Brandeis Alumni, Family and Friends

Virtual Studio Salon II: Alumni Artists, it's Political! (December 14, 2020)
Panelists: Brontë Velez ’16, Marlon Forrester ’04 and Naomi Safran-Hon ’08
Moderators: Danielle Friedman ’09, Zoe Messinger ’13 and Alison Judd ’04

Voices from the Mississippi Hill Country: The Benton County Civil Rights Movement (December 13, 2020)
Panelists: Roy DeBerry ’70, MA’78, PhD’79 and Aviva Futorian '59

From Brandeis to Disney and Everything in Between with Alan Braverman ’69 (December 8, 2020)
Panelist: Alan Braverman ’69, Senior Executive Vice President, The Walt Disney Company
Moderator: Trustee Monique Nelson

Pandemic Pivots: How Artists Stay Creative in the Era of COVID (December 6, 2020)
Panelists: David Pepose ’08, Emily Eng ’14, and Jason Dick ’14
Moderator: Michelle Miller ’11

What to Know Before Serving on a Nonprofit Board (November 19, 2020)
Panelist: Teresa Santalucia
Moderator: Taisha Sturdivant ’11

Wildlife Photography with Mark Seth Lender ’71, MA’74 (November 18, 2020)
Panelist: Mark Seth Lender ’71, MA’74
Moderator: Danielle Friedman ’09

A Conversation with Christie Hefner ’74: Managing Through Times of Uncertainty and Change (November 10, 2020)
Panelist: Christie Hefner ’74
Moderator: Talee Potter ’97

The Ball’s in Your Court: An Evening with Dr. Michael Lewis ’64 (October 28, 2020)
Panelist: Dr. Michael Lewis ’64
Moderator: Douglas Stark ’94

Predicting the Next President with Allan Lichtman ’67 (September 22, 2020)
Panelist: Allan J. Lichtman '67, distinguished professor of history at American University
Moderator: Trustee Monique Nelson

Homeschool Madness: How to homeschool without doing it yourself and how to make it work for you and your family (September 16, 2020)
Led by Ali Kaufman ’97

There’s No Turning Back: K-12 Education in a Post COVID-19 World (August 23, 2020)
Panelist: Anand Mahadevan, MS’03
Moderator: Myra Novogrodsky ’68

How to Break Into and Move Up in the Theater (August 17, 2020)
Panelists: Dev Bondarin ’01, Bonita Hamilton-Caesar, MFA’03, Denitsa Bliznakova, MFA’02, and Renita Martin, MFA'00
Moderator: Michelle Simone Miller ’11

Virtual Studio Visit: Alumni Artists in Quarantine (June 30, 2020)
Panelists: Victoria Nunley ’14, Farnaz Gholami ’13 and Jenna Weiss ’07
Moderators: Zoe Messinger ’13, Danielle Friedman ’09 and Alison Judd ’04

The Business of Climate Change (June 11, 2020)
Panelists: Robert Brown ’88, MA’89, and Carly Greenberg ’11, MA’12
Moderator: Ben Gomes-Casseres ’76, P’15, Peter A. Petri Professor of Business and Society and Director of the Asper Center for Global Entrepreneurship

Personal Branding in the Era of Covid-19 (June 8, 2020)
Led by Marissa Pick ’07

The Long Story Behind a Short Film (June 7, 2020)
Panelist: Arnon Z. Shorr ’05
Moderator: Michelle Simone Miller ’11
The Pirate Captain Toledano can be viewed on Amazon Prime.

Careers in TV and Film: How to Break Into and Move Up in the Film/TV Industry (April 30, 2020)
Panelists: Stan Brooks ’79, Michael Pitt ’91, Erika Karnell ’96 and Kerri Berney ’97
Moderator: Michelle Simone Miller ’11

Newly Defined: Successful Parenting and Working Parenthood, Amidst COVID-19 (April 29, 2020)
Panelists: Dr. Anuja Lee ’94 and Dr. Alisa Samuels-Stein '95
Moderator: Debi Yadegari

Pennies for Heaven: The History of American Jewish Philanthropy (January 13, 2021)
Presentation by: Rabbi Dan Judson, PhD’16

