Name: Willa Silverman
Position: Professor of French and Jewish Studies
Education: B.A., Harvard University; M.A., PhD, New York University
Links: ‘Dispatch: France and the Holocaust’
The New Bibliopolis: French Book Collectors and the Culture of Print 1880-1914
What do you teach?
I teach courses focusing on French history and culture from the Revolution to the present but with a special emphasis on the period immediately preceding World War I, sometimes known as the Belle Epoque. On occasion, I also teach French language courses. My teaching for the Program in Jewish Studies focuses on France’s experience of the Holocaust and on anti-Semitism.
How did you come to Penn State?
I was hired by Penn State out of graduate school at New York University in 1988. My doctorate in French Studies meshed closely with the desire of the Department of French at PSU to build up its undergraduate and graduate tracks relying on the kind of interdisciplinary approach to studying France and the Francophone world that I was trained in.
What other countries have you lived or studied in? What cultural aspects have you brought back from other countries?
I have spent several years living, studying and working in France, and I make at least one trip there a year, if not several. I’m sure that I’ve assimilated to some extent certain aspects of French modes of social interaction and verbal and non-verbal communication. I’m passionate about French cuisine, wine, art, literature, music, cinema, regional cultures, and more.
What is on piece of advice you would give to the current generation?
In the current climate of economic and professional uncertainty, it is more important than ever to pursue your professional and personal passions.
What is your favorite city to visit and why?
Aside from New York (my hometown) and Paris (where I lived for several years) – two cities that will always be close to my heart – I love to visit Jerusalem. I find the unique and intense mix of cultures and spiritual traditions in that city, as well as the earthy gold and ochre tones of its stone architecture, captivating and transcendent.
What inspired you to write your current book project, the unpublished diaries of Henri Vever?
I uncovered the little-known diaries of this late-nineteenth century luxury jeweler, art collector, small town mayor and Parisian man-about-town while doing research for another book. It seemed to me that these highly detailed diaries offered a fascinating window onto daily and private life in Paris at the turn of the twentieth century.
How do your students teach you?
For starters, by being open to thinking, talking, and writing about a very wide range of questions and cultural artifacts. I find listening to and participating in these discussions, and appreciating the multiplicity of opinions and perspectives students can offer due to their own personal backgrounds, courses of study, and interests, immensely enriching.
What is your proudest moment?
I was honored to have my most recent book acknowledged for ‘outstanding work in French Studies’ with a prize from the major professional association in my field, the Modern Language Association. But seeing my son’s ninth grade basketball team beat a team of bigger, stronger upperclassmen to win State High’s intramural championship this year was pretty awesome, too.
