Dr. Shira Schwartz

Biography

Shira E. Schwartz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Northwestern University, specializing in late antique rabbinic and contemporary Orthodox ex-Orthodox Judaism. Her interdisciplinary research combines textual, phenomenological, and bioethnographic methods to explore themes of gender, sexual orientation, and constructed minoritized ethnoreligious worlds within educational contexts. Schwartz emphasizes the role of space in shaping the body, particularly in connection to educational and biomedical environments that impact religious and biomaterial reproduction. Her scholarship has received support from various organizations including the Association of Jewish Studies and the Network for Research on Jewish Education. Schwartz previously served as a visiting scholar at Stanford University and has contributed to numerous workshops and publications, notably on topics surrounding contemporary media representations of Jewish life. She teaches undergraduate courses that interrogate the intersection of religion, sexuality, and health, and encourages students to explore a diverse range of sources and ideas to foster engaged learning. Schwartz holds a BA from Yeshiva University, an MA in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Davis, and a PhD in Comparative Literature with a graduate certificate in Judaic Studies from the University of Michigan.

Research Interests

Courses