{"id":3,"date":"2011-07-15T16:12:03","date_gmt":"2011-07-15T16:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/shaulkelner\/home-page\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T02:19:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T02:19:28","slug":"home-page","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/shaulkelner\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Shaul<\/p>\n

Cultural Sociologist of American Jewish Life<\/h2>\n

Shaul Kelner is Professor of Jewish Studies and Sociology at Vanderbilt University. His research explores how American Jews forge solidarity with Jewish communities abroad\u2014from Cold War campaigns to free Soviet Jews to contemporary Birthright Israel tours\u2014and how those efforts reshape American Jewish identity and culture.<\/p>\n

His work sits at the intersection of cultural sociology, social movements, and Jewish studies, drawing on archives, ethnography, and sociological theory to illuminate the creative ways ordinary people build community and fight for justice.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Books<\/h2>\n
\n
\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

A Cold War Exodus<\/a><\/h3>\n

NYU Press, 2024<\/p>\n

\u2605 National Jewish Book Award Winner<\/p>\n

How American Jewish activists used ingenious tactics\u2014Passover seders, bar mitzvahs, tourists smuggling aid across the Iron Curtain\u2014to wage the most successful human rights campaign of the Cold War and free over one million Soviet Jews.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Tours<\/a><\/p>\n

Tours That Bind<\/a><\/h3>\n

NYU Press, 2010<\/p>\n

\u2605 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award (AJS)<\/p>\n

Seven years of firsthand observation of Birthright Israel. How tourism shapes American Jewish identity and Israel\u2013diaspora relations\u2014a modern pilgrimage blending ancient tradition with contemporary life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

Featured Work<\/h2>\n
\n

The Wreckage, Season 3: \u201cOpen Up the Gates\u201d<\/a><\/h3>\n

A nine-episode podcast series produced with the American Jewish Historical Society (2025). The untold story of how American Jews fought to free Soviet Jewry\u2014told through the voices of the activists who lived it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

Speaking & Public Engagement<\/h2>\n

Prof. Kelner is available for keynotes, scholar-in-residence programs, panels, workshops, and corporate programming on antisemitism, antizionism, Soviet Jewish activism, and American Jewish life.<\/p>\n

Visit Speaking Site \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cultural Sociologist of American Jewish Life Shaul Kelner is Professor of Jewish Studies and Sociology at Vanderbilt University. His research explores how American Jews forge solidarity with Jewish communities abroad\u2014from Cold War campaigns to free Soviet Jews to contemporary Birthright Israel tours\u2014and how those efforts reshape American Jewish identity and culture. His work sits at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":806,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/shaulkelner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/shaulkelner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/shaulkelner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/shaulkelner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/shaulkelner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/shaulkelner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":894,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/shaulkelner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3\/revisions\/894"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/shaulkelner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/shaulkelner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/shaulkelner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}