Research Initiatives

Cutting-edge research primarily in the form of conferences, working groups, and convenings that advance and bolster new and innovate approaches. Our research makes the Grant Center a hub of interdisciplinary thought and development.

Conference

Beinner Annual Symposium

February 18 - 18, 2025 | New York
  The annual Beinner Symposium brings together world-renowned scholars from a variety of disciplines – from history to literature, to economics, to sociology and

Working Groups

CURRENT

American Jewish Literature Working Group

The American Jewish Literature Working Group of the Grant Center at Tulane convened at the suggestion of Michael Cohen, and has been co-organized by…

Maeera Schreiber

  • University of Utah

Josh Lambert

  • Wellesley College

Michael Cohen

Stuart and Suzanne Grant Professor in the American Jewish Experience
  • Tulane University
CURRENT

Jewish Caribbean Working Group

Marilyn Miller

Sizeler Family Professorship in Judaic Studies II
  • Tulane University

Paul B. Miller

Associate Professor in the Department of French and Italian
  • Vanderbilt University

Sarah Phillips Casteel

Professor of English
  • Carleton University
UPCOMING

Jewish Historiography in the United States and Europe: Spring 2025

Amir Goldstein

Associate Professor
  • Tel Hai University

Avi Shilon

Lecturer in History
  • Shazar Publishers
  • Columbia University

Brian Horowitz

  • Tulane University
CURRENT

Clashing with Jabotinsky: Liberal Zionism in the United States and Israel: FALL 2024

Our thesis is that during this key period, the Zionist Right attracted to its ranks diverse individuals with a myriad of ideologies in Eastern…

Amir Goldstein

Associate Professor
  • Tel Hai University

Andrew Koss

Senior Editor
  • Mosaic Magazine

Avi Shilon

Lecturer in History
  • Shazar Publishers
  • Columbia University
PAST

Jewish Intellectual History

Brian Horowitz

  • Tulane University

Dimitry Shumsky

  • Hebrew University Jerusalem

David Myers

  • University of California Los Angeles
PAST

American Jewish Economic History Working Group

Read more about the twelve scholars and outside specialists participating in our American Jewish Economic History Working Group. The invited presenters have led discussions…

Michael Cohen

Stuart and Suzanne Grant Professor in the American Jewish Experience
  • Tulane University

Sven Beckert

Laird Bell Professor of History, Harvard University
  • Harvard University

Aviva Ben-Ur

Professor of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies
  • University of Massachusetts – Amherst
PAST

Jewish Gender Performance and Drag Working Group

This Zoom-based working group aims to think through questions of how gendered representations of Jewishness and Jewish representations of gender are rendered, performed, and…

Golan Moskowitz

Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies
  • Tulane University

Jonathan Branfman

Postdoctoral Scholar at the Taube Center for Jewish Studies
  • Stanford University

Kathleen B. Casey

Associate Professor of History
  • Virginia Wesleyan University
PAST

Joseph Schechtman – Across Continents—From Europe to the US, from Revisionism to American Conservatism

Working Group will be sponsored by Tulane University’s Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience as part of a larger effort to bring scholars…

Brian Horowitz

  • Tulane University

Andrew Koss

Senior Editor
  • Mosaic Magazine

Other Projects

The Grant Center looks to deepen its partnership with Monash University's Australian Center for Jewish Civilisation (ACJC)- the leading home for Jewish Studies in Australia. ACJC will anchor the transpacific component of Grant Center's Global American Jewish Studies initiative, building upon the Grant Center's recent Capitalism and Global Migration conference in Sydney. The innovative partnership will also feature joint faculty research initiatives, public-facing digital content, faculty and graduate student exchanges, and opportunities for Tulane undergraduates.

Addressing Antisemitism on Campuses with Dr. David Slucki, hosted by The Grant Center and Tulane's Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion




This session focused on the history of Jews and antisemitism, how antisemitism manifests in the contemporary university, and what are its impacts on Jewish campus communities. It invited participants to discuss campus case studies and work through potential responses. Finally, we thought through how best to implement measures to prevent antisemitism. This session, whilst focused particularly on antisemitism and responding to the current moment, will serve to strengthen the capacity for faculty and staff to provide safe and inclusive environments for all students, and to fulfill their missions as sites of intellectual discussion and disagreement.