Political Protest from Hanukah to the War in Vietnam: a Personal Odyssey (December 15, 2020)
Presentation by: Reuven Kimelman, Professor of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

Navigating Jewish and Zionist Identities in Liberal Communities (November 18, 2020)
Presentation by: Dr. Rachel Fish, PhD’13

What Would a Biden Presidency Mean for US-Israel Relations? (October 29, 2020)
Presentation by: Michael Koplow ’02

The Delegitimization of Israel and the Defense of Jewish Identity (September 2, 2020)
Presentation by: Barry Shrage, Professor of the Practice in the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program

Personal Values and the Executive: Doing Business as Business is Being Done (August 20, 2020)
Presentation by: Howard Wiseman ’81

Jewish Values & Activism: Then and Now (August 13, 2020)
Presentation by: Nancy K. Kaufman ’72

Global Asset Management Insights for the Post-Pandemic World (December 1, 2020)
Panelists: Perry Traquina ’78, HHL’19, Sanjay Sachdev, and Deborah Bannon
Moderator: Debarshi Nandy, Barbara and Richard M. Rosenberg Professor of Global Finance in the Brandeis International Business School

Policy Challenges for the Post-Pandemic Global Economy (October 21, 2020)
Panelists: John P. Lipsky, former First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF
Moderator: Stephen Cecchetti, the Rosen Family Chair in International Finance in the Brandeis International Business School

On the Ballot: the US, China and the World Economy (October 13, 2020)
Panelists: Wendy Cutler
Faculty: Gary Jefferson, Carl Marks Professor of International Trade and Finance, Brandeis University, Peter Petri, Carl Shapiro Professor of International Finance in the Brandeis International Business School, and Judy Dean, Professor of International Economics in the Brandeis International Business School

Diversity in Asset Management (October 8, 2020)
Panelists: Pam Chan, CFA, Stephen Denny, and Robert Manilla
Faculty: Kathryn Graddy, Dean of the International Business School, and Fred and Rita Richman Distinguished Professor in Economics, Anna Scherbina, Associate Professor of Finance in the Brandeis International Business School, and Deborah Shufrin ’93, Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Brandeis University

Israel and the Covid-19 Response (June 25, 2020)
Panelist: Dr. Eli Waxman of the Weizmann Institute of Science
Moderator: Blake LeBaron, Abram L. and Thelma Sachar Professor of International Economics, Brandeis International Business School

Main Street and COVID-19: How can small businesses survive? (June 3, 2020)
Panelist: Barbara Clarke, MA’91
Moderator: Debarshi Nandy, Barbara and Richard M. Rosenberg Professor of Global Finance, Brandeis International Business School

The Virus War: Relief, Recovery and Response (May 18, 2020)
Faculty: Stephen G. Cecchetti, Rosen Family Chair in International Finance, Brandeis International Business School

Managing and Leading Organizations Through Times of Crisis (April 23, 2020)
Panelists: Amy Kessler ’89, MA’90, and Joanne Aron, MA’94
Moderator: Kathryn Graddy, dean of Brandeis International Business School

Determining the Optimal Health Policy Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic (April 14, 2020)
Faculty: Anna Scherbina, Associate Professor of Finance, Brandeis International Business School

The Leo Frank Case: On the Screen and in the Brandeis Archives (November 12, 2020)
Presentation by: Thomas Doherty, Professor of American Studies, and Sarah Shoemaker, Associate University Librarian for Archives & Special Collections

The Plot Against America (September 30, 2020)
Presentation by: Billy Flesch, Professor of English

The Helen and Philip Brecher New Student Forum Featuring Valeria Luiselli (August 25, 2020)
Presentation by: Valeria Luiselli
Moderators: Professor Dorothy Hodgson and Professor Elizabeth Ferry

Quixotic Diplomacy: A Brandeis Education in Action (July 31, 2020)
Presentation by: Paul Rockower ’03

Gate to Gate: An Overview of the Air Traffic Control System from Takeoff to Landing (July 14, 2020)
Presentation by: Michael A. Julius, Air Traffic Controller

Fitting On The Earth - A discussion on climate change (July 8, 2020)
Presentation by: Dr. Robert Socolow, professor emeritus at Princeton University

