Derek Jonathan Penslar, (born 1958) is an American-Canadian
comparative historian with interests in the relationship between modern Israel and diaspora Jewish societies, global nationalist movements,
European colonialism
The historical phenomenon of colonization is one that stretches around the globe and across time. Ancient and medieval colonialism was practiced by the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Turkish people, Turks, and the Arabs.
Colonialism in the mode ...
, and post-colonial states.
He was raised in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, attended
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
for his first degree, and then took his
graduate degree
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree.
The organization and struc ...
s at the
University of California at Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...
. Penslar taught at
Indiana University in Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest campu ...
from 1987 to 1998, when he moved to
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
to assume the Samuel J. Zacks Chair in Jewish History at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
.
From 2012 to 2016, he was the inaugural holder of the Stanley Lewis Chair of
Israel Studies
''Israel Studies'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering the history, politics, society, and culture of the modern state of Israel. It was established in 1996 S. Ilan Troen as founding editor(Brandeis University). It is publishe ...
at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. He was a member of the Department of Politics and International Relations and the School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies and a fellow of
St Anne's College,
where he continues to be an honorary fellow. In 2016, he moved to
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, where he is William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History.
In 2011, he was made a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...
.
Books
* ''Zionism and Technocracy: The Engineering of Jewish Settlement in Palestine, 1870-1918'' (1991, Hebrew version 2001)
* ''In Search of Jewish Community: Jewish Identities in Germany and Austria, 1918-1933'' (1998, co-edited with
Michael Brenner)
* ''Shylock's Children: Economics and Jewish Identity in Modern Europe'' (2001)
* ''Orientalism and the Jews'' (co-edited with
Ivan Kalmar
Ivan Kalmar (born February 13, 1948) is a Canadian professor.
Early life
Soon after he was born in Prague, his family moved to Komárno, and later to Bratislava. When he was seventeen, he left what was then Czechoslovakia, and eventually arri ...
, 2004)
* ''Contemporary Antisemitism: Canada and the World'' (co-edited with Michael Marrus and Janice Gross Stein, 2005)
* ''Israel in History: The Jewish State in Comparative Perspective'' (2006)
* ''Israël face à son passé'', with Shlomo Sand, Avi Shlaïm, Les éditions arkhê, 2010
* ''The Origins of Israel 1882-1948: A Documentary History'' (co-edited with Eran Kaplan, 2011)
* ''Jews and the Military: A History'' (2013)
* ''Theodor Herzl: The Charismatic Leader'' (2020)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penslar, Derek
20th-century Canadian historians
Canadian male non-fiction writers
Jewish Canadian writers
Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada
University of Toronto faculty
Living people
1958 births
Indiana University Bloomington faculty
Harvard University faculty
21st-century Canadian historians