Staff
Sarah Denne
PhD Student in Religious Studies - xfr9wv@virginia.edu
Sarah is a fourth year PhD student in the Religious Studies department where her work centers around questions of the ethics of suffering and evil in modern thought. She completed a masters at the University of Chicago Divinity school where she studied critical theory and first-person Holocaust testimonies. Currently, she is interested in the intersection of modern Jewish and Christian thought with literary narratives about subjectivity and evil. In past work, she has written about self-formation, mystical responses to suffering, and dehumanization.
Abigail Snyder
MA Student in Religious Studies - wjc3eu@virginia.edu
Abigail Snyder is a second-year MA student in the Religious Studies department where she studies Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity. Inspired to pursue a degree in Religious Studies because of her experience at an archaeological dig in Israel during the summer of 2022, her research interests include rabbinic texts, Jewish law, and material culture. Prior to studying at UVA, she earned a BA in English, with a minor in biology, from Hillsdale College. Abigail is a graduate student assistant for the Jewish Studies Program and a Manin Jewish Studies Graduate Fellow
Grace Theriot
Undergraduate Fellow and Major - akg4hm@virginia.edu
Grace Theriot is a fourth-year double-majoring in Public Policy and Leadership as well as Jewish Studies, with a concentration in Holocaust Studies. In 2025, Grace became UVA’s first Undergraduate Research Fellow in Holocaust Studies at the University of Southern California Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research. She loves being a Jewish Studies Undergraduate Fellow—hearing from so many different guest speakers and building great relationships with faculty and other fellows.
Harrison Stewart
Media Support Specialist - hes2wxr@virginia.edu
Harrison Stewart graduated from UVA in May 2024 with a double major in Religious Studies and Media Studies. As Media Support Specialist, he combines these passions in managing the Jewish Studies Program’s website, social media, and audiovisual production. Harrison also works as a content strategist for web design company Mutti, freelance multimedia producer, and podcast producer on the UVA Mormon Studies Podcast “Scholars & Saints.”