From the 19th Amendment to Madam President (July 6, 2020)
Presentation by: Dr. Robert Watson, distinguished professor of American History at Lynn University

A Discussion on American Judaism (June 16, 2020)
Panelists: Rabbi Michele Paskow, Rabbi Ari Averbach and Rabbi Lisa Bock
Moderator: Justin Regan

Virtual Book Club: "My Ex-Life" (May 28, 2020)
Author: Stephen McCauley, Professor of the Practice of English and Co-Director of the Creative Writing Program
Moderator: Merle Carrus, BNC national vice president

Brandeis Innovation Center

Brandeis Innovation is a focal point for innovators and aspiring change-makers in the Brandeis community. Our mission is to put Brandeis values and ideas to work in the world, by providing a platform for innovations created at Brandeis to reach a wider audience.

Find upcoming events.

Center for German and European Studies

Events support CGES' mission of supporting interdisciplinary teaching and research on contemporary Germany and Europe at Brandeis, with a strong transatlantic perspective. Events have reflected on different aspects of the current health and climate crises, and speakers recently discussed race relations and the role of race in history, society, and art. Past events include German and international politics, Holocaust education, journalism, and more.

Find upcoming and past events, along with event recordings.

Hadassah-Brandeis Institute

The events offered through HBI seek to view all things Jewish through the lens of gender. HBI hosts a range of programs with scholars, authors, and artists that view liturgy, Jewish text, history, traditions, Jewish law, and more, with a nuanced approach to women and gender studies.

Find upcoming events. Find past events and recordings.

International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life

The International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life holds events in three program areas: international justice, peacebuilding and the arts, and ENACT: The Educational Network for Active Civic Transformation. They host two prizes on behalf of the Office of the President (the Gittler Prize and Richman Fellowship). Videos of these keynote addresses and interviews can be found at the Gittler website and the Richman website. To see a special video series, sign up for their weekly e-newsletter, Ethics Central Weekly, by emailing ethics@brandeis.edu.

Find upcoming events. Find past events.

Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education

The Mandel Center's events bring scholars and practitioners together to advance thinking, generate new questions, and consider how research in Jewish education can inform practice, to improve the experiences of learners of all ages.

Find upcoming events.

Schusterman Center for Israel Studies

The Schusterman Center for Israel Studies presents a diverse range of live, online events aimed at the general public, including lectures and panel discussions featuring world-class artists, authors, public intellectuals and leading scholars. They have also recently opened their Schusterman Seminars to the public for the first time. These are advanced seminars geared toward faculty and graduate students, and open to all, presenting the latest research in Israel Studies.

Find upcoming and past events. Find event recordings.

Steeled by Adversity: COVID-19 in Historical Perspective (November 19, 2020)
Faculty: Jonathan D. Sarna, Director, Schusterman Center for Israel Studies and University Professor, Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History

A Contemporary Perspective on 2000 Years of Jewish Law (November 17, 2020)
Faculty: Alexander Kaye, the Karl, Harry, and Helen Stoll Assistant Professor of Israel Studies, Lynn Kaye, Associate Professor of Rabbinic Literature and Thought, and Hon. Sheila Prell Sonenshine, retired Justice of the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District

50 years of International Human Rights and Development (November 5, 2020)
Faculty: Laurence Simon, Professor of International Development at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management and Rajesh Sampath, Associate Professor of the Philosophy of Justice, Rights, and Social Change at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management

Campaign 2020: Yes, Historians Will Be Writing About It (October 14, 2020)
Faculty: Eileen McNamara, Professor of the Practice of Journalism, and Maura Jane Farrelly, Associate Professor of American Studies 

Why are Black Folks Still Complaining? (September 16, 2020)
Faculty: Ibrahim K. Sundiata, Samuel J. and Augusta Spector Professor Emeritus of History and African and African-American Studies at Brandeis University, Chad Williams, Samuel J. and Augusta Spector Professor of History and African and African American Studies at Brandeis University, Ebony Coletu, Assistant Professor of African American Studies at Penn State University, and Robert Trent Vinson, Frances L. and Edwin L. Cummings Associate Professor of Africana Studies & History at William & Mary

