As the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship, Michael Portal will spend the 2022-2023 academic year conducting interdisciplinary research at the University of Antwerp. His research concerns the Flemish emphasis on samenleven (“living together”) and its significance for Antwerp’s Jewish communities. His research project asks, "What is it that unites these distinct Jewish communities?". This work extends scholarship on community formation and maintenance. Portal will be a research fellow at UAntwerpen's Institute of Jewish Studies, the Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change, and the Urban Studies Institute. Portal is a Ph.D. candidate in Texas A&M University’s Department of Philosophy.