Gain new perspectives on the American Jewish experience as the Skirball awards the 2023–24 Friedman Prize to Alona Bach, author of the essay “Electric Yiddishkeit.” Join Skirball Rabbi in Residence, Beau Shapiro for a stimulating fireside chat with Bach and runner-up Sophia Shoulson.

Alona Bach is a PhD candidate in MIT's Doctoral Program in HASTS (History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society), where she works at the intersection of the history of technology and Yiddish studies. Her dissertation project focuses on representations of electric light in the interwar Yiddish-language press. Bach holds an MPhil in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge and a BA in History of Science from Harvard University. As a Yiddish-language instructor, she has taught at Brandeis University, Oberlin College and Conservatory, and various community organizations. Her illustrations have appeared in publications including The British Journal for the History of Science, AJS Perspectives, Afn shvel, Forverts, and In geveb, and, as a theater-maker, she has performed in the US, UK, and in Ukraine.

Sophia Shoulson is a PhD candidate in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Johns Hopkins University, studying modern Yiddish literature and culture. Her dissertation focuses on scenes of literary production in nineteenth and early-twentieth century Yiddish novels and considers their role in the evolution of book culture among modernizing Jewish readers and writers. Shoulson has spent the last four years (alongside Alona!) on the organizing committee for the Farbindungen Yiddish Studies Conference, serving as co-chair for the 2023 and 2024 conferences. Prior to beginning her degree at Johns Hopkins, Shoulson spent two years as bibliographic fellow at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts. Shoulson is an avid sports fan, mediocre bassist, competent sudoku-player, and enthusiastic writing center tutor. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland with three typewriters, only one of which is made out of LEGO.

Established in memory of the Skirball’s founding chairman, Howard I. Friedman, the annual Friedman Prize invites graduate students from across the US and beyond to submit essays offering perspectives on American Jewish experiences.

The Howard I. Friedman Memorial Graduate Essay Prize and related programs are made possible by generous support from the following donors:

Pamela and Jeffrey Balton
Howard Bernstein
Alyce and Philip de Toledo
The Friedman Family
Marcie and Cliff Goldstein
Dennis Holt
Lenart Charitable Trust
Jessie and Aaron Lowenstein
Madeline and Bruce Ramer
May and Richard Ziman