Ethan Kleinberg

Ethan Kleinberg is an intellectual historian currently appointed as Class of 1958 Distinguished Professor of History and Letters at Wesleyan University. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal History and Theory and co-author of the Wild On Collective's Theses on Theory and History.

Kleinberg's research focuses on European intellectual history, critical theory, and the philosophy of history. His first book, Generation Existential, explored the reception of Martin Heidegger's philosophy in France from 1927 to 1961. He has also written on post-structuralism and Deconstruction, especially in his second book, Haunting History, and on psychoanalysis and Judaism. Kleinberg's most recent book is Emmanuel Levinas's Talmudic Turn. Kleinberg also works on the metaphysics and time and presence in historical writing.

Academic career

Kleinberg did his undergraduate work at UC Berkeley (BA 1989), majoring in interdisciplinary humanities. He then entered the graduate program in the Department of History at UCLA, where he earned his PhD in 1998.

In 2006, Kleinberg's book Generation Existential: Heidegger’s Philosophy in France, 1927-1961 was awarded the Morris D. Forkosch prize for the best book in intellectual history by the Journal of the History of Ideas. He served as Director of the College of Letters from 2007-2010, and in 2012 became the Director of Wesleyan’s Center for the Humanities as well as Editor-in-Chief of History and Theory.