CASJE is currently recruiting three fellows with interest in conducting applied social scientific research investigating contemporary Jewish education and/or Jewish communal life. Fellows are welcome at any career stage and must have an earned doctorate.
Overview
This new fellowship program, led by CASJE at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development, aims to prepare scholars to meet the research needs of Jewish educational and communal organizations and expand the pipeline of researchers positioned to conduct critical, high-quality applied research in Jewish education and contemporary Jewish life.
Fellowships run two years. Fellows will receive an annual salary of $70,000 plus benefits.
Candidates
Candidates for the fellowship are completed doctorates with an interest in applied studies in Jewish education and Jewish communal life. Fellows must have training in and facility with social science research methods from fields including education,
sociology, psychology, political science, and economics. CASJE especially encourages applicants who are from or whose research focuses on traditionally under-represented Jewish communities.
Faculty Mentors
Fellows will be matched with distinguished university-based mentors who will advise and help guide their work. In Year 1, fellows work up to 12 hours a week on a mentor’s existing projects. In Year 2, fellows dedicate their attention primarily to an original applied research project with mentor guidance. The following mentor placements are available for the 2023-2025 cohort:
Adam B. Cohen, Arizona State University (in-residence or remote)
Areas of expertise: Social psychology, cultural psychology, psychology and religion
Active projects: Fasting and flourishing; Shabbat dinner and social connectedness
Applied studies mentor can support: Experimental social psychology, interview and survey based work
Ellen Goldring, Vanderbilt University (in-residence only)
Areas of expertise: Education policy and school improvement, with emphases on school and district leadership and reform, study of implementation of change initiatives.
Active projects: Understanding Assistant Principals’ Roles, School Assignments, and Career Paths; Leadership pipelines in school districts and accelerated take- up
Applied studies mentor can support: Mixed-methods studies, field research, survey research, interviews, large administrative data analyses (assuming prior statistical and coding experience)
Jessica Hammer, Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh residency preferred; other locations possible)
Areas of expertise: Transformational game design, education, community, human-
computer interaction
Active projects: Games for climate action; games to shape collaborative culture; Jewish
history games
Applied studies mentor can support: Iterative prototyping, research through design,qualitative and quantitative studies. Will train fellow in game design.
Eitan Hersh, Tufts University (in-residence or remote)
Areas of expertise: Elections, civic engagement, antisemitism
Active projects: Political role of business leaders, studies in antisemitism, civic/religiousattitudes of young adults, voting rights
Applied studies mentor can support: Surveys, administrative data analysis. Candidates should be proficient in data analysis using Stata or R.
Michal Kurlaender, UC Davis (remote preferred, in-residence possible)
Areas of expertise: Educational pathways, access to and success in higher education
Active projects: Middle school to college/career Pathways, expansion in dual enrollment opportunities across California high schools, community college student success, evaluation of state policies addressing inequities in college access and degree attainment
Applied studies mentor can support: Policy studies, descriptive studies, quasi- experimental designs. Candidates should have basic methodological training (qualitative or quantitative).
Outline of Program
The program offers fellows financial support, mentorship, a specially-designed cohort learning experience, and the opportunity to conduct original applied research that engages with timely and critical Jewish educational and communal questions as well as continue their own existing lines of work.
Fellowships begin in July 2023 and are full-time,12-month positions. Appointments are initially for one year with renewal for a subsequent year based on satisfactory performance.
Key elements of the fellowship program:
1. Applied research project: Designed by the fellow in partnership with a Jewish community-based organization, supported by the faculty mentor and fellowship director (who will serve as an additional advisor to all fellows).
2. Cohort-based learning with other fellows focused on conducting applied research responsive to the questions of Jewish communal organizations. The curriculum is designed by the CASJE fellowship director and will include: bimonthly virtual cohort meetings to share work in progress, a virtual invited speaker series, and annual in-person workshop on George Washington University’s campus.
3. Advancing research capacity: Individually tailored opportunities to further develop research skills, designed with a faculty mentor and fellowship director. Year 1 includes up to 12 hours a week supporting mentor research.
4. Fellow’s own research: Fellows are expected to continue existing lines of work, producing a journal/chapter manuscript, a book proposal, or similar during the fellowship. Time is allotted within the full-time program for this work.
Stipulations
Applicants must have an earned doctorate before the application deadline or a signed letter from the advisor specifically stating they are on track to finish by the fellowship start date (letter should include milestones and timeline).
Candidates who hold a doctorate outside of the social sciences must demonstrate in their application the skills and capacities to conduct applied social science research.
Fellows must acknowledge that all research with human subjects will have IRB approval and oversight.
Fellows must be US-based.
Submitting the Application
All applications must be submitted via the GW application portal.
Please email casje@gwu.edu with your intention to apply. We will notify you when the GW application portal is open.
Applicants should submit the following documents via the GW application portal:
- CV
- Statement of Interest (max. 3 pages). Applicants should indicate: their interest inthis fellowship, their understanding of applied research, which mentor/s they would like to work with, and propose a possible applied research project to conduct as part of their fellowship term
- Academic writing sample of no more than 30 pages
Additionally two recommendation letters should be submitted via email:
- 2 confidential letters of recommendation which can speak to the candidate’s research capacity to be emailed to: casje@gwu.edu with LastName_FirstName FELLOWSHIP2022 and in the subject field
All materials, including recommendation letters, must be received no later than 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Thursday, December 15, 2022.
Finalists will be notified in January 2023 and invited for a virtual interview. Selection of fellows will be made in February 2023.
For any uploaded documents, please use 12 point Times New Roman font, double- spaced with one-inch margins.