Vignettes: Meet the New Faculty, Fall 2026
“Having lived in big cities, I’m excited to become part of a small, tight-knit intellectual community where I’ll actually get to know my colleagues and students really well. I’ve already had the chance to meet so many new people doing amazing things. The excitement for the start of the semester is ramping up and I can’t wait for all the good conversations to come!”
Mendel Kranz, assistant professor of religion, researches and teaches modern Jewish history and thought, philosophy of religion, postcolonial studies, race and racialization, antisemitism, Islamophobia, Jews in the Muslim world, secularism, diaspora, continental philosophy, and critical theory. He holds a PhD and MA from the University of Chicago Divinity School and a BHL and rabbinic ordination from the Chaim Yaakov Shlomo College of Jewish Studies.