Jessie Sigler, recipient of the 2019 Ruderman Scholarship in Jewish Studies. Sigler is a fourth year Computer Engineering student with minors in Jewish Studies and History. When Sigler started at Northeastern, she was very involved in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) educational outreach and ran an after school program for elementary schoolers in Jamaica Plain to get them excited about engineering. As a sophomore, she took a class on the History of the Jews in Europe and her interest in Jewish Studies took off. Since that time, her coursework has included an independent study in American Jewish History with Professor Lefkovitz and a Dialogue to Poland with Professor Burds, in which she studied World War II on the Eastern front and the Holocaust, completing a project on the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Last year, Sigler went on co-op in Israel, where she worked in software quality automation in Tel Aviv. Recently, Sigler started volunteering in the Jewish Studies office, helping prepare for events and speakers. She planned the Jewish Studies Program film screening of Who Will Write Our History, a new documentary about the Warsaw Ghetto Archive that was shown in January for Holocaust Remembrance Day. Sigler is also involved in Jewish life and pro-Israel activism on campus, and is currently on her third co-op as a Product Manager at a startup in Boston. When asked what the Ruderman Scholarship means to her, Sigler said: “Being chosen as the Ruderman Scholar is a great privilege. I am happy to represent the Jewish Studies Program in this way because I believe in the importance of the work they do, especially with the exceptional speakers they host who have much to share with our campus community. Personally, the Ruderman Award will enable me to continue my passion for studying Jewish History during my last year at Northeastern and beyond.”
Yael Sheinfeld, recipient of the 2019-2020 Gideon Klein Award. Sheinfeld is a rising junior, majoring in Communications with minors in Political Science and English. She considers herself a right-hemisphere-thinker, as she’s always been drawn to the Humanities and has spent her life singing and performing. The Gideon Klein scholarship sparked her interest because of its emphasis on art and its value, and she’s looking forward to using her natural creativity and love for the arts as she develops her project. She’ll be creating a documentary focused on the children’s book The Children’s Tree of Terezin by Dede Harris, a story of hope and humanity. With this, she’ll explore the use of art within the Czechoslovakian concentration camp, and, further, the use of art in the creation of this unique book — ultimately exploring art as an emblem of hope.
Professor Bill Miles, recipient of a Special Initiatives grant from the American Academy for Jewish Research (AAJR). Professor Miles is a long-standing member of the Jewish Studies Advisory Board and he has received this grant for a research initiative on Jews in Muslim diasporas (and diasporas shared with Muslims).
Read the rest of the Spring 2019 Newsletter here.
