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Provost and Paul Dupee University Professor of Social Science.
Ph.D. Brandeis U, 1974
Research Interests
Kertzer's major interests include the anthropological study of politics; anthropological demography; and European social history. He is particularly interested in how political identities are created and in the role of religion in politics. Kertzer currently is directing an ambitious study aimed at explaining why Italians have so few children, while completing a book on a syphilitic wetnurse in 19th century Italy.
Selected Publications
Ritual, Politics, and Power. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. History Book Club selection. Italian, Japanese, and Romanian editions.
Sacrificed for Honor: Italian Infant Abandonment and the Politics of Reproductive Control. Boston: Beacon Press, 1993.
Politics and Symbols: The Italian Communist Party and the Fall of Communism. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996.
The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. New York: Knopf, 1997 (paperback Vintage). Italian, British, French, German, Brazilian, Hebrew, and Spanish editions. Finalist, National Book Award for nonfiction, 1997.
The Popes Against the Jews: The Vatican's Role in the Rise of Modern Anti-Semitism, 2001. New York: Knopf (paperback Vintage). A selection of Book of the Month Club; Quality Paperback book club; Italian, Brazilian, Spanish, Dutch, British, German, French, Polish, and Hungarian editions. Finalist, Mark Lynton Prize for History 2002.
Prisoner of the Vatican. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 2004. History Book Club selection. Italian edition. Selected as one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly.
For further information, see http://www.davidkertzer.com/
Courses Taught
For current and scheduled courses taught by Professor Kertzer, click here.
