Barry Trachtenberg is an American historian and professor, currently holding the Rubin Presidential Chair of Jewish History at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

. As a Jewish scholar specializing in Jewish history, Trachtenberg has been an outspoken critic of both American support for Israel and Israeli policies.

Education and career

Trachtenberg, is originally from

Newington, Connecticut Newington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. Located south of downtown Hartford, Newington is an older, mainly residential suburb located in Greater Hartford. As of 2023, t ...

. His parents were a salesman and a receptionist, and he was educated in the local public school system. He is a 1991 graduate of Glassboro State College (now

Rowan University Rowan University is a public research university in Glassboro, New Jersey, with a medical campus in Stratford and medical and academic campuses in Camden. Founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a site donated by 107 residents, the scho ...

). After earning a master's degree at the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

and a postgraduate diploma from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

's Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, he completed a Ph.D. in 2004 from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. After lecturing at the

University at Albany, SUNY The State University of New York at Albany (University at Albany, UAlbany, or SUNY Albany) is a Public university, public research university in Albany, New York, United States. Founded in 1844, it is one of four "university centers" of the St ...

in 2003, he obtained an assistant professorship there in 2004, and was promoted to associate professor in 2010. He moved to Wake Forest in 2016 as associate professor and Michael R. & Deborah K. Rubin Presidential Chair of Jewish History; in 2023 he was promoted to full professor. He directed the programs in Judaic Studies and Hebrew Studies at the University at Albany from 2010 to 2016, and the Jewish Studies Program at Wake Forest from 2017 to 2020. He serves on the Board of Scholars of

Facing History and Ourselves Facing History & Ourselves is a global non-profit organization founded in 1976. The organization's mission is to "use lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate." The organization is based in Bost ...

. From 2015 to 2020 he was a member of the Academic Council of the Holocaust Educational Foundation of Northwestern University. He is a member of the Academic Advisory Boards of

Jewish Voice for Peace Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP; ) is an American Jewish anti-Zionist and left-wing advocacy organization. It is critical of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, and supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign ag ...

and the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism.

Books

Trachtenberg has authored several academic books including The Revolutionary Roots of Modern Yiddish, 1903-1917 (2008), The United States and the Nazi Holocaust: Race, Refuge, and Remembrance (2018), and '' The Holocaust & the Exile of Yiddish: A History of the Algemeyne Entsiklopedye'' (2022), contributing to the academic discourse on Jewish history.Reviews of ''The Holocaust & the Exile of Yiddish'': * Miriam Chorley-Schulz, ''Central European History'', * Lewis Glinert, ''Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development'', * Sonia Gollance, George L. Mosse Program in History, University of Wisconsin

* Allison Schachter, ''PaRDeS'', * Mark L. Smith, ''AJS Review'', * Samuel J. Spinner, ''In Geveb''

* Jeffrey Veidlinger, ''Holocaust and Genocide Studies'',

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trachtenberg, Barry Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American historians Historians of Jews and Judaism People from Newington, Connecticut Rowan University alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford University of California, Los Angeles alumni University at Albany, SUNY faculty Wake Forest University faculty 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American Jews Historians from Connecticut Jewish American historians University of Vermont alumni