the world into conversation with contemporary audiences, exploring amulets, manuscripts and other material culture connected to protection, healing, childbirth and the supernatural.
Bar-Ilan University
Elie Holzer
Professor of Jewish Education at Bar-Ilan University, holder of the R. Dr. Ochs Chair for the Teaching of Jewish Religious Studies and director of the Eliezer Stern Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Education. His co-authored A Philosophy of Havruta
received the 2014 National Jewish Book Award, and his other major works include Attuned Learning
and Renewed Hasidism.
2026–27 Fellowship Project
A series of workshops developing a contemplative approach to ḥavruta text study that brings together close reading, oral interpretation, attentive listening, silence, reflective writing and interpersonal presence.
Michigan State University
Mary M. Juzwik
An internationally recognized professor at Michigan State University and recipient of the 2026 William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award, one of MSU's highest honors. Her distinctions also include the Literacy Research Association's Edward B. Fry Book Award and the Charles Carpenter Fries Award, and she previously co-edited Research in the Teaching of English
, the flagship journal in her field.
2026–27 Fellowship Project
"Between Judaism and Christianity" examines the rise of Elie Wiesel's Night
in American secondary-school classrooms and what its place in the literary canon reveals about Judaism, Christianity, secularization and public education.
Hebrew College
Jane Kanarek
Dean of Faculty and Professor at Hebrew College, a former Wexner Graduate Fellow and the author or editor of several major works in Talmud. Two of her edited volumes were finalists for National Jewish Book Awards, and JTS honored her in 2025 for more than 25 years of distinguished service to the Conservative movement and the Jewish people.
2026–27 Fellowship Project
An op-ed for a national publication drawing on Jewish and early Christian teachings on lashon ha-ra — wrongful speech — to address cruel, careless and corrosive language in contemporary public discourse.
University College London · Chabad.org
Eli Rubin
A UCL-trained scholar and contributing editor at Chabad.org whose 2025 Stanford University Press monograph, Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity
, has been hailed by leading scholars as one of the most original works in contemporary Jewish Studies. His scholarship and criticism have appeared in AJS Review
, Shofar
, Jewish Currents
, The Jewish Review of Books
and other prominent publications.
2026–27 Fellowship Project
"Reading Rayatz: Hasidic Journeys Beyond Lubavitch" centers on the translation and close reading of autobiographical writings by Yosef Yitzhak Schneersohn, accompanied by a public-facing series exploring Hasidic literature, philosophy and memory.
Bar-Ilan University
Jonnie Schnytzer
A senior lecturer in Bar-Ilan University's Faculty of Jewish Studies and director of the Cramim Excellence Program. A specialist in medieval Kabbalah, he has authored and edited major works on Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi, initiated the publication of Hitler's Haggadah
, and is helping bring a rare 14th-century Ethiopian-Jewish Sabbath text to English-language readers.
2026–27 Fellowship Project
"The Transforming Torah" explores medieval Kabbalistic teachings about cosmic cycles and a Torah that changes from world to world, bringing scholars, writers and artists into conversation and ultimately envisioning a public exhibition inspired by the texts.
