Amherst Reads About the Author

NAME
Catherine Epstein

CURRENT HOME
Amherst, Massachusetts

PLACE OF BIRTH
Providence, RI

EDUCATION
Phillips Academy (1980)
Brown University (AB, 1985)
London School of Economics (M.Sc., 1987)
Harvard University (Ph.D., 1998)

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO COME TO AMHERST?
Amherst chose me to be an Assistant Professor of History in 2000.  I’m VERY glad that my colleagues chose me!

FAVORITE CLASS AT AMHERST?
I love teaching survey courses on Nazi Germany, Europe in the Twentieth Century, World War II in Global Perspective; a seminar on The Politics of Memory in Twentieth-Century Europe; and a first-year seminar on Genocide. 

FAVORITE PROFESSOR AT AMHERST?
I very much enjoy co-teaching with fellow historians Kevin Sweeney and Sean Redding.  Their wry–even cynical–senses of humor are very appropriate for the grim material that we teach.

RESEARCH INTERESTS
I am fascinated by how Europeans lived the twentieth century.  All of my research and much of my teaching is motivated by the question: How did historical experiences shape individuals’ lives?  

TIPS FOR ASPIRING WRITERS
Just keep sitting in front of the computer screen; something has to happen.