Some Thoughts on the Social Utility of the Historian

Professional historians often find themselves pushing back against the idea that the past offers a reliable guide for action in the present and future. But if the past doesn't necessarily provide such instruction, what is the point of studying history? Professor Engel reflects on the subject in light of his more than three decades of experience at NYU.

David Engel was Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies, Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, and Professor of History at New York University. He is the author of seven books and more than 100 scholarly articles on various aspects of Jewish history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

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Host or Publisher NYU Center for the Study of Antisemitism