Current PhD Students

Subject: Philosophia Naturalis in 14-16th century and the Representation of Nature in the Art of North Italy

Supervisor: Dr. Lola Kantor-Kazovsky

Abstract: In my research I intend to trace the Medieval taxonomy of plants, Wild Men, landscapes and texts of Philosophia Naturalis, in the visual iconography of goddess Natura: starting with theological writings and ending with the private canvases commissioned by North Italian aristocrats in the Quattrocento and the Cinquecento. The Iconongraphical interpretations of canonical canvases such as the (so called) “Venus” of Giorgione, and other mysterious females, is still vague and unidentified, in spite of the vast amount of textual and visual precedents. I will claim that the detailed geology as well as the figurative characters, are allegorical representations of Natura, and a result of a synthesis between the Medieval tradition of Philosophia Naturalis and the Humanistic culture. For each of the cosmographical components of the Medieval Philosophia Naturalis there is an essential origin in Pliny’s encyclopedic Historia Naturalis which received a new kind of attention in the Trecento. I believe it would be justified to explore the misconstrued compositions of these private canvases through that encyclopedic perspective, which seem to have been dominant in patronage culture during the Quattrocento and Cinquecento. I will use them as both the objects of research and as its focus. In addition to previous interpretations of these motifs, I believe that a further understanding of the philosophical contemplation over the relations between the creations of Man versus those of Nature would suffice a more objective understanding of these compositions. As a result, I hope it will deepen our general view of North Italian artists and their patrons.

Bio: A Phd student in the Art History department in the Hebrew University; Studying North Italian allegories and their visual representation in the Quattrocento and the Cinquecento; Teaching ancient Art and Though in the Israeli Arts and Science Academy; An avid lecturer and organizer of various courses and conferences in the scholarly arena.

Rotenstreich Scholarship 2021/22

President Stipend 2018/19

Subject: Kakawin literature: figurative features and text-building strategies

Supervisor: Prof. Yigal Bronner and Prof. Ronit Ricci

Abstract: Danielle's research examines the corpus of kakawin literature - a form of court poetry written in the Kawi language, which served as the preferred medium of aesthetic and political self-representation of the ruling Javanese elites between the 9th and 15th centuries CE. The research explores the set of literary tools, figural as well as prosodial, which were developed and used by the Javanese poets, in their process of creating a local literary identity within the larger cosmopolitan space known as the "Sanskrit cosmopolis".  Special attention is given to the creative and innovative ways in which the Javanese poets borrowed literary models and text-building strategies from Sanskrit kāvya literature while reconfiguring and rearticulating them to fit their new aesthetic and cultural environment.  

Bio: Danielle Chen is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Asian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, under the supervision of Prof. Ronit Ricci and Prof. Yigal Bronner, and a member of the ERC research group "The new Ecology of Expressive Modes in Early Modern South India" organized by Prof. David Shulman. Danielle holds an MA degree from the Hebrew University in which she focused on the aesthetic theory of Abhinavagupta, the 11th century Kashmiri philosopher and poetician. She is currently working on Old Javanese (Kawi) texts and textuality and is especially interested in the complex set of interactions they shared with Sanskrit literature and forms of conceptualization.

President Stipend 2019/20

Azrieli Scholarship 2021/22

Subject:  Holocaust Diplomacy: Commemorating the Shoah in Israeli Foreign Relations, 1948-200

Supervisor: Prof. Amos Goldberg

Abstract: My dissertation will explore the intersection between Israeli diplomacy and Holocaust memory from 1948 to 2005. I am particularly interested in the influence of cultural diplomacy on transnational memory and the impact foreign relations have on national narratives.

Bio: I'm a PhD candidate in the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I completed an MA in Jewish History in 2020 and a BA in History in 2017 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 

Publications:

"The Righteous Among the Nations and Israeli Foreign Relations," Politika, Winter 2019 (Hebrew).
"The Hebrew University Press First Years, 1929–39", Hayo Haya: A Young Forum for History 15, Spring 2020 (Hebrew).
"Historical Documents of the Hebrew University Press, 1929-1949", Magnes Press: After 90 Years, 2019 (Hebrew).

Rotenstreich Scholarship 2021/22

Mosse Scholarship 2020/2021 

MA Honors Program 2017/2018

Subject: Jewish Women's Religious and Medical Practices at the late Ottoman Empire

Supervisor: Prof. Liat Kozma

Bio: Anabella Esperanza is a MA graduate in the Department for the Study of Jewish Languages and Literatures: Ladino Studies. Her MA thesis, "Women's Writings in Judezmo (Ladino) in the Late Ottoman Empire (1871-1902): Istanbul, Salonica and Serres", examine aspects of literacy, reading and writing practices of the firsts female writers in Judezmo (Ladino) in the Late Ottoman Empire. 
Anabella is a P.h.D student under Prof. Liat Kozma's guidance.  Her research explore Jewish Women's Religious and Medical Practices in the Late Ottoman Empire in the context of the Ottoman Muslim Society. Anabella is part of Mandel School for Humanities and the ERC research group 'Regional History of Middle East Medicine'. 

President Stipend 2018/19