Nancy Sinkoff

Nancy Sinkoff is Professor of Jewish Studies and History at Rutgers University, where she has served since 1998. As Academic Director of the Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, she bridges academic leadership with teaching and research.

• Ph.D., Columbia University
• M.A., Columbia University and Jewish Theological Seminary of America
• B.A., Harvard-Radcliffe College

Her research spans Jewish intellectual history and Eastern European Jewish communities, with a focus on:

• Early Modern Polish Jewish history
• Jewish labor movements and left-wing politics
• Enlightenment-era Jewish women's roles
• Bach tradition in Berlin Jewish salons
• Postwar Jewish cultural restitution

Recent publications analyze transnational Jewish biography, gender in Enlightenment Berlin, and philosemitism in literary ethnography. Awards include the PIASA Anna Cienciala Prize (2024) and National Jewish Book Award (2020).

She teaches courses such as:

• The Early Modern and Modern Jewish Experience
• History of East European Jewry
• Jewish Politics, Power, and Powerlessness
• Yiddish Cultural Studies

A dedicated member of the American Historical Association, Association for Jewish Studies, and Columbia Faculty Seminar for Israel and Jewish Studies, Sinkoff has also contributed to New Books Network podcasts and public lectures on Jewish heritage.