Congratulations to CU Boulder’s 2013-2014 Majors, Minors, Scholarship Recipients, and Interns…

The Program in Jewish Studies is proud to recognize the outstanding contributions of our three majors and nine minors who graduated Thursday, May 8, 2014. Congratulations to all of our graduates – job well done!

2013-2014 Majors:

Tova Cohen graduates with a double major in Jewish Studies and Political Science. Tova’s capstone project was entitled Asylum in the Holy Land: An Assessment of the Political Processes Surrounding African Refugees in Israel. She is currently pursuing a job in Congressman Jared Polis’ office in Washington DC.

Steven John Kreimendahl will be graduating in December 2014 with a Bachelor of Science Journalism in News Editorial and major in Jewish Studies. Steven completed a capstone project entitled Israeli Media in Hebrew and English: The Impact of Audience on Reporting.

Sarah Lind Temmer graduates with a double major in Jewish Studies and International Affairs. Sarah completed a capstone project entitled Ghosts in the Mirror: The Pervasive Problem of the Palestinian Refugees and Their Status. Post-graduation, she will be studying for the LSAT and applying to law school.

2013-2014 Minors:

Sierra Rene Bazor graduates Magna Cum Laude in History with a minor in Jewish Studies. Post-graduation, she plans on continuing her work as an office manager and attending graduate school in the next couple of years.

Kelley Brogan graduated in December 2013 with a major in Religious Studies and a minor in Jewish Studies.  She is currently working as a real estate agent with Keller Williams in Denver.

Celia Jean King graduates with a major in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Hebrew and Israel Studies.

Alexa Nicole Kraemer graduates with a Psychology major and a minor in Jewish Studies. She completed a capstone entitled Substance Abuse in the Jewish Community. Post-graduation, she plans on working in the field of addictions then eventually returning to graduate school.

Samuel Thomas Lentz graduates with a major in Sociology and a minor in Jewish Studies. During his time at CU, Sam was a participant in the inaugural Global Seminar to Israel and the West Bank the summer of 2013. After graduation, Sam will be traveling for a month before moving to Denver.  In July, he will start working for EF Education First, which is the world leader in international education.  He will be placed in their Denver office where he will work with all of their travelers preparing them for their tours.  He will also get to travel internationally with the company once per year and is looking forward to expanding his travel resume.

Chelsea Lenore Miller graduates Summa Cum Laude in International Affairs with a minor in Jewish Studies and certificate in Digital Arts and Media. She is this year’s Jewish Studies valedictorian. She was recently awarded the 2014 Jacob Van Ek Scholar Award. After graduation, she will be working with AVODAH, the Jewish Service Corps, in New York City as the Community Coordinator for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis Center. She is planning on eventually attending law school. Her honors thesis was entitled Using Religious Garments to Alter Religious Traditions: Women of the Wall’s Use of Jewish Male Garments at the Kotel to Influence Israel’s Policies.

Joshua Aaron Mitchell graduates with a major in Psychology and a Minor in Jewish Studies.  Josh served as an intern with Jewish Family Services in the fall and Boulder Institute for Psychotherapy and Research in the spring. Post-graduation, Josh plans on working a meaningful job so that he can save for graduate school. Ideally he wants to work in a mental health hospital or somewhere within the mental health field, but any profession that involves helping people is appealing to him! His long term goal is to earn a M.A. or PhD in counseling and serve his community as a therapist.

Ian Solow-Niederman graduates with a major in Communication and minors in Religious Studies and Jewish Studies.  Ian was also a participant in the first Global Seminar to Israel and the West Bank in May 2013 and served on the Jewish Studies Student Advisory Board.  He was the Barry and Sue Baer Scholar for the 2013-2014 academic year. Ian will be moving to Indianapolis, Indiana days after graduation to work in the Jewish and Leadership Programming Department of Alpha Epsilon Pi, the International Jewish Fraternity. His official title is the Special Projects Coordinator, and he will design and consult on projects related to philanthropy, civic engagement, Israel advocacy, and Jewish life.

Rachel Hutchins Wilson graduates Cum Laude in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology with a minor in Jewish Studies. Post-graduation, Rachel will be attending the University of Wisconsin to get her PhD in molecular and environmental toxicology.

 

Recognition of MA graduate, scholarship recipients and interns:

We are excited to congratulate Robert Bloom, who graduates with a Masters degree from the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, a graduate certificate in Critical Theory, and an Endorsement in Jewish Studies. His master’s thesis explored the work of 19th century German author Fanny Lewald. Post-graduation, he hopes to pursue employment in a university or educational position.

We are pleased to announce this year’s Barry and Sue Baer Scholarship in Jewish Studies recipient, Kathleen O’Donnell Sanchez Mendoza. The Baer Scholarship supports a promising undergraduate Jewish Studies student who demonstrates academic success, a passion for public service, and service that benefits the public good. Kathleen is a double major in History and Jewish Studies who has recently been accepted to the School of Education’s Secondary Education Social Studies Program. She hopes to teach high school, preferably in an alternative high school, where she can excite and engage students in the rich complexities of history.

Sally Simpson was awarded this year’s Ulrich Goldsmith Award in German and Jewish Studies for writing a paper exploring Jewish culture in German-speaking lands. Sally’s paper was entitled Language in German-Jewish Society: The Significance of Perception and Language in Society in the Years 1743-1933.

This year, two Menorah: Arts, Culture and Education at the JCC Jewish Arts Grants were awarded to Scott Meyers to support his creation of t-shirts of Radical German-Jewish Philosophers, and Amanda Montoya to support her production of two paintings, Mother and Comrade. Both projects were produced for Professor David Shneer’s History of Yiddish Culture.

This year’s Rabbi Daniel and Ida Goldberger Study Abroad and Cultural Immersion Scholarships were awarded to graduate students Scott Miller, Nicholas Underwood and Meghan Zibby. This summer, Scott will be utilizing his scholarship to attend the Yiddish Book Center’s summer immersion program. Nick will be using his scholarship to support his research trip to Paris, during which he will be unearthing the history of interwar Yiddish anti-fascist culture. Meghan will be using her Goldberger Scholarship to support her participation in the Global Seminar to Israel and the West Bank, during which she will be working on her research on American non-profits in Israel.

There were eight recipients this year of the Jewish Studies Global Initiatives Scholarship which supports study abroad in Israel. Elsa Asfaw, Lauren Elder, Natasha Hunt, Mary Ann Linares, Katherine Peters, Shayna Mariss Kleinman Phillips, Nancy Strong, and Meghan Zibby were this year’s award winners and will utilizing this scholarship during their participation in the Global Seminar to Israel and the West Bank.

We would like to acknowledge the work of our students and host organizations who participated in this year’s internship course.

We would also like to acknowledge the work of our Jewish Studies student advisory board, which was comprised of Ari Browne, David Coons, Kathleen O’Donnell Sanchez Mendoza, Sloan Friedman, Aliyah Lasky, Chelsea Miller, Ian Solow-Niederman, and Meghan Zibby.