International Academy for the Promotion of Scientific Research

Born in Poland in 1906, Abraham Isaac Katsh was a revered scholar and pioneer in the field of Jewish Studies. His father, Rabbi Reuven Katz, served as Chief Rabbi of Petach Tikva, Israel from 1932-1964. In 1933 Katsh introduced at NYU the first course in Modern Hebrew to be taught in an American university. Katsh founded and then directed NYU's Department of Hebrew Culture and Education for 35 years and, in the 1950's and 1960's, during the cold war, Katsh was granted sole permission to examine and photograph precious Hebrew manuscripts held in the Antonin Genizah Collection in the Leningrad Library. The highly unusual access he was given reflected his extensive web of relationships and his ability to negotiate the politics of the time.

History is the discipline that studies peoples and cultures through the passage of time from the earliest human civilizations to the present. It is concerned with how societies develop and change over time and with the causes and effects of those changes. Individual historians usually specialize in one area of the world, one period of time and/or one type of human activity. As a discipline, however, history encompasses all aspects of human behavior and institutions. It utilizes knowledge, methods and concepts from disciplines throughout the social sciences and the humanities and provides context and understanding that support research and teaching throughout the liberal arts.