Dorothee Gelhard

Prof. Dr. Dorothee Gelhard is a full Professor of Comparative Literature (Slavic/German/Romance Philology) at the University of Regensburg since 2002. She founded the Yiddish studies program (2007) and co-established the Master's program in General and Comparative Literature with Jewish studies focus (since 2007). As Principal Investigator of the Graduate School for Eastern and Southeastern European Studies (since 2012), she leads the research group 'Construction, Translation and Transgression in Art and Literature'. She also holds guest professorships at Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2012-2013) and University of Haifa (2014-2015).

• Specializes in Ernst Cassirer, Aby Warburg, Walter Benjamin, and Emmanuel Levinas
• Focus on German-Jewish, Russian-Jewish, and Italian-Jewish literatures
• Key research areas: Literary forms of philosophy, dance studies, and intermediality

Her publications and editorial work (E.g., the Pegisha – Begegnung book series) emphasize Jewish cultural encounters with European modernity, including assimilation, secularization, and cultural memory. She has led seminars on dance-literature interactions, analyzing works like Romeo und Julia and Les Ballets Russes collaborations.