Jane S. Gerber (born 1938) is a professor of Jewish history and director of the Institute for Sephardic Studies at the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

Life and education

Gerber, née Jane Satlow was born in 1938 to Israeli mother Elise Kliegman and father David Satlow. Growing up in an observant family, she and her two sisters attended The Center Academy at the Brooklyn Jewish Center. In 1955, she finished high school and enrolled at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

studying the works of French novelist,

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous Eng ...

. After receiving her undergraduate education, she continued on at

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 she began to study the relationship between Jewish and Islamic history. She met her future husband, Roger A. Gerber,at Harvard. She and Gerber moved to New York and married in 1965. In New York, Gerber continued her work on Jewish-Islamic History at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and earned her

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

on the interactions between the local population of

Fez, Morocco Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès, Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the List of cities in Morocco, second largest city i ...

, and the recently immigrated

Megorashim Megorashim ( he, מגורשים "expelled") is a term used to refer to Jews from the Iberian Peninsula who arrived in North Africa as a result of the anti-Jewish persecutions of 1391 and the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492. These migrants we ...

. Gerber has three daughters.

Academic career

Gerber teaches classes in

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

, and Masters level Liberal Studies in the Center for Jewish Studies at the

, specializing in Sephardic history. She is director of the Institute for Sephardic Studies.Institute for Sephardic Studies, Center for Jewish Studies, City University of New York, 2014, accessed 20 February 2014
/ref> Gerber's books include ''Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience'' and ''Jewish Society in Fez.'' Gerber served as president of the Association for Jewish Studies from 1981-1983.

Works

* * * *(1997) ''Jewish Society in Fez, 1450-1700: Studies in Communal and Economic Life (Studies in Judaism in Modern Times)'' Her one-volume history of Sephardic Jews of Spain was described as "excellent" and a reviewer noted her strengths in synthesizing much recent research about this people.

Awards

* 1993: National Jewish Book Award in the Sephardic Studies category for ''Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience''

References

External links

The Institute for Sephardic Studies at The City University of New York
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerber, Jane 1938 births Living people Scholars of antisemitism Jewish scholars 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American historians American women historians 21st-century American women writers Harvard University alumni City College of New York alumni Wellesley College alumni 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American women