Meet our speakers
As we work on the program, we will upload information about the scholars, journalists, and other experts who will speak at the
2024 Centropa Summer Academy.
Mirna Funk
Born in Berlin in 1981, Mirna Funk majored in Philosophy and History at Humboldt University. She composes articles and essays for various publications, has authored two novels and two essay collection.
Her work frequently centres the presence of Jewish culture, and looks at how cultures of remembrance are being reshaped in the present. With a perspective on Jewish life that is contemporary and personal, she educates through talks, panels, curation and workshops, and writes a monthly column, “Jewish Today”, for Vogue Germany.
Her debut novel "Winternähe" was published in 2015 by S. Fischer Verlage. It was awarded the Uwe Johnson Prize for emerging writers, nominated for the Aspekte Literature Prize, and has been translated into Dutch. "Winternähe" details the experiences of Lola, a GDR-born Jewish woman dealing with personal and family history amidst societal anti-Semitism. Her second novel titled "Zwischen Du und Ich" explores violence and the transgenerational transmission of trauma.
Her first non-fiction book 'Who cares! About the Freedom to Be a Woman' went straight to the Spiegel bestseller list in May 2022. Her second non-fiction book 'Learning from Jews' was released on February 7, 2024.
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Edward Serotta
Since 1985, Edward Serotta has worked as a writer, photographer, and filmmaker specializing in Jewish life in Central and Eastern Europe. He has written and produced four films (three for ABC News Nightline) and created nine seasons of documentary podcasts for Centropa. Ed has published four books and is a contributing writer to Tablet Magazine. He has written for TIME, The L.A.Times, The Washington Post, and other outlets. Ed founded Centropa in 2000.
Miriam Rürup
Miriam Rürup is director of the Moses Mendelssohn Center for European-Jewish Studies (MMZ) in Potsdam. Before moving to Potsdam in December 2020 she was director of the Institute for the History of the German Jews in Hamburg and worked as a research fellow at the German Historical Institute in Washington, DC. Between 2006 and 2010 she was a postdoctoral fellow / assistant professor at the history department of Göttingen University. In 2007 she published her doctorate on the history of German-Jewish Student Fraternities in Imperial and Weimar Germany (title: "Ehrensache" with Wallstein-Verlag, Göttingen). Miriam studied history, sociology and cultural anthropology at the universities of Göttingen, Tel Aviv and Berlin. Formerly she worked for the Foundation "Topography of Terror" in Berlin, the Rosenzweig Center in Jerusalem, the Simon Dubnow Institute in Leipzig. She is also chairwoman of the „Wissenschaftliche Arbeitsgemeinschaft des Leo Baeck Instituts“ (WAG).
Dr. Michael Brenner
Michael Brenner is the Seymour and Lillian Abensohn Chair in Israel Studies and director of the Center for Israel Studies at American University. He also holds the chair of Jewish History and Culture at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University, held teaching positions in the US, Europe and Israel, and is the International President of the Leo Baeck Institute for the Study of German-Jewish History and Culture.
More to follow soon...