NYC Gazette

This past semester brought fascinating speakers and innovative programming for students of the S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program at Stern College for Women. Each semester, Dr. Cynthia Wachtell, director of the program, organizes events designed to help the students develop skills that will help them in both their personal and professional lives. Below is a roundup of events from the spring semester.

On Tuesday, Jan. 30, Stern alumna Layaliza Soloveichik spoke to the students. Soloveichik, who is the Deputy Chief of the Civil Division at the U.S. Attorney's Office, discussed her experiences in college and Yale Law School; clerking on the Israeli Supreme Court; working at a prominent law firm; her practice in law as a Jewish woman, wife, and mother; and the lessons she learned from those experiences.

She began her talk by discussing her time at Stern as well as her time in law school, which made her think more about her roots. She then went on to discuss her experience in the U.S. attorney’s office, which she views as “the government’s law firm,” and gave an example of a case that she successfully fought. One of the most meaningful takeaways from her talk with the students was the importance of raising children in the Jewish tradition, and Soloveichik advised the students to find people of faith in their workplaces and to strike a good balance between their family commitments and professional careers.

On Feb. 5, acclaimed author Dr. Dara Horn addressed students with a lecture titled “The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: Becoming Prosemitic in a Haunted World.” The event was co-sponsored by the Strauss Center for Torah and Western Thought.

Dr. Horn reflected on her experiences serving on Harvard’s antisemitism advisory committee following October 7th and being inundated with stories of antisemitic encounters experienced by Jewish students on campus. “Antisemitism is the twilight of thought,” she remarked. “And I think the stakes for understanding this and how to address it are really nothing less than the future of intellectual life in America.”

On February 2, communications expert Dr. Kara Alaimo led a session on women and social media after a group dinner with students. Alaimo discussed topics from relationships to physical and mental well-being affected by social media usage.

Dr. Alaimo explained how social networks hold women back because of their focus on appearances and how social media allows negative judgment towards women globally.

On Feb. 26, Dr. Chaya Karkowsky spoke about her career challenges within American healthcare systems related to obstetrics and gynecology practices both domestically and internationally.

Naomi Handwerger commented post-event: “I was really inspired by this honors event.” Inspired by Karkowsky's insights into nutrition concerning women's health issues Handwerger decided to focus her Senior Project accordingly.

On March 15th Honors students visited The American Museum of Natural History beginning with self-guided tours through Richard Gilder Center For Science Education And Innovation where they viewed explorer-related items alongside an insectarium visit concluding via planetarium shows depicting Earth via solar system perspectives

Vered Gottleib said: "Invisible Worlds" immersive experience reminded them about taking care regarding planetary habitability."

March 28th saw Honors Students attending Shaina Taub's musical 'Suffs' showcasing suffragist pursuits leading up towards passing America's nineteenth amendment across seven years towards securing voting rights

April fifth Central Park tours led via Central Park Conservancy guides covering iconic sites including Sheep Meadow alongside Bethesda Terrace concluded amid real-time seismic activity recording New York City magnitude-4-point-eight earthquakes during tours themselves

April eleventh senior project presentations followed celebratory dinners culminating academic year's worth learning discoveries friendships alike Topics presented included Israel-Iran relations spermatogenesis AI-detection deepfakes conflicts involving biblical Yosef Lithuanian Yeshiva movements

Many thanks go out towards Vered Gottleib ‘26S assisting writing article itself