The Program in Jewish Studies at Rice is delighted to welcome our new Samuel W. and Goldye Marian Spain Postdoctoral Fellow Mendel Kranz. Dr. Kranz completed his PhD at the University of Chicago Divinity School this spring and will join us in Fall 2023.
A scholar and teacher of modern Jewish intellectual history with a current focus on France and North Africa, Dr. Kranz’s work brings together conversations in Jewish philosophy with those about Jews in the Muslim world, and emphasizes an intersectional understanding of Judaism in relation to other racialized and minority communities. At Rice, Mendel hopes to offer new courses that focus on religion and politics, and antisemitism and Islamophobia in comparative perspective.
“I am thrilled and excited to join the vibrant community in Jewish Studies at Rice University,” writes Dr. Kranz. “I look forward to collaborating with the faculty and students across the university and creating new partnerships and communities. Though my work is grounded in modern Jewish history and thought, it intersects with many other disciplines, and I'm excited for the opportunity to be part of expansive conversations in and beyond Jewish Studies.”
"We are so excited that Mendel will join our Jewish Studies team at Rice this Fall," says Matthias Henze, the Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Hebrew Bible and director of Rice's Program in Jewish Studies. "Both he and Dr. Ofra Amihay, our new Anna Smith Fine Lecturer in Jewish Studies, will supplement the strengths of our current faculty and create wonderful new courses and engagement opportunities, both on campus and in the greater Houston community.”