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Professor jwiesen@uab.edu
Heritage Hall 360
(205) 934-0901

Research and Teaching Interests: Modern European History, German History, Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, comparative racism, transatlantic relations

Education:

  • B.A., University of California, Berkeley
  • M.A., Brown University
  • Ph.D., Brown University

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My passion for modern German history emerged out of my childhood. Reared in Boston and Los Angeles in the 1970s, I grew up barely one generation removed from the Holocaust, and I met many Germans who had emigrated to the United States after World War II. I was fascinated by the contrast between the kind people who came into my family home and my growing historical knowledge of their country of origin, which bore the legacy of genocide and crimes against humanity. I have pursued my interest in the complexities of modern German history ever since.

Before joining UAB’s History Department in the Spring of 2019, I taught for over two decades at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and I had visiting appointments and fellowships at Colgate University, The University of Cologne, and the Free University of Berlin.