Murray Baumgarten (B.A. Columbia, Ph.D. Berkeley) is a Distinguished Professor of English & Contemporary Literature in the Literature Department, the Co-director of Jewish Studies and Founding Director of The Dickens Project at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

He has published books and articles on modern Jewish and English writing, as well as original fiction and translation. Recently, Mr. Baumgarten has focused on the Jews of Venice and the afterlife of the Ghetto. With Professor Peter Kenez for many years he has taught “Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry.” He is the recipient of a campus award for excellence in teaching.