Liliane Weissberg facts for kids

Liliane Weissberg (born in 1953) is an American expert on books and history. She studies German-Jewish culture, and both German and American literature. She is a special professor at the University of Pennsylvania. There, she teaches about German language and literature. She has won many important awards for her work. These include the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Humboldt Research Award. She also received the Berlin Prize and an honorary degree from the University of Graz.

About Liliane Weissberg

Liliane Weissberg was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1953. Her family was Jewish. Her parents were refugees from Poland. She grew up in Frankfurt, Germany.

Her Education

Weissberg studied at the Free University of Berlin. In 1977, she earned a master's degree. She focused on different types of literature, German studies, and language. Later, she went to Harvard University. She earned her Ph.D. in 1984. Her studies there included American, German, and French literature. Her main project was about the writings of Edgar Allan Poe.

Her Teaching Career

After finishing her studies, Weissberg taught at Johns Hopkins University. She was an assistant professor of German from 1983 to 1989. In 1989, she joined the University of Pennsylvania. She became a full professor in 1994. Since 2004, she has held a special professorship there. At the University of Pennsylvania, she has also led departments and programs.

Weissberg has been a guest professor at many universities. These include places in the United States, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. She has also been a Fellow at research centers.

Exhibitions and Boards

Weissberg has helped create art and history exhibitions. These have been shown at places like the Jewish Museum Frankfurt. She is also part of important groups. She is on the board of the German Historical Museum in Berlin. She also advises the Leo Baeck Institute London. She helped start a research center for the Enlightenment. She has also spoken on many radio shows. These include BBC World Service and NPR.

What She Studies

Liliane Weissberg's research covers a wide range of topics. She has written many books and articles. She studies German and American literature. Her work looks at writings from the 1700s to the early 1900s. She also studies culture, ideas about literature, and psychology.

She has helped people learn more about German-Jewish traditions. She has researched the Jewish-German Enlightenment. This was a time when Jewish thinkers shared new ideas. She also studies Romanticism in Europe and America. Weissberg has also looked at how people see and understand images. She has studied issues related to The Holocaust.

She has written about many important people. These include writers like Edgar Allan Poe and thinkers like Hannah Arendt. She also studies Walter Benjamin and Sigmund Freud.

Awards and Honors

Liliane Weissberg has received many awards for her important work:

• Senior Fellow, IFK Vienna (2023)
• Honorary Degree from the University of Graz (2022)
• Research Prize Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2019)
• Berlin Prize; Anna-Maria Kellen Fellowship, American Academy in Berlin (2020)
• Humboldt Research Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2012)
• Fulbright-Freud Visiting Scholarship/Professorship, Sigmund Freud Museum and University of Vienna
• Fellow at Center for Advanced Studies, the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (2010, 2013, 2018)
• Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching, University of Pennsylvania (2003)
• Fellow of the American Philosophical Society (1998)
• Fellow of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture (1992)
• Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1992)
• Voltaire Foundation Fellow at Wadham College, Oxford University (1991)