Erica Lehrer (born 1969) is an anthropologist,

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

, and academic specializing in post-

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

Jewish culture,

museum studies Museology or museum studies is the study of museums. It explores the history of museums and their role in society, as well as the activities they engage in, including curating, preservation, public programming, and education. Terminology The w ...

, ethnography, and public scholarship. She is Associate Professor of History and Sociology/Anthropology at Concordia University, where she holds a

Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...

in Museum and Heritage Studies and serves as director of the Curating and Public Scholarship Lab at Concordia University.

Education

She has received a B.A. from

Grinnell College Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-stu ...

and M.A. and PhD degrees from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Career

In 2013, Lehrer curated "Souvenir, Talisman, Toy," an ethnographic exhibition of historical and contemporary Polish-made figurines depicting Jews (including the modern antisemitic

Jew with a coin The Jew with a coin (, also little Jew (), or lucky Jew ()) is a good luck charm in Poland, where images or figurines of the character, usually accompanied by a proverb, are said to bring good fortune, particularly financially. For most Poles ...

figurines), at the Ethnographic Museum of Kraków. A smaller selection of objects and media from the exhibit was on display from July 28 – August 30, 2013, at the

Galicia Jewish Museum The Galicia Jewish Museum ( Polish: ''Żydowskie Muzeum Galicja'') is located in the historic Jewish district of Kazimierz in Kraków, Poland. It is a photo exhibition documenting the remnants of Jewish culture and life in Polish Galicia, whic ...

.Why Are the Poles Amassing Jewish Figurines?
Haaretz, Benny Mer, 20 November 2014Poland's mantelpiece Jews
The JC, 4 December 2014Cała, Alina. "„Pamiątka, Zabawka, Talizman/Souvenir, Talisman, Toy”(wystawa w Muzeum Etnograficznym w Krakowie, 2013 rok, kuratorka: Erica Lehrer)." Studia Litteraria et Historica 3-4 (2015): 265-271.
/ref> In 2016, she curated a new exhibition at the

titled "A Single Point Perspective/Punkt Zbiezny."

Personal life and family

Lehrer's uncle was physicist Frederick Reif, who was married to

Mildred Dresselhaus Mildred Dresselhaus''Mildred Dresselhaus'' was elected in 1974

. Her mother, Liane Reif-Lehrer, was a

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

and professor at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

. Her brother, Damon Lehrer, is a children's book author.

Awards

*Canada Research Chair in Museum and Heritage Studies *Canada Research Chair in Post-Conflict Memory, Ethnography and Museology *Hazel D. Cole Fellowship in Jewish Studies, University of Washington *Illinois Humanities Post-Doctoral Fellowship, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Publications

"Curatorial Dreams: Critics Imagine Exhibitions"
McGill-Queen's University Press, 2016,
"Jewish Space in Contemporary Poland"
Indiana University Press, 2015,
''Na szczęście to Żyd / Lucky Jews: Poland's Jewish Figurines''
Ha!art Press, 2014,

Indiana University Press, 2013, *co-editor

Palgrave Macmillan, 2011,

References

External links

*
The Curating and Public Scholarship LabSouvenir, Talisman, Toy exhibition website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehrer, Erica American anthropologists Canada Research Chairs Concordia University faculty Grinnell College alumni Living people University of Michigan alumni American women anthropologists 1969 births American women academics 21st-century American women