David N. Myers

David N. Myers
Name	David N. Myers
Birth date	1960
Birth place	United States
Occupation	Historian, Professor, Author
Employer	University of California, Los Angeles
Notable works	"Re-Inventing the Jewish Past", "Resisting History", "Between Jew and Arab"

David N. Myers is an American historian specializing in Jewish history, modern European intellectual life, and public culture. He is a professor and administrator whose scholarship spans nineteenth-century German Jewry, twentieth-century Zionism, and contemporary Jewish politics. Myers has written and edited books, contributed to public debates, and served in leadership roles at academic and cultural institutions.

Early life and education

Myers was born in the United States and raised in a milieu shaped by Jewish communal institutions and American higher education. He attended colleges and universities that include Swarthmore College, Harvard University, and Brandeis University, engaging with scholars connected to fields such as Modern Jewish History, German Studies, and Comparative Literature. His doctoral training involved archives and libraries like the National Library of Israel, the Bodleian Library, and the Leo Baeck Institute, and he worked with mentors whose networks include Salo Baron, Jacob Katz, and Hannah Arendt-influenced scholarship.

Academic career

Myers joined faculties at research universities, holding appointments in departments and centers associated with Jewish Studies, History, and Near Eastern Studies. He served at institutions such as the University of California, Los Angeles, where he became a leading figure in programs that intersect with the Center for Jewish Studies, the Meyer and Renee Luskin School of Public Affairs, and campus initiatives related to Humanities Research. His administrative roles connected him to organizations like the Association for Jewish Studies, the American Historical Association, and the Modern Language Association, while his teaching engaged undergraduate curricula associated with Yale University, Princeton University, and Columbia University models of seminar instruction.

Research and major works

Myers's research examines intersections among figures, movements, and texts central to modern Jewish history, including studies of nineteenth-century German-Jewish intellectuals, twentieth-century Zionist leaders, and Holocaust memory debates. Major books and edited volumes place him among scholars who analyze sources tied to Theodor Herzl, Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, and Gershom Scholem, as well as scholarship on institutions like Wissenschaft des Judentums, Zionist Congress, and Yiddishist networks. His publications engage comparative contexts involving Wilhelm Marr, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, and Karl Marx, and they converse with historiographies represented by authors such as Simon Dubnow, Salo Wittmayer Baron, Isaiah Berlin, and Eric Hobsbawm. Myers has edited collections that bring together archival materials from repositories including the Central Zionist Archives, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. His monographs address themes present in works by Hannah Arendt, Emmanuel Levinas, Leo Strauss, and Walter Benjamin, and they intersect with scholarship on Jewish emancipation, antisemitism, and religious modernism.

Public engagement and media contributions

Myers has been active in public discourse through essays, op-eds, and commentary in outlets associated with cultural and policy debates, including platforms linked to The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Haaretz, and The Jerusalem Post. He has appeared on broadcast media connected to NPR, BBC, PBS, and CNN and participated in forums organized by entities like The Aspen Institute, Brookings Institution, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Myers has contributed to curated exhibitions at institutions such as the Skirball Cultural Center, the Jewish Museum (New York), and the Museum of Jewish Heritage, and he has lectured for organizations including Jewish Federations of North America, American Jewish Committee, and Anti-Defamation League programs. His public-facing writing dialogues with commentators and public intellectuals like Michael Walzer, Amitai Etzioni, James Young, and Tony Judt.

Awards and honors

Myers's scholarship has been recognized by prizes, fellowships, and institutional honors from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Guggenheim Foundation. He has been a fellow or visiting scholar at centers including the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton), the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at University of Pennsylvania, and the Kensho Center. His books have been finalists and recipients of awards from bodies like the Modern Language Association, the American Historical Association, and the Association for Jewish Studies, and his research grants have been supported by foundations including the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Personal life and affiliations

Myers lives in the United States and participates in communal and academic networks connected to institutions such as Hillel International, the Pew Research Center, and the Jewish Publication Society. He has served on advisory boards for organizations including the Leo Baeck Institute, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and the Institute for Jewish Thought and Heritage. His collaborative engagements extend to scholars and practitioners at universities and institutes like Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Oxford University, Cambridge University, and University College London.

Category:Historians of Judaism Category:American historians