Adam J Teller

Adam J Teller is a Professor of History and Professor of Judaic Studies at Brown University, where he has been a faculty member since 2010. Previously, he taught in the Department of Jewish History at the University of Haifa from 1995 to 2010. He specializes in the history of early modern Polish-Lithuanian Jewry and its integration into broader European society. His research bridges Jewish and non-Jewish historical contexts, emphasizing comparative and integrative methodologies.

Education:

• PhD, Hebrew University (1997)
• MA, Hebrew University (1990)
• BA, Oxford University (1984)

His research interests include early modern Jewish history, economic history, the history of Hasidism, Jewish family history, and the social and cultural dynamics of Polish-Lithuanian Jewry. He emphasizes the interconnectedness of Jewish and non-Jewish societies, analyzing urban infrastructure, economic integration, and institutional development. His work often draws on both Jewish and state archival sources to reconstruct complex social realities.

His recent publications reflect a sustained focus on the economic and cultural dimensions of Jewish life, the re-evaluation of rabbinic authority, and the geographic spread of religious movements. These works collectively highlight themes of integration, crisis, resilience, and transnational Jewish networks in early modern Europe.

Scientific Awards:

• Order of Merit for Contribution to Polish Culture (2015)
• Senior NEH Fellow, Center for Jewish History (2012)
• Fellow, Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania (2013)
• Bloomfield Prize for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation (1998)
• Multiple fellowships from Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Leipzig institutions

He has advised several graduate students on topics ranging from the interwar Yiddish press to Jewish plutocracy in Tsarist Russia, reflecting his broad mentorship in modern and early modern Jewish history. His teaching includes courses on early modern globalization, Jewish-Christian relations, and the Holocaust. He is actively involved in scholarly communities, serving on editorial boards for Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry, Zutot, and as Associate Editor of Gal-Ed.

His ongoing research on the 17th-century Jewish refugee crisis following the Chmielnicki uprising aims to reconstruct transnational Jewish networks across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, offering new insights into the global dimensions of early modern Jewish life.