Ralph Melnick

Ralph Melnick is a Senior Lecturer in Judaic Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, specializing in post-medieval Jewish experience with focus on European and American Jewry, Jewish-Christian relations, and Jewish-African American cultural encounters. Education includes a PhD from Columbia University (1977).

Research examines:

• Historical Jewish-Christian intellectual dialogues
• Jewish cultural history across Europe and America
• African American-Jewish social intersections
• Historical biography and archival studies

Publications include biographical works on Ludwig Lewisohn, Senda Berenson, and Anne Frank's literary legacy. Awards include Phi Beta Kappa, Distinguished Faculty Research Award from College of Charleston, and fellowships from NEH, American Philosophical Society, and American Jewish Archives.