Deborah Hertz

Deborah Hertz is the Herman Wouk Chair in Modern Jewish Studies and a Professor in the Department of History at the University of California, San Diego. She has previously held teaching positions at the State University of New York at Binghamton (1988–1996) and Sarah Lawrence College (1996–2003), and has been affiliated with Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley.

Her research focuses on modern German and Jewish history, with a strong emphasis on gender, conversion, assimilation, and radicalism. Her work explores the lives of prominent Jewish women, the dynamics of salon culture in Berlin, and the social and political forces shaping Jewish identity in Europe from the 18th to the 20th century.

Her recent publications reveal a sustained interest in radical Jewish women such as Manya Shochat and Rosa Luxemburg, as well as themes of conversion, gendered honor, and cultural patronage. Her influential book How Jews Became Germans is central to understanding the mechanisms of assimilation in Berlin. The publications demonstrate a consistent engagement with German-Jewish intellectual and social history, often through biographical and gendered lenses.

She has received no explicitly mentioned scientific awards in the provided texts.

Deborah Hertz has advised or mentored students in history and Jewish studies, though specific names are not listed. She has not received mention of grants, but her research is supported by major academic presses and institutions. Her work is widely published and accessible through platforms like Academia.edu.

She is affiliated with scholarly communities including the Leo Baeck Institute and contributes to public history through lectures, podcasts, and public talks.