Professor

Public History

Office Hours: Tues. 12:30-2:00 and Thur. 10:00-11:00

Office: 106 Levering Hall

Phone: (434) 924-6945

Fax: (434) 924-7891

Email: pkl6hvirginia.edu

Education

B.A., Queens College of the City University of New York, 1966
M.A., The University of Sussex, England, 1967
Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 1971

Publications, Awards, and Activities

"Women and South Tradition at the Univeristy of Virginia," Iris 41 (Fall, 2000), 14-19.

Phyllis K. Leffler, Jeffrey Hantman, Carol Ely: "To Seek the Peace of the City: Jewish Life in Charlottesville," An Exhibit (1994): Albemarle County Historical Society.

Phyllis K. Leffler, Jeffrey Hantman, Carol Ely. "Jewish Life at Mr. Jefferson's University," An Exhibit (1993): University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

Phyllis K. Leffler and Joseph Brent, eds., Public History Readings. Krieger Publishers, 1992.

"History and Fiction: A Seventeenth-Century Point of View," co- authored with Elizabeth Tilton, Continuum, 1991.

Phyllis K. Leffler and Joseph Brent, Academic and Public History: A Paradigm and Philosophy. Krieger Publishers, 1990.

"French Historians and the Challenge to Louis XIV's Absolutism," French Historical Studies, XIV, No. 1 (Spring 1985), 1-22.

"From Humanist to Enlightenment Historiography: A Case Study of Francois Eudes de Mezeray," French Historical Studies, X, No. 3 (Spring 1978), 416-438.

"The 'Histoire Raisonnee,'1660-1720: A Pre-Enlightenment Genre," The Journal of the History of Ideas, XXXVII, No. 2 (April-June 1976), 219-240.

Representative Professional Activities

Public Lectures (Representative)

"Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: History, Memory and Civic Culture," March 1999, Monticello

"Thomas Jefferson's Reputation," Alumni Reunions '99 (June 5, 1999), The University of Virginia

"U.Va. in the 19th Century," July 17, 1998 -- presentation to the Association of Little Big Horn, Charlottesville, Va.

"Women Students at the University of Virginia: 1920-1972," Alumni Reuinion 98, The University of Virginia (June 6, 1998)

"Women at the University of Virginia," The Colonnades, October 2, 1997

"The Value of Place", Bayly Art Museum symposium. Introductory remarks and moderator, September 13, 1997.

"The University of Virginia and its Bold Decision," National Council on Public History Conference, May 1997 (Albany, New York)

"Thomas Jefferson: Interpretations in the Modern Age," Elderhostel program, Monticello: 1994-98

"Founders and Foundations: Charlottesville's Early Jewish Families," The Albemarle County Historical Society, February 28, 1994 (in conjunction with the exhibit, "To Seek the Peace of the City")

"The Legacy of Thomas Jefferson," Lecture at Universitat Osnabruc, Germany, November 11, 1993

"The Eighteenth-Century World, " Jefferson Symposium, University of Virginia, June, 1993

"Commemorating Heroes: Thomas Jefferson and Christopher Columbus," Lynchburg College, Potter Lecture, April 1993

Symposium: "Jewish Life at Mr. Jefferson's University," University of Virginia, February 1993

Professional Honors and Activities (Representative)

Reader, Ron Brown Scholars Program, 1998

Board of Directors: Albemarle County Historical Society, 1995- present

Consultant, Rawlings Prize Committee, Albemarle County Historical society

Grants Committee, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 1992, 1996,

1998 Distinguished Faculty Service Award, Hillel Foundation, 1993

A.C.E. Fellow, 1991-1992 -- University of Virginia

N.E.H./N.C.P.H. Institute on Teaching Public History, Summer 1984

Current Research

I am exploring the history of The University of Virginia during the 20th century, with a particular interest in understanding how the university evolved during the course of this century to become the leading public institution in America. I am also seeking to create a public database of student memories in an effort to demythologize some long standing assumptions. Currently, I am working on the story of women who matriculated here between 1920 and 1972, when women were admitted on an equal status to men.