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 Turks, and the Arabs. Colonialism in the modern sense began ...

, 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 conside ...

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 university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

. Penslar taught at Indiana University in Bloomington 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 anch ...

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 ...

. 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 highe ...

, 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 arr ...

, 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