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The Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation is leading a number of major initiatives to understand and counter antisemitism at Australian universities and the broader community. So far, Monash has invested $1 million to support the work of combating antisemitism and Islamophobia and contribute to a more robust campus environment. The aim is to develop programmes and best practice approaches that can be rolled out across universities nationally.

The modules will focus on the history of Jews and antisemitism, how antisemitism manifests in the contemporary impact, and what are its impacts on Jewish communities. It will then provide case studies that are tailored for various audiences, and we will provide a database of case studies to draw on, and finally the trainings will work with leaders and staff on how best to implement measures to prevent antisemitism. 

https://vimeo.com/980752798https://vimeo.com/946687272

Golan Moskowitz and David Slucki discuss both advantages and critiques made of recent technological innovations employed for representing Holocaust survivor testimonies.

David Slucki and Golan Moskowitz discuss how public perceptions and representations of the Holocaust survivor have evolved from 1945 through the present, considering shifting cultural trends, political factors, intergenerational dynamics, and varied aesthetic approaches.

Rose Rosenkranz's School Visits to Kehoe-France and Metairie Park Country Day - January 2025
















Kehoe-France and Metairie Park Country Day School Visits - April 2024
















The Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience hosted a series of significant events in which Holocaust survivor Rose Rosenkranz, the subject of the play "Only Miracles," visited schools in the New Orleans area. During her heartfelt presentations, she shared her harrowing experiences during the Holocaust and the challenges she faced as a young immigrant moving to the United States. Rose's powerful story resonated deeply with students, fostering important discussions about resilience, hope, and the critical lessons of history. Her visit not only educated the youth about the Holocaust but also inspired them to appreciate the values of compassion and understanding in today's world.

Only Miracles

Only Miracles is a 90-minute interactive, theatrical, and educational experience written and directed by Dodd Loomis as his final MFA thesis showing. It is sectioned out into three parts, to offer a truly dynamic and unique observation of the historical lived experiences of its subjects.

The first section is a 45-minute immersive theatrical event rooted in the principles of documentary theater.
The dominant source material for this section is a pair of interviews—of Holocaust survivors Ed and Helen Lefkowitz—conducted by the Shoah Visual History Foundation on March 23, 1995.
Transcriptions of these interviews, coupled with other historic documentation, serve as the backbone of the text for the project.

The second section is a 10-minute, multimedia museum experience.
The source material for this section derives from the same 1995 interviews, as well as historic audio and video content including maps, ground plans, calendars, ticket stubs, and photographs chronicling the Lefkowitz’s arduous 7,000-mile journey of survival.

The third section is an optional, reflective space for guests to commune with other participants and digest the experience.

This innovative show is produced by the Tulane University School of Liberal Arts’ Department of Theatre and Dance, the Stuart and Suzanne Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience, and Touro Synagogue.

 

About the Artists

Dodd Loomis is a playwright, director, and producer whose work has toured over 35 countries, across 5 continents. Two of his previous plays were also rooted in the principles of Documentary Theatre and toured the globe for over 7 years. Loomis is currently the production manager for TUTD and a professor in the Department of Digital Media Practices. Only Miracles is the final showing for his MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies of the Performing Arts. Dodd is a proud member of Touro Synagogue.
Only Miracles features performances by Carl Briggs, Ally Heller, Audrey Jarnagin, Valeria Lievano, Caroline Sloter, and Zachary Sturza. Sound design and composition by Dylan Hunter, whose recent credits include Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play with TUTD and Roleplay with Goat in the Road Productions. The lighting design is by Emmy Award winner Rachel Levy. Projections are by James Lanius, whose recent credits include Haint Blu with Urban Bush Women and The Great Leap with OKC Rep. Live music is performed by violist Sam Baron and pianist Adam Matasar.

Rose Rosenkranz, Dodd Loomis, Anne Levy. For more information about Anne Levy please click here.

