Prof. Gershon Bacon

Telephone
Email
gershon.bacon@biu.ac.il
Office
Building 410 room 44
    CV

    CURRICULUM VITAE

     

    Date of birth:       December 17, 1948

    Birthplace:           Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Marital Status:     Married, four children

     

    Education                                

     

             Columbia University, New York

                    Major Specialization area - Jewish History

                    Minor Specialization area - Polish and

                                                                Russian History

                    Degrees awarded - Master of Philosophy, 1978; Doctor of Philosophy, 1979

                     Jewish Theological Seminary, New York

                    Degree awarded - Master of Hebrew Literature and

                                                  rabbinical ordination, 1972

                                                 Honorary doctorate, 1998

             University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

                    Degree awarded - Bachelor of Arts (summa cum laude), 1968

                     Gratz College, Philadelphia

                    Degree awarded - Bachelor of Hebrew Literature, 1968

     

    Research Languages

     

             Hebrew, Yiddish, French, German, Polish, Russian

     

     Full-time Employment

            

             Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

             Associate Professor in Jewish History - tenured,

             full-time, employed 1981-present

             Chairman, Dept. of Jewish History, 1998-2001

             Lecturer (= assistant professor in USA), 1981-1985

             Senior Lecturer (tenured, = associate professor in USA), 1985-1997

             Associate Professor (= full professor in USA), 1997- present

            

             Jewish Theological Seminary, New York

             Instructor and Assistant Professor of Jewish History, 1974-1981

     

     

    Public and Communal Positions

     

             Incumbent, Marcell and Maria Roth Chair for the History and Culture of Polish

             Jewry, Bar-Ilan University, 2012-present

     

             Member of supervisory control committee, Central Archives for the History of the  

             Jewish People, 2012-present 

     

             Member of executive board, Keller Foundation, 2012-present

     

             Member of executive board, Historical Society of Israel, 2011- 2015

     

             Member of supervisory control committee, World Union of Jewish Studies,

             2009- present

     

             Member of international editorial advisory board, Scripta Judaica Cracoviensa,

             2002-present

     

             Section Editor: Poland 1795-1939 and member of editorial board, Jews in Eastern    

             Europe: The Yivo Encyclopedia, 2001-2008

     

             Member of executive board, World Union for Jewish Studies, 2004-2009

     

              Member of board of directors, Central Archives for the History of the Jewish

              People, 2004-2009

        

             Director, Klein Chair on the History of the Rabbinate in Europe, Bar-Ilan

             University, 2000-2012; member of advisory board, 1996-2000

     

             Council member, Historical Society of Israel, 2000-2003

     

             Director, Institute for Research on Religious Zionism, Bar-Ilan University,

             1997-1998

     

             Coordinator, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch chair,

             Jewish History Department, Bar-Ilan University,

             1995-2000

     

             Member of Editorial Board, Bi'Shevilei Ha'Tehiya,

             1991-2000

     

             Director of Kotlar Institute for Judaism and

             Contemporary Thought, 1990-1995

     

             Member of Academic Advisory Board, Institute of

             Traditional Judaism, Teaneck, NJ, 1990-present        

     

             Member of Editorial Board, Yivo Annual, 1989-2000

     

             Israel Association of Slavic and East  European Studies,

             secretary, 1982-1983; vice- president, 1983-1984; treasurer, 1984-1985;

             secretary, 1985-1986; treasurer, 1986-1987, 1988-present

     

     

    Scholarships and Fellowships

     

             Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania

             Fellow, beginning of spring semester 2012 (research group on Jews and travel)

     

             Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Michigan Ann Arbor

             Fellow, fall semester 2011 (research group on Jews and Politics)

     

             Institute for Advanced Studies, Hebrew University -

             Fellow, spring semester 2008 (research group on Hasidism); Fellow, academic year

             1997-1998 (research group on orthodoxy); fellow, academic year 1993-1994

             (research group on East European Jewry)

     

              Israel Science Foundation (ISF) – research grant for years 2007-2010 (with Dr.

              Mirjam Rajner)       

     

              History department and Judaic Studies Program, Yale University – Jacob Blaustein

              Visiting Professor, fall semester 2007

     

              Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania -

              Fellow, January-February 2003 (research group on East European Jewry)

     

             American Council of Learned Societies -

             research fellowship, 1995-1996

     

             Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture - research

             fellowship, 1985-1986; post-doctoral fellowship,

             1980-1981; doctoral fellowship, 1977-1978

     

             International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) -

               grant for research in Poland, 1973

     

             National Foundation for Jewish Culture - doctoral

               research grant, 1973-1974

     

             Kościuszko Foundation - grant for study in Poland,

               1973-1974

     

             New York State Herbert Lehman Fellowship, 1969-1973

     

             Philadelphia Board of Education Full Tuition

               Scholarship, 1965-1968

     

             Pennsylvania State Scholarship, 1965-1968

            

    Graduate student advising

     

    Completed MA - 1.   Esther Segel-Eitan

    2.Haim Sperber

    3.Allon Raichlin

    4.Maia Matania (Gender Studies)

    5.Akiva Bigman

     

    Completed PhD    1. Shlomo Leibovici

                                  2. Adam Ferziger

                                  3. Haim Shalem

                                  4.  Asaf Kaniel

                                  5.  Haya Galinski Meller

                                  6.  Haim Sperber

                                  7.  Adva Selzer

                                  8. Daphna Ben-Yosef (Contemporary Jewry)

                                  9. Adah Gebel (history, Ben-Gurion University)

                                  10. Moshe Uriel

     

    Present graduate students:

     

    PhD – 1. Yohanan Ben-Yaakov

               2. Moshe Tarshansky

               3. Uri Oholy           

    Research

    Main research interests

    1. Political, social and intellectual/religious history of Jews of Poland and Russia in the 19th and 20th centuries, with special emphasis on interwar period;
    2. History of Orthodox Jewry in Europe;
    3. History of the rabbinate in Europe and the United States;
    4. History of Jewish women in Poland;
    5. Political and ideological movements in European Jewry in the 19th and 20th centuries
    Publications

    For Prof. Bacon Gershon's list of publications please click on the link

    /files/jewish-history/shared/gb_publist_march_2016_1.pdf

    Last Updated Date : 19/10/2023