Assistant professor of Judaic studies Barry Trachtenberg (pictured above) has been awarded $6,000 by the National Endowment for the Humanities to research Di algemeyne entsiklopedye (The General Encyclopedia), the first and most comprehensive encyclopedia in the Yiddish language.

The Entsiklopedye, produced between 1930 and 1966, chronicles the history, demography, economics and politics of Judaism and Jewish culture. Dr. Trachtenberg plans to edit a companion volume of English translations of the Entsiklopedye's most significant works, as well as make available online an unpublished volume of the encyclopedia on the topic of Israel. Through his study of the Entsiklopedye, he will explore how Jewish studies has been shaped by the Holocaust, the decline of the European Jewish culture, and new centers of Jewish studies in the United States and Israel.

Professor Trachtenberg was trained in Jewish history at the University of California, Los Angeles (Ph.D.), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Oxford University (Post-graduate Diploma) and also holds degrees from the University of Vermont (M.A. in U.S. history) and Rowan University of New Jersey (B.A. in English). His book, The Revolutionary Roots of Modern Yiddish, 1903-1917, examines the impact of the 1905 Russian Revolution on the formation of Yiddish scholarship and will be published by Syracuse University Press in 2008.

April 23, 2008