Shera Avi-Yonah ’21 Named 2020 Rhodes Scholar

November 30, 2020
Picture of Shera Avi-Yonah

History concentrator Shera Avi-Yonah ’21 has been named a 2020 Rhodes Scholar. Asked about her time at Harvard, her senior thesis, and her plans for the future, she says “Entering one last semester at Harvard, I feel extremely lucky to have learned from many wonderful professors and graduate students in the History department. I’m currently working on a senior thesis examining conflicts between the Richmond, Va. press and the Confederate central government over issues like conscription and passport policy. At Oxford, I’m similarly hoping to study the ways newspapers influence social attitudes and vice versa, this time comparing the history of U.S. and U.K. libel lawsuits. I especially want to thank Professor Faust, my thesis advisor, and Marino Auffant, my House advisor, without whom this never would have happened "