Kathryn Hellerstein

Kathryn Hellerstein is a Professor of Germanic Studies (specializing in Yiddish) at the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Francophone, Italian, and Germanic Studies. She has served as the Ruth Meltzer Director of the Jewish Studies Program since 2016. Holding a Ph.D. from Stanford University and a B.A. from Brandeis University, her expertise spans Yiddish literature, modern Jewish studies, translation, and gender studies.

• Education: Ph.D., Stanford University; B.A., Brandeis University

Her research focuses on Yiddish women poets, transnational cultural encounters between Jews and China, and midwestern Jewish identity. Notable works include A Question of Tradition (2014), China and Ashkenazic Jewry (2022), and Jewish American Literature: A Norton Anthology (2001). Her scholarship has been recognized with prestigious awards like the Guggenheim Fellowship and National Endowment grants.

Hellerstein has produced groundbreaking translations of Yiddish poetry, including works by Kadya Molodowsky and Moyshe-Leyb Halpern. She currently teaches courses on Yiddish language, Jewish film, and translation studies. Her current projects explore anthologies of Yiddish women poets and the intersection of Jewish culture with Chinese history.