Derek Penslar on the 1948 War in the Eyes of the World

Derek J. Penslar is the William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History, and the Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard University. He is based in the Department of History, where he is the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Penslar is a resident faculty member at the Center for European Studies and is affiliated with the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.
Penslar takes a comparative and transnational approach to modern Jewish history, which he studies within the contexts of modern nationalism, capitalism, and colonialism. His books have engaged with a variety of approaches and methods, including the history of science and technology (Zionism and Technocracy, 1991), economic history (Shylock’s Children: Economics and Jewish Identity in Modern Europe, 2001), military history (Jews and the Military: A History, 2013), biography (Theodor Herzl: The Charismatic Leader, 2020), and the history of emotions (Zionism: An Emotional State, 2023). In two co-edited volumes, Penslar has brought Jewish Studies into conversation with Postcolonial Studies (Orientalism and the Jews [2005] and Unacknowledged Kinships: Postcolonial Theory and the Historiography of Zionism [2023]). Penslar’s current interests lie in international history, and he is writing a book about worldwide reactions to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
This is the 28th Annual Silvers Visiting Scholar Program. The Silvers Visiting Scholar Program is endowed by David, C’71, and Patricia, CW’72, Silvers.