is the Martin Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature at Harvard University, where she is also Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature. She has formerly taught at Stanford, New York University, Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and McGill, where she helped to establish its influential Jewish Studies Department. She is one of the foremost scholars of modern Jewish literature and her authoritative books include The Schlemiel As Modern Hero and The Modern Jewish Canon, the latter being an influential connective survey of Jewish writers ranging from Kafka to Cynthia Ozick.
Dr Wisse’s interests pivot around the idea of the social and personal efficacy of literature and the need to preserve cultural memory; she sees these positive forces as vital resources for a fuller understanding of human experience. Among the other important books she has edited or written are Jews and Power and If I am Not For Myself, which tap into memories of her childhood in pre-WWII Romania to examine the resiliency of the Jewish diaspora in the face of contemporary movements to abandon Zionism. Dr Wisse also serves on the International Advisory Board for NGO Monitor and is a frequent contributor to the journal Commentary. She was selected by the President to receive the National Humanities Medal in 2007.
