My name is Allison Schottenstein and I am a Doctoral Candidate in History at the University of Texas at Austin. I graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from Brandeis University with a bachelor’s degree in Near Eastern Judaic Studies and Women and Gender Studies. I received my masters in American history from the University of Texas at Austin and simultaneously won the Perry Prize for best master thesis. My broad interest is in American Jewish History with subfields in European Jewish history, American Race/Ethnic History and Religion. My dissertation is on the Houston Jewish Community’s reaction to the Civil Rights Movement.
Strangers in a strange land has been the universal theme of the Jewish story. Roger Cohen's 'A Girl from Human Street' provides an emotional account of his family's diasporic journey.
Could America have become a Swastika nation in the '30s? Arnie Bernstein assembles a riveting in-depth portrayal of the rise and fall of Fritz Kuhn's German-American Bund.
Sex Scene offers a new angle for examining the "longest revolution", and demonstrates the profound ability of the media to influence how we think, and what we think about.
Gertrude Van Tijn was a social worker who became a Jewish leader in Amsterdam and spent her life securing the emigration of Jewish refugees. Unlike Anne Frank, Van Tijn survived.
Jeffrey Stepakoff's The Melody of Secrets is a complex story of unrequited love, racial tensions, the space age, and the after-effects of World War II.