Holly Pearse is currently a Religious Diversity in North America PhD candidate in the Department of Religion & Culture at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Her dissertation research is on the connection between the construction of Jewish identity and the portrayal of Jews in North American cinema, and her other research interests include Hollywood history, critical white theory, and the role of celebrity in religious consumerism. She also researches on legendary entertainment figures such as Jack Benny, Groucho Marx, and Charlie Chaplin.
Holly�s other interests include: Jewish-American literature; Jewish writers of Quebec; the history of Jewish and Irish relations; autobiography as sources in Jewish social history; history of the Jewish communities of Atlantic Canada; the history of Jews in Canada; ancient Jewish literature; religion and public education in Canada; blogs as autoethnography; insider/outsider issues in Religious Studies; definition of Jewish identity; Jewishness in the history of Criminal Justice; Yiddish cultural products; and the history of early radio and television.
She began her doctoral studies in September 2005, and her anticipated graduation is the summer of 2009. She has completed her coursework component, and will be writing her general comprehensive exam in January 2007, and her field comprehensive exam in May of 2007.
Her doctoral committee is chaired by Dr. Faydra Shapiro, and also consists of Dr. Ronald L. Grimes, and Dr. Natasha Pravaz.
Holly was born in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, and graduated from Middleton Regional High School in 1996. She earned a BA in Comparative Religion from Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS) in 2001, studied Criminal Forensics at St Mary's University (Halifax, NS), and has an MA in Ancient Jewish Literature from McMaster University (Hamilton, ON; 2004). She studied film history at McMaster in preparation for her current research work.
Her future professional goals include teaching Religious, Jewish and/or Cultural Studies at the university level, continuing in academic research, and expanding her skills as a film journalist.
by Amanda Wood (2006)