Gilah Kletenik

Gilah Kletenik is a Research Fellow in Jewish Studies at the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies, University of Washington, holding the Hazel D. Cole Fellowship (2024-2026). She specializes in Jewish philosophy from medieval through modern periods with concentrated expertise in Spinoza's thought and its intellectual lineage.

Her educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University (2020)
• M.A. in Hebrew and Judaic Studies
• M.A. in Bible and Talmud

Kletenik's research interrogates how power structures shape Western conceptions of reality, reason, and humanity, excavating alternatives in Jewish naturalism and immanence. She critically engages Spinoza's philosophy through medieval precursors (Maimonides, Gersonides), early modern contemporaries (Descartes, Anne Conway), and modern heirs (Marx, Deleuze), while situating this work within critical theory, new materialism, object-oriented ontology, affect theory, and queer theory frameworks. Her scholarship consistently bridges historical philosophical analysis with contemporary sociopolitical critique.

Her public scholarship demonstrates thematic continuity across publications, examining institutional power dynamics in Jewish Studies through lenses of gender, antisemitism, and decolonization. These works reveal persistent patterns connecting medieval philosophical concepts to modern systemic issues in academia and society.

Her distinguished fellowships include:

• Hazel D. Cole Fellow in Jewish Studies, University of Washington (2024-2026)
• Postdoctoral Associate, Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies, Boston University
• Alan M. Stroock Fellow, Center for Jewish Studies, Harvard University

Currently completing her monograph "Sovereignty Disrupted: Spinoza and the Disparity of Reality," Kletenik maintains active public engagement through lectures and critical commentary, advancing interdisciplinary dialogue between Jewish philosophy and contemporary theoretical movements while challenging institutional norms in academic Jewish Studies.