“If you want to learn something, read about it. If you want to understand something, write about it. If you want to master something, teach it.”
Application Date: October 14, 2026
This year, four Boston University undergraduates will be selected as Elie Wiesel Study House Fellows. Each fellow will take research already done — for a class, an independent project, or a question that would not let them go — or a narrower topic they’d like to explore in depth, and turn it into a three-session mini-seminar of up to ten students, across Jewish history, culture, ethics, politics, or literature. (A seminar on Jews and the philosophy of sport, moving from the Maccabi Games to the body in Zionist thought, is exactly the kind of thing we mean.) The fellowship aims to build a small, serious community of learners at the Elie Wiesel Center, where fellows and their peers study from and with one another.
Please contact Dr. Dotan Greenvald, Program Director (dotang@bu.edu) with questions.
Eligibility & Expectations:
Open to any BU undergraduate, any year or major — no Jewish Studies background required, only research already done or research you would like to further explore, and a genuine desire to teach it. Fellows design and teach a three-session seminar, work with a faculty mentor through the fall, and join the program’s pedagogy orientation before teaching in the spring.
Fellows receive a $1,000 stipend.
How to apply:
Submit a personal statement, a seminar proposal (title, topic, and questions to explore), a writing sample, and a preferred mentor if applicable, via the application form. Fellows are selected by the faculty committee for intellectual ambition, clarity of vision, and quality of prior work.
Timeline:
Deadline: October 14
Fellows notified: late October/early November
Seminar development with mentors: fall semester
Teaching of seminars: spring semester