The Women’s Studies Research Center Internship:
Student-Scholar Partnership (SSP)
Project Proposal Form Fall 2013 – BOTH New and Continuing
SCHOLAR INFORMATION
Name: Penina Adelman
Brandeis WSRC Affiliation: Affiliated Scholar
E-mail:jasmine@brandeis.edu
Are there dates during the semester when you will be traveling/unreachable? Please specify.
No.
PROJECT INFORMATION
Title of Project:
Please circle one:
Is this project: Continuing from the Spring 2013 SSP program
It is a brand new project.
or
a brand-New Project?
Describe your research project in three sentences for advertising purposes. (More detailed description
will be given later in this app.)
I am writing a family memoir. It contains a mix of Jewish folklore ( Biblical stories and midrash),
historical accounts of witchcraft and other types of persecution of Jews, and personal family stories.
The researcher will be responsible for locating primary and secondary source material on witchcraft
persecution in Europe, determining what is relevant to my book and summarizing the pertinent
material in written form.
STUDENT PARTNER INFORMATION
Have you participated in the Student-Scholar Partnership in prior years?
Yes __x___ No _____
What is your timeline for work to commence on your research project this semester? I would like to
start at the beginning of the semester and continue till the end of the semester. I would like to employ a
student partner for 2nd semester as well, so if it works out, I’d continue working with the student from
the first semester.
Student-Scholar Partnership
Spring 2013
Project Proposal
Scholars and faculty members participating in the SSP Program are required to meet with their
student research assistants on a weekly basis for supervision.
Please explain how you will fulfill this commitment. Where do you plan to hold supervision meetings?
How will you manage time together when one of you is traveling/vacationing?
I will be coming in to the WSRC weekly to meet with the student.
I plan to hold meetings at the WSRC or at the student union building in the center of campus.
I plan to make up the time by rescheduling sessions when the student or I cannot attend the meeting
because of travel or vacation.
Hiring Criteria Reminder: The SSP is designed for Students and Scholars to work together for 50
hours on a project in the Scholar’s area of expertise. All candidates who apply must be considered.
Final choices should be made based on student’s background, skills and level of interest. Decisions
may not be made based solely on academic year standing.
Qualifications Needed for Student Partner: Please indicate below any Required or Desired skills
pertinent to your job description. NOTE: Year of Standing (i.e. Sophomore, Junior, Senior) may
NOT be used as a sole criterion. Please see Coordinator if you have any questions.)
Related coursework: History, Folklore, Anthropology, Women’s Studies, Gender Studies, Jewish
Studies
Technical Skills: can do library research in journals and books as well as research online
Past Experience: Student has done serious library and online research in the past
Similar Professional Interests: Writing, Family History, Jewish History, Gender and Women’s
Studies
Other (please indicate):
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Please submit a curriculum vitae and a detailed explanation of the following:
1. Please give a detailed description of your project.
I have been working on this family memoir on and off for many years as my life and career
as a clinical social worker and mother of three have allowed. I now have time to work
exclusively on this book for the entire year.
The questions this book addresses are as follows:
What is the legacy of a family with secrets of which generation after generation was
unaware, at least consciously?
How do these secrets become manifest non-verbally and then verbally?
How can every individual’s life and every family’s life be perceived mythically?
How do myth, folklore, history and personal narrative intersect and fertilize each other?
Themes of the book include mother-daughter relationships, infertility and pregnancy loss,
the uses of art for healing, witchcraft persecution, persecution of Jews in Europe during
medieval times, the figure of Lilith (according to legend, Adam’s first wife before Eve) as
an icon of female rage and creativity. All of these themes come together through folklore,
Student-Scholar Partnership
Spring 2013
Project Proposal
the Hebrew Bible, Jewish history and feminism. They span the period from pre-biblical
times to the present.
I have currently completed the first draft of the first third of the book.
2. What role will the student play in the project? Please be specific regarding expected
responsibilities.
The student will be responsible for historical research on witchcraft persecution, especially
during the medieval period. The student will be expected to report to me each week on what she is
finding, what sources she is looking at, how the information she is finding impacts my book.
3. How will your project benefit from the student's participation?
I find from working with students in the past that bouncing ideas back and forth about a
book project leads to directions I might never have known about or gone in had I been
working alone. I truly value the input of the student as well as our weekly discussions.
4. What specific knowledge or skills will the student acquire from carrying out this work?
The student will acquire research skills as well as knowledge about the historical period in
question. The student will learn how to summarize the information she is finding on a
weekly basis and recognize how this information contributes to the writing process.
In addition, the student will gain the opportunity to observe firsthand the process of writing
a book. I am very willing to share as much of the process as I possibly can. I wrote my first
book with my mother who was an historian of American colonial women’s
History when I had just graduated from college. Since then I have written and published
several books (see c.v.) and would be happy to pass on what I know about writing and
publishing.
5. What do you foresee to be the mutual benefits of the mentoring relationship?
As I stated in my answers to #3 and #4, I know the mentoring relationship to be a
delightfully reciprocal one. I gain a lot of insight and perspective on my project by seeing it
from another’s viewpoint and by trying out ideas on someone with whom I am working
closely. I also see how the student benefits from seeing the work of an older, experienced
scholar close up and being able to ask questions and give opinions about the work.
6. Please feel free to add any other information you feel relevant.
Any questions? Please direct them to the Student-Scholar Partnership Coordinator, Kristen Mullin,
Women's Studies Research Center, Brandeis University, MS 079, Waltham, MA. 02454-9110
Email: mullin@brandeis.edu
Student-Scholar Partnership
Spring 2013
Project Proposal