Book Launch of "Learning on the Left: Political Profiles of Brandeis University" (September 9, 2020)
Faculty: Stephen J. Whitfield, PhD’72, Max Richter Professor of American Civilization, Emeritus, and Julian Zelizer ’91, the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University

Fighting Back Against the 'Rule of the Strong': Some Key Cases from the Supreme Court's Remarkable Recent Term (August 18, 2020)
Faculty: Dan Breen, Senior Lecturer in the Brandeis Legal Studies Program

Vaping in America (June 30, 2020)
Panelists: Alexandra F. Kritikos, Heller PhD candidate, and Meredith Berkman, co-founder of Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes
Faculty: Constance M. Horgan, professor and director of the Institute for Behavioral Health at The Heller School for Social Policy and Management

Georgia O’Keeffe: Art and Music, Suffrage and the Southwest — Commemorating the Centennial of the 19th Amendment (June 4, 2020)
Faculty: Nancy Scott, Professor of Fine Arts

21st Century Jewry on the Anvil of Tribes and Universalism (June 2, 2020)
Faculty: Yehudah Mirsky, Professor of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies

U.S.-Russian Relations in 2020 and Beyond (May 26, 2020)
Faculty: Gary Samore, Director of the Crown Center for Middle East Studies and professor of the practice of politics at Brandeis University, and Carol R. Saivetz ’69, P’97, P’01, Senior Advisor in the MIT Security Studies Program and a Research Associate at Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies and the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute

In The Balance: The 2020 Elections in Historical Context (May 19, 2020)
Faculty: Dan Kryder, Louis Stulberg Chair in Law and Politics at Brandeis University, and Julian Zelizer ’91, the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University

The Many-Minded Man: A Modern Look at the Odyssey (May 14, 2020)
Faculty: Joel Christensen ’01, MA’01, Associate Professor of Classical Studies

Understanding the Economic Repercussions of COVID-19 (May 13, 2020)
Faculty: Lisa Lynch, Provost; Robert Kuttner, Meyer and Ida Kirstein Professor in Social Planning and Administration, Heller School; Dolores Aceveda-Garcia, Samuel F. and Rose B. Gingold Professor of Human Development and Social Policy and Director, Institute for Child, Youth and Family Policy, Heller School; David Weil, Dean and Professor, Heller School

A Constitutional Right to Claim Insanity? Kahler v. Kansas, General Dan Sickles and the Defense of Temporary Insanity (May 7, 2020)
Faculty: Dan Breen, Senior Lecturer in the Brandeis Legal Studies Program

How the Red Cross Negotiates in the Humanitarian Frontline, From Henri Dunant Until Now (April 30, 2020)
Faculty: Alain Lempereur, Alan B. Slifka professor and director of the Conflict Resolution and Coexistence Program, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management

How to Use Quarantine as an Opportunity to Boost Your Health (May 14, 2020)
Led by Sarah Rueven ’09

The Hiatt Career Center offers a robust library of alumni career webinars that are searchable by topic on YouTube:

• Career Change and Advancement
• Personal Branding and Networking
• Elements of a Job Search
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Alumni Industry Panels

To request a copy of presentation slides for a specific webinar, please email hiattcenter@brandeis.edu and include the date and title of the webinar.

To suggest a future topic or presenter, please email Jon Schlesinger, director at the Hiatt Career Center.

The Hiatt Career Center also hosts virtual career events:

Developing a 2021 Career Playbook: Job Search Strategies for a New Year (January 12, 2021)
Presentation by: Early Stage Careers

BOLD Happy Hour (August 20, 2020)
Led by: Claudiane Philippe ’13, MA’14, of Nail the Cocktail

Souptastic: Plant-based Summer Soups (July 16, 2020)
Led by: Chef Barbara Kamp

Socially Distant Improv (May 2, 2020)
Featuring: Myq Kaplan ’00, Dana Shulman ’00, and Jessie Shinberg’17

The Magical Art of Baking Challah: Part 2 (April 21, 2020)
Led by: Leah Silver ’12

The Magical Art of Baking Challah: Part 1 (April 20, 2020)
Led by: Leah Silver ’12

Children's Book Reading: "Shluffy Girl" (April 19, 2020)
Author: Anne-Marie Asner, MA’96