Olga Litvak

Olga Litvak is the Laurie B. and Eric M. Roth Professor of Modern European Jewish History at Cornell University, with primary affiliation in the Department of History and concurrent appointments in the Jewish Studies Program and Religious Studies Program within the College of Arts and Sciences. Her scholarly work bridges historical analysis and cultural interpretation of Eastern European Jewish experiences.

Education

• Columbia University: Ph.D. in Jewish History

Research Focus

Professor Litvak investigates the radical contradictions within Eastern European Jewish culture that simultaneously produced revolutionary politics (Trotsky) and artistic nostalgia (Chagall). Her research examines social fracture, economic mobility, mass migration, sexual anarchy, ideological rise, and catastrophic violence. Current work explores the Russian origins of Jewish nationalism, analyzing how liberation movements for the Jewish body imposed mental discipline through ideological frameworks.

Publication Trends

Spanning 2005-2017, her scholarship demonstrates consistent engagement with Jewish cultural history through interdisciplinary lenses. Key patterns include literary analysis of Haskalah as a romantic movement, military conscription's impact on Russian Jewish identity, and poetic responses to historical trauma like the Kishinev Pogrom. Her work consistently connects macro-historical events to micro-cultural narratives, emphasizing the dialectical tension between Jewish emancipation and cultural preservation in modernity.

Teaching and Mentorship

Professor Litvak teaches core courses including "Anti-Judaism and Anti-Semitism in Historical Perspective" and "Truths: A History from Antiquity to the Modern," mentoring graduate students in Jewish historical methodology while securing institutional research support for her projects on Eastern European Jewish modernity.