Barbara Henry

Barbara Henry is an Associate Professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literature at the University of Washington, affiliated with the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies. Her research and teaching focus on 20th-century Russian and Yiddish literature, theatre, and drama, with a particular emphasis on cross-cultural exchanges.

Education:

• D. Phil., University of Oxford (1998)

Her scholarly work explores the intersections of Russian and Yiddish theatrical traditions, including co-editing Inventing the Modern Yiddish Stage and authoring Rewriting Russia: Jacob Gordin’s Yiddish Drama. She has published extensively on topics like Tolstoy’s influence on Yiddish theatre and avant-garde experimentation in Russian modernism.

Recent lectures include So Why Yiddish? (2012), highlighting her engagement with Jewish cultural studies. Her publications span from 1995 to 2012, reflecting a long-standing focus on diaspora narratives, adaptation, and the socio-political dimensions of theatre.