Karla Goldman

Sol Drachler Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work, and Professor of Judaic Studies, College of LS&A

Karla Goldman's research focuses on the history of the American Jewish experience with special attention to the history of American Jewish communities and the evolving roles and contributions of American Jewish women. She directs the University of Michigan Jewish Communal Leadership Program, a collaborative effort between the School of Social Work and the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies.

Goldman previously taught at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati and was historian in residence at the Jewish Women’s Archive in Brookline, Massachusetts. She is the author of Beyond the Synagogue Gallery: Finding a Place for Women in American Judaism (Harvard Univeristy Press).

Research Interests

American Jewish women, American Judaism, Hurricane Katrina, Jewish identity, Jewish women, Jews in universities, University of Michigan, Jewish urban experience

Curriculum Vitae

Contact Information

Education

  • 1993 PhD Am. History
    Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
  • 1986 MA Am. History
    Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
  • 1982 BA History
    Yale University, New Haven, CT

News

Activities

Publications

Goldman, K. (in press). Patterns of Reform: The Challenge of Women’s Roles in Nineteenth-Century American and German Reform Judaism. In Homolka, W., & Bomhoff, H. (Eds.), Female Rabbis, Pastors, and Ministers: Gendered Pathways toward Leadership.
Goldman, K. (2022). Cincinnati's Best Citizens: Jewish Community in an American City. Ohio Valley History, 22(3), 19-41.
Goldman, K. (2021). With Mark Raider, “’Pilgrims,’ also Known as ‘Mayflower and ‘Illegal’ Passenger Ship’: Arthur Szyk and the Twin Promised Lands of America and Palestine. In Raider and Zola, (Eds.), New Perspectives in American Jewish History (pp. 258-260).
Goldman, K. (2021). For the future protection of the lands and of the souls of the Jews who are committed to our care: Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati. American Jewish Archives, 73(2), 146-158.
Goldman, K. (2021). Don't hush me!: American Jewish College Students and Jewish Identity in the Interwar Period. In Mark A Raider & Gary Phillip Zola (Eds.), New Perspectives in American Jewish History (pp. 223-233). Brandeis University Press.
Goldman, K. (2020). Lessons of Hurricane Katrina for American Jews. Jewish Social Studies 181-191.
Goldman, K. (2020). The Longing for Jewish Homes, Jewish Babies, and the Trouble with Jewish Women. American Jewish History 195-200.
Goldman, K. (2017). Beyond the Synagogue Gallery? Women’s Changing Roles in Nineteenth-Century American and German Judaism. In Wiese, C., & Wilhelm, C., (Eds.), American Jewry: Transcending the European Experience. London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic.
Goldman, K. (2016). Early American Judaism: New forms of religious expression. In Mendelsohn, A. D., & Rosengarte, D., (Eds.), Dawn's Early Light: Jewish Contributions to American Culture from the Nation's Founding to the Civil War. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Goldman, K. (2015). Katrina's Jews: Reflections on privilege, history, and American Jewish community. eJewish Philanthropy.

Honors and Awards

Year Description
2013 Shalom Hartman Institute, IEngage Seminar for Social Justice Leaders, participant.
2011 Repair the World Judaic Studies Service Learning Fellow, 2011-2012, Seattle, WA.
2011 University of Michigan Road Scholar Tour, participant.
2002 Marguerite R. Jacobs Memorial Fellowship, American Jewish Archives.
1994-1996 Feinstein Center Prize for the best doctoral dissertation in American Jewish History.
1994-1995 Yale/Pew Program in Religion and American History, Faculty fellowship.
1994 Excellence in Teaching award, Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities.
1993-1994 American Academy of Religion/Lilly Foundation Teaching Scholar.
1991-1993 Frances Grabow Goldman Fellowship, Hebrew Union College.
1989-1990 Charles Warren Center Summer Research Grant (Harvard).
1988-1989 Congregational History Project Dissertation Fellowship.
1988 D. A. A. D. German Language Fellowship.
1987 Rabbi Levi A. Olan Memorial Fellowship in American Jewish Studies, American Jewish Archives.
1986 Harvard Hillel Fellowship for study at Oxford Programme in Yiddish.
1982 Received B.A. cum laude, with distinction in history.

Presentations

Year Description
2022 Goldman, K. (2022, January) “American Israelites: Cincinnati and the Shaping of Jewish Community in the United States,” Mercantile Library, Cincinnati, OH
2022 Goldman, K. (2022, December) “Milestone Anniversaries for Jewish Women: The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Ordination of Sally Priesand,” Association for Jewish Studies conference, Boston, MA
2022 Panelist, “Faith and Feminism: Changing Roles of Women in American Judaism and Malaysian Islam,” Frankel Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
2022 Goldman, K. (2022, May) “’Cincinnati’s Best Citizens’: Queen City Jews and the Path from Immigrant Aid to Civic Leadership, 1881-1930,” American Jewish Historical Society Biennial Scholars’ Conference, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
2022 Goldman, K. (2022, January) “Cincinnati Synagogues: Claiming Space in the Expanding City,” University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

Courses

Past Courses

Title Instructor Term Course Section Meeting Start Meeting End
Advanced Proseminar in Jewish Communal Leadership Goldman, Karla Winter 2026 001 05:00 pm 08:00 pm View Course
Seminar in Jewish Communal Leadership Goldman, Karla Fall 2025 001 05:00 pm 08:00 pm View Course
Advanced Proseminar in Jewish Communal Leadership Goldman, Karla Winter 2025 001 05:00 pm 08:00 pm View Course
Topics in Social Work Goldman, Karla Winter 2025 001 02:30 pm 05:30 pm View Course
Seminar in Jewish Communal Leadership Goldman, Karla Fall 2024 001 05:00 pm 08:00 pm View Course
Advanced Proseminar in Jewish Communal Leadership Goldman, Karla Winter 2024 001 05:00 pm 08:00 pm View Course
Seminar in Jewish Communal Leadership Goldman, Karla Fall 2023 001 05:00 pm 08:00 pm View Course
Advanced Proseminar in Jewish Communal Leadership Goldman, Karla Winter 2023 001 05:00 pm 08:00 pm View Course
Topics in Social Work Goldman, Karla Winter 2023 001 02:00 pm 05:00 pm View Course
Seminar in Jewish Communal Leadership Goldman, Karla Fall 2022 001 05:00 pm 08:00 pm View Course