Only Miracles Production

A Conversation with Rose (Raisa) Lefkowitz Rosenkranz

Listen to Rose Rosenkranz, a Holocaust survivor and "miracle baby" born in a Siberian Slave Labor Camp in the heart of the war, in conversation with Golan Moskowitz, as she shares her story of resilience and hope. The Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience at Tulane University will present an evening of powerful narratives and personal reflections of life in the United States after the Holocaust.
Ms. Rosenkranz's remarkable story will not only educate but serve as the inspiration for the immersive theatre production titled Only Miracles, Written and Directed by Tulane Visiting Assistant Professor, Dodd Loomis. This captivating production, that took place in mid-April at the historic Touro Synagogue, brought to life the experiences of Ms. Rosenkranz, her parents and others who lived through this dark chapter in history.

Audrey G. Ratner Lecture

Rottman Family Lecture

In December 2020, Colonel (IL) Jennifer N. Pritzker, IL ARNG (Retired) facilitated a gift commitment of $1,000,000 over five years from the TAWANI Foundation to establish the Audrey G. Ratner Excellence Endowed Fund for American Jewry and Jewish Culture. Additionally, the TAWANI Foundation agreed to match, dollar for dollar, over a period of five years, private cash and stock donations received by Tulane in support of the Audrey G. Ratner Excellence Endowed Fund, for a total of up to $1,000,000. The TAWANI Foundation gift is made in honor of Audrey Gilbert Ratner, the matriarch of the Ratner-Pritzker families. Ms. Ratner is mother to Jennifer, and grandmother to both Andrew Pritzker and Emily Ratner. Ms. Ratner selected Tulane to be the recipient of this honorary gift from her daughter Jennifer to honor her grandchildren’s education and continued involvement at Tulane.

 
The Audrey G. Ratner Excellence Endowed Fund for American Jewry and Jewish Culture supports a dynamic slate of action-oriented programming goals, innovative student engagement activities, and cutting edge research, educating Tulane students for the transformative purpose of becoming the forward-thinking Jewish leaders of tomorrow. To accomplish this goal, the endowment will support key initiatives and programs. Students will have opportunities to cultivate leadership skills through structured academic experiences: the Audrey G. Ratner Jewish Leadership Course and Student Faculty Research Funds.

 
The Ratner Speaker Series supports lectures, roundtables, and films and could bring internationally renowned speakers to Tulane University. Our participants—artists, scholars, public intellectuals, communal leaders—will contribute to a robust conversation about American Jewish culture, history, and ideas, to which the entire Tulane community would be invited. Ratner Speakers will also meet with student leaders at Hillel, connecting their academic work with our community and offering another area where student leaders could experience life-changing growth in their personal understanding and relationship to Judaism and Judaic culture.

https://vimeo.com/927229440https://vimeo.com/1001657582/42ca97a8a0https://vimeo.com/886552294

The Oxford Handbook of American Jewish History will create a vibrant dialogue among the varied approaches to the study of American Jews, taking stock of the field and working to move it forward in conversation with the neighboring fields of American history and modern Jewish history. The Handbook is edited by Grant Center Director Dr. Michael Cohen, together with Dr. Shari Rabin (Oberlin), and its authors are drawn from the ranks of the senior scholars who pioneered the field, often from the vantage point of other areas of study, as well as younger scholars, both those trained in American Jewish history and those studying American Jews from other disciplines. The Handbook will act as a guide for outside scholars looking to understand American Jews and for those within American Jewish history – novices and veterans alike – interested in up-to-date assessments of key questions in the field. Its essays will explore a variety of conceptual frameworks that have been and continue to be important for understanding American Jews, and will move forward into the arena of American Jewish studies, highlighting how new methodologies can enhance scholarly understandings of American Jewish history.

Conferences

Conferences create new intellectual connections, uniting scholars from around the world, breaking down disciplinary and subfield boundaries. Sessions will emphasize both the domestic particularity and global orientation of the American Jewish experience.

Academic Seminars

Academic Seminars bring the world’s elite scholars to New Orleans, where they will share cutting-edge research with the Tulane community.

Working Groups

Working Groups explore anti-Semitism, Jewish identity, and other pressing topics, including the timeliest issues facing American Jewry today. We aspire to be nimble, addressing important topics, like pandemic response, in real time.

"Tulane is poised to be a leader in our understanding of the essential role Jews have played in American culture and society."

Brian Edwards
Dean of the School of Liberal Arts