During Aria’s first semester as an undergraduate, she enrolled in JS 120, A History of Judaism, taught by Professor Dov Weiss. At the time, she had a rudimentary interest in the academic study of Judaism, but Professor Weiss’s enthusiasm for the material, and the richness of the Jewish tradition, inspired her to change her major from comparative literature to Jewish Studies. Later in her undergraduate career, Aria decided to double major in Classics (Greek), to situate her exploration of Second Temple Judaism in its Greco-Roman milieu. By the time she graduated from UIUC in 2018, Aria was well-equipped for graduate study and received a MAR in Second Temple Judaism from Yale Divinity School in 2021.

Currently, Aria is a PhD student in the Department of Religious Studies (Hebrew Bible and ancient Judaism) at UNC-Chapel Hill. Her most recent research, in conversation with scholars of feminist theory, queer theory, black studies, and disability studies, has examined surrogacy, reproductive futurism, and maternity in the Hebrew Bible and the contemporary world. Frequently, Aria engages Jewish feminist thinkers like Mara Benjamin to trace the contours of ancient and modern maternal caregiving.

Aria’s time in the Program in Jewish Culture & Society at UIUC, shaped by indelible mentors like Bruce Rosenstock (z”l), Dov Weiss, and Sara Feldman, introduced her to the major questions and debates underpinning the academic study of Judaism, taught her to critically investigate and analyze religious texts, and nurtured her curiosity about the human condition. She learned Biblical Hebrew with Bruce Rosenstock, who taught her class to recite the first few verses of Genesis to the tune of the song “Bereshit” by the Moshav Band. She studied the stubborn and rebellious son from Tractate Sanhedrin with Dov Weiss (and realized rabbis can, indeed, interpret biblical laws out of existence!). Finally, she learned modern Hebrew with Sara Feldman, which unlocked a world of Hebrew language media and scholarship.  

Aria is infinitely grateful for the knowledge she gained and the relationships she cultivated as a Jewish Studies major at UIUC. Aria says, “If you’re a current undergraduate pondering a Jewish Studies major or minor, I encourage you go for it. The study of Judaism, or religion more broadly, grants you the freedom to ask the big questions: What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be “religious”? What does it mean to be wise and good, and what can religious texts teach us about living well? How do Jewish thinkers, specifically, try to answer these questions? Jewish Studies complements other humanities or non-humanities majors, but it is also a formidable and foundational field all on its own.”