Professor and Interim Dean
Ph. D., Brown University
Modern Germany, Gender and Sexuality, The Holocaust and Comparative Genocide, Race and Ethnicity, Americanization, History of Consumption, Comparative History
249 Meserve
T: (617) 373-2660
E-mail: u.poiger@neu.edu
Uta G. Poiger joined the History Department in July 2011 as Professor of History and Department Chair.
In her research, Poiger examines 20th-century German culture and society in transnational perspective, and makes the study of race and gender central to these explorations. In individually authored as well as in collaborative work, she has consistently crossed national boundaries, addressing questions of Americanization, globalization, imperialism, and the promises and challenges of comparative history. Topics that have particularly engaged her interest include the political and cultural dimensions of the Cold War; consumption and popular culture in different political regimes; the international links and imaginations that have shaped youth cultures; and the relationship of the multinational cosmetics industry to international discourses on beauty and health.
Her graduate and undergraduate teaching has included courses on modern European and German history, the Holocaust and comparative genocide, gender and sexuality, and historiography. Recent undergraduate seminars have covered topics such as Beauty and the Body; the Modern Girl Around the World; and Migrations in Europe since 1945.
Before coming to Northeastern, Poiger taught for sixteen years at the University of Washington, Seattle, where she was the Giovanni and Amne Costigan Endowed Professor of History and Adjunct Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She has been visiting faculty at Harvard University and is currently a member of the editorial board of the interdisciplinary journal Feminist Studies.