Karl Weintraub
Encyclopedia
Karl Joachim "Jock" Weintraub (1924 – March 25, 2004) was a longtime professor of history
at the University of Chicago
, having taught there since 1954. He was a strong proponent of liberal education
and wrote and spoke extensively on its value.
Weintraub was born in Germany
to parents of German and Russia
n-Jewish ancestry; as a result of their heritage, they fled to the Netherlands
in 1935, where they were forced into hiding during the Nazi occupation. He and his sister Tatjana Wood
emigrate
d to the United States
in 1948. He received his post-secondary education at the University of Chicago, attaining a B.A. in 1949, a Master's in 1952, and a Ph.D. in History in 1957.
Weintraub's scholarship focused on culture, autobiography, and the history of the self; he was the author of Visions Of Culture (1966) and The Value Of The Individual: Self and Circumstance in Autobiography (1978). Weintraub noted that eighteenth- and nineteenth-century autobiographical writers often used a narrative
of "development
" in their stories, as distinct from earlier autobiographies' use of a narrative of "unfolding". He was a renowned teacher of the University of the Chicago's core course in Western Civilization, which is still taught by his wife Katy O'Brien Weintraub. Weintraub's classes, with a head count typically capped in the twenties, would attract hundreds of potential students and were some of the most popular classes at the college for many years.
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, having taught there since 1954. He was a strong proponent of liberal education
Liberal education
A Liberal education is a system or course of education suitable for the cultivation of a free human being. It is based on the medieval concept of the liberal arts or, more commonly now, the liberalism of the Age of Enlightenment...
and wrote and spoke extensively on its value.
Weintraub was born in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to parents of German and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n-Jewish ancestry; as a result of their heritage, they fled to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in 1935, where they were forced into hiding during the Nazi occupation. He and his sister Tatjana Wood
Tatjana Wood
Tatjana Wood is an American artist and comic book colorist.- Biography :Tatjana's father was Jewish, and her mother was Christian. During World War II, she and her brother, Karl Joachim Weintraub, were sent to an international Quaker boarding school in Holland...
emigrate
Emigrate
Emigrate is a heavy metal band based in New York, led by Richard Z. Kruspe, the lead guitarist of the German band Rammstein.-History:Kruspe started the band in 2005, when Rammstein decided to take a year off from touring and recording...
d to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1948. He received his post-secondary education at the University of Chicago, attaining a B.A. in 1949, a Master's in 1952, and a Ph.D. in History in 1957.
Weintraub's scholarship focused on culture, autobiography, and the history of the self; he was the author of Visions Of Culture (1966) and The Value Of The Individual: Self and Circumstance in Autobiography (1978). Weintraub noted that eighteenth- and nineteenth-century autobiographical writers often used a narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
of "development
Bildungsroman
In literary criticism, bildungsroman or coming-of-age story is a literary genre which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood , and in which character change is thus extremely important...
" in their stories, as distinct from earlier autobiographies' use of a narrative of "unfolding". He was a renowned teacher of the University of the Chicago's core course in Western Civilization, which is still taught by his wife Katy O'Brien Weintraub. Weintraub's classes, with a head count typically capped in the twenties, would attract hundreds of potential students and were some of the most popular classes at the college for many years.