Sylvie Pagovich: Where are you from?
Dr. Lerer: I grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut. I’ve been living in New York for about a decade now.
SP: What did you do before coming to teach at Ramaz?
DL: For the last several years, I’ve been in graduate school at Columbia University, where I’ve been teaching undergraduate students and finishing my dissertation. Before that, I worked at a foundation that studies economic policy.
SP: Did you like history growing up?
DL: I loved learning about history as a kid. I remember that my older brother had a bunch of books about the American Civil War, which fascinated me. As I got older, I became interested in learning more about my family’s history. My paternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors, and my maternal grandfather served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. I’ve always been interested in exploring how personal experiences, like my own family’s, intersect with big historical events and trends.
SP: What made you want to become a teacher? Why history?
DL: When I was younger, I never envisioned becoming a teacher, though I always knew I’d love a job where I could read, write, and talk about history, politics, and social issues with other people. I became passionate about teaching in graduate school. Doctoral research can be solitary work and I was attracted to the dynamism of the classroom and the exciting discussions with my students. As for history, it’s always been my favorite subject. Even for students who prefer other subjects, I’ve found that there are ways to connect their interests to historical questions and themes. Everything has a history! I also firmly believe that the critical thinking, reading, and writing skills one gets in a history class can be really useful for anybody, regardless of their academic interests and professional goals.
SP: How long have you been teaching for?
DL: I’ve been teaching since 2017, first as a teaching assistant for courses in European and American history and then as a teacher of a “great books” course.
SP: What would you do on a day off? What are your hobbies?
DL: I’d probably play some guitar, go for a run, bake some cookies, and then settle in with a good book.
SP: What’s your favorite part about being a teacher?
DL: Engaging with students in class, whether about the little details or the big historical picture. Classroom interactions keep things interesting (and unpredictable!). They also help to bring out different perspectives on the material we are learning, which opens new questions for us to explore (and possible research paper topics for students). If teaching was just me lecturing to a passive room, I’d get bored very quickly.
SP: What is your favorite movie?
DL: I’ve fallen behind on watching the latest movies, but as I’ve been thinking about film clips to show in my twentieth-century history class, I recently rewatched Army of Shadows, a movie from the 1960s about the French Resistance during World War II. It’s an intense but excellent movie.
