Chumie Juni, assistant professor of religion, has been selected as a Hadassah-Brandeis Institute scholar in residence for Fall 2026. The HBI residency program is designed to support scholars working on Jewish women’s and gender studies, allowing them to devote an extended period of time to their research and writing and providing access to the Jewish Feminism Collections at Brandeis University. Juni will work on her book project, Halakhic Women: Gender and Ritual in American Orthodox Judaism, which explores the intersections of gender formation and piety in the ritual practices of Ashkenazic Ultra-Orthodox Jewish women in the U.S. and Canada.
A scholar of contemporary Ashkenazic and Sephardic-Mizrahi Judaism in North America, Juni studies the lived religious practices of women and girls, analyzing how they navigate pious practices that they are not obligated to perform according to Orthodox halakha (Jewish law), such as daily prayers, Torah study, and holiday rituals. Women in Ashkenazic Orthodox communities currently practice these rituals on a scale unprecedented in Jewish history. Juni’s book project shows how these ritual practices render incoherence, conflict, and gender queerness crucial avenues for Ultra-Orthodox women’s halakhic piety. While in residence at the institute, in addition to working on her manuscript, Juni will also participate in a seminar and give a public lecture on her work.