Dr. Judith Thissen

Biography

Judith Thissen is an Associate Professor at Utrecht University, specializing in cinema history within the Department of Media and Culture. She completed her PhD in Arts and Humanities at Utrecht University after studying Film Studies at Paris 8 and Archeology at Paris 1. Her research interests encompass social history, urban history, and Jewish studies, with a focus on the dynamics of Jewish immigrant film culture in New York City around 1900. Thissen's current project, titled 'Kol Nidre: Broadway, Jazz Singers Shul', explores the engagement of cinema and new media in modernizing Jewish religious practices during the 1920s. She has participated in the DFG-program 'Religion and Urbanity: Reciprocal Formations' while being a recipient of a senior fellowship at the Max-Weber-Kolleg for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies in Erfurt. Thissen has also contributed to the anthology 'Cinema City', which discusses small-town and rural film culture in Europe, published by the British Film Institute in 2017. Her work extends to the comparative history of film and theatre, leveraging Digital Humanities techniques to enhance the understanding of film history. She is an active participant in several scholarly networks, including the Digital Cinema Studies and the Digital Yiddish Theater project.

Research Interests

Experience