Belonging and Betrayal: How Jews Made the Art World Modern Charles Dellheim

Modern European cultural history, Jewish culture, modern Britain, business and culture
Charles Dellheim, Professor of History, came to Boston University in 2001, after a fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Advanced Judaic Studies. He was previously Professor of History and Humanities and Director of the Interdisciplinary Humanities Program at Arizona State University, where he won a Distinguished Teaching Award. He was trained in modern European cultural history, and his chief publications in modern British history include The Face of the Past: The Preservation of the Medieval Inheritance in Victorian England; The Disenchanted Isle: Mrs. Thatcher’s Capitalist Revolution; and “The Creation of a Company Culture: Cadburys, 1861-1931.”

In recent years his work has focused on the role of Jews in modern culture. He is currently writing a book that provides a historical perspective on Nazi art looting by telling the story of a circle of art dealers, collectors, and critics who became pivotal figures in the art world. Dellheim has won fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Littauer Foundation. He is a past president of the Economic and Business Historical Society and served on the executive board of the Western Humanities Alliance. Between 2001 and 2009 he served as Boston University History Department chair, and in 2010 became Director of the Arvind and Chandan Nandlal Kilachand Honors College at Boston University.