Jarrod M. Tanny

I am Professor of History and the Charles and Hannah Block Distinguished Scholar in Jewish History at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Before coming to UNCW, I was the Schusterman post-Doctoral Fellow in Jewish Studies at Ohio University. I’m originally from Montreal (the one in Canada).

Education

PhD, University of California at Berkeley, Russian and Jewish history, 2008.
MA, University of Toronto, Russian and East European Studies, 1997.
BA, McGill University, History with a minor in Slavic Studies., 1995.

Specialization in Teaching

At UNCW I teach a variety of courses centered around Jewish history and culture at the undergraduate and graduate level. Here are some of the recent courses I have taught:
Undergraduate Lecture Courses:
-Jewish History to 1492
-Jewish History Since 1492
-Antisemitism and the Holocaust
-Zionism and Israel

Cross-listed Seminars
-Anti-Semitism and History
-Jewish Humor and History

Graduate Courses
-The Jewish Holocaust
-Holocaust Memory and Commemoration
-The Holocaust in European History (for educators)

Research Interests

My first book, City of Rogues and Schnorrers (Indiana University Press, 2011), examines how the city of Odessa was mythologized as a Jewish city of sin, celebrated and vilified for its Jewish gangsters, pimps, bawdy musicians, and comedians. Since then, I have published many essays on Jewish Humor.

I am currently writing a larger study on Jewish humor in post-World War II America and its place within the larger context of the European Jewish past.

Given my academic work on Jewish humor, I published a book titled The Seinfeld Talmud (Academica Press, 2023) – now available in paperback! – a satiric take on the hit TV series, in which the great rabbis of the Talmudic era gather in the Yeshiva to discuss and debate the issues raised in each Seinfeld episode weighed against Judaic law. Is it Permissible to double dip a chip? Do the Houses of Hillel and Shammai agree? Read The Seinfeld Talmud and find out.

Professional Service

The Jewish Studies Zionist Network (JSZN):, Co-Founder and Coordinating Committee Member.

Community Engagement

I have given numerous presentations, held workshops, and taught lifelong learning courses in Wilmington and in neighboring communities.