Jewish Studies Graduate Students
To learn more about a member of our graduate program, click on his or her name. To contact a faculty member via email, click on his or her email address.
Department of Religious Studies, UVA
Contact Information
Email: efiller@virginia.edu
Education
MTS, Harvard Divinity School, 2005
BA, The George Washington University, 2003
International Education
European College of Liberal Arts, Germany
University of St. Andrews, Scotland
Fellowships
2007 Morgenstern Fellowship in Modern Judaism
News
Emily Filler is a PhD candidate in modern Judaism. Her research interests include modern Jewish thought, philosophy of religion and religious ritual, ethnographic methodology, and biblical interpretation. In addition, she is involved with the Journal of Textual Reasoning and the Journal of Scriptural Reasoning, and co-coordinates the UVA Graduate Scriptural Reasoning Group. In summer 2008, she taught at the first UVA Scriptural Reasoning Training Conference.
Department of Religious Studies, UVA
Contact Information
Email: dag9t@virginia.edu
Education
BA, Oberlin College, 2006
Research Interests
Deborah Galaski is a Masters student in modern Judaism. Her main research interests include covenantal theology, prayer and identity, biblical interpretation, post-holocaust thought and social ethics. She also works with the Journal of Textual Reasoning.
Department of Religious Studies, UVA
News
Tom Gutherz is an ordained rabbi and Jewish educator. His doctoral work focuses on notions of tragic theology in modern Jewish thought.
Assistant Professor / Department of English, Virginia Tech
Department of Religious Studies, UVA
Contact Information
Email: erikam@virginia.edu
Website: http://www.erikameitner.com/
Research Interests
Material religion, ethnographic approaches to religious practice, transgression in contemporary American Jewish communities, Jewish-American literature, and Muslim women's literature of the Middle East and North Africa.
Conference Papers, Panels, and Lectures:
* Panelist, "Jewish Poetry vs. Poetry by Jews," Associated Writing Programs Annual Conference, 2009. Chicago, IL.
* Panelist, "Materializing New Jewish Ritual: Jews with Jewish Tattoos," Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies, 2008. Washington, DC.
* Invited Lecturer, "Rites of Passage: Jews with Jewish Tattoos," The Twenty-First Annual Klutznick-Harris Symposium on "Rites of Passage: How Today's Jews Celebrate, Commemorate, and Commiserate," at Creighton University, 2008.
* Chair and Panelist (in absentia), "Nu?: What's new about Jewish Poetry?" Associated Writing Programs Annual Conference, 2007. Atlanta, GA.
* Invited Lecturer, "Comparative Issues in Jewish and Muslim Women's Literature," Washington & Lee University, 2006.
* Panelist, "Tattoo Jew: Exploring Contemporary American Jewish Identity through the lens of Jewish Tattoos," Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Study of Judaism Section, 2006. Washington, DC.
* Panelist, "The Mezuzah: American Judaism and Constructions of Domestic Sacred Space," Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Anthropology of Religion Group, 2005. Philadelphia, PA. Awarded a Robert J. Huskey Travel Grant by the University of Virginia to attend the 2005 AAR.
Academic Publications:
* "The Mezuzah: American Judaism and Constructions of Domestic Sacred Space," in American Sanctuary: Understanding Sacred Spaces, ed. Louis P. Nelson, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press (2006), 182-202.
* "Passover in America," in The Encyclopedia of American Holidays and National Days, ed. Len Travers, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press (2006), 96-111.
Department of Religious Studies, UVA
Contact Information
Email: leah.sievers@yahoo.com
Education
Doctoral Candidate in Religious Studies, University of Virigina
M.T.S. Harvard Divinity School 2001
B.A. Yale University 1997
Research Interests
Jewish Studies, Jewish ethics, Christian ethics, museology, ethics of memory, Holocaust studies, Jewish ethnography, repentance and atonement in Judaism and Christianity, forgiveness, scriptural reasoning
Fellowships:
2005- 2011 Jefferson Graduate Fellowship, Marc and Nancy Shrier Jewish Studies Fellow
News:
Leah is currently studying for comprehensive exams in ethics. She is the Editor of the Student Journal of Scriptural Reasoning, and she is a board member of the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond, Virginia.
Department of Religious Studies, UVA
Contact Information
Email: dhw2s@virginia.edu
Education
PhD, University of Virginia (expected, Spring 2009)
MTS, Harvard Divinity School, 2004
AB, Princeton University, 2001
Fellowships
2008-2009 University of Virginia GSAS Dissertation Year Fellowship
2005-2008 Presidential Fellowship, University of Virginia
News
Daniel Weiss is currently completing his dissertation, entitled
"Paradox and the Prophets: Hermann Cohen and the Indirect
Communication of Religion," with Profs. Peter Ochs and Asher Biemann
as co-directors. He expects to defend his dissertation in March 2009!
His research interests include modern Jewish philosophy, biblical
interpretation and philosophy of religion.
Daniel is the managing editor of the Journal of Textual Reasoning, as
well as the co-coordinator of the UVA Graduate Scriptural Reasoning
Group. In summer 2008, he served as a graduate teacher at the first
UVA Scriptural Reasoning Training Conference.
Recent projects:
"A Copernican turn to Scripture: Hermann Cohen between Maimonidies and
Spinoza," paper presented at the Association for Jewish Studies, Dec.
2008
"The Novelistic Side of Religion of Reason: Re-reading Cohen Through
Bakhtin," paper presented at the American Academy of Religion, Nov.
2008, and the UVA Jewish Studies Program Workshop, Nov. 2008
"The (odd) deixis of 'you' in rabbinic prayer." Journal of Textual
Reasoning, vol. 5, no. 1, December 2007 [See
http://etext.virginia.edu/journals/tr/]
"Navigating Between Letter and Spirit: Tensions in Samson Raphael
Hirsch's Presentation of Judaism," paper presented at the American
Academy of Religion, Nov. 2007