Daniel Juette

Cultural History, Urban History, History of Knowledge, Jewish History, German History, History of Material Culture and Everyday Life

Daniel Jütte is a historian of early modern and modern Europe. His research interests lie in cultural history, urban history and material culture, history of knowledge and science, and Jewish history. He is currently working on a history of transparency from antiquity to modern times.

Jütte is the author of two monographs. His award-winning The Age of Secrecy: Jews, Christians, and the Economy of Secrets, 1400–1800 (Yale University Press, 2015; first German ed. 2011) offers a general history of secrecy in the early modern period, with particular attention to the role of secrecy and secret sciences in Jewish-Christian relations. His second book, The Strait Gate: Thresholds and Power in Western History (Yale University Press, 2015), explores how doors, gates, and related technologies such as the key and the lock have shaped notions about security, privacy, and shelter.

Before joining NYU, Jütte taught as lecturer in the History Department at Harvard University as well as at the University of Heidelberg, from which he earned his Ph.D. in 2010. He has also held a number of fellowships: Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows (2011–2015); Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg, Berlin (2015–16); and Eurias Fellow at the University of Cambridge (2016–2017). In addition, his work has been supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung), and the Daimler Benz Foundation.

Jütte has been recognized for excellence in teaching, but he also enjoys engaging non-academic audiences and readerships, e.g., as a contributor to media networks (such as the BBC, CNN, and Deutschlandradio) and major daily newspapers, including the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and Die Welt.

Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows (2011–2015); Honorary Starr Fellow, Harvard University (2013); Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg, Berlin (2015–16); Eurias Fellow, University of Cambridge (2016–2017). Prizes include: Dyos Prize (Urban History; 2013); Ruprecht Karls Prize (University of Heidelberg 2012); Bruno Heck Science Prize (Konrad Adenauer Foundation, 2011).

“Sleeping in Church: Preaching, Boredom, and the Struggle for Attention in Medieval and Early Modern Europe” (accepted for publication in the American Historical Review, forthcoming).

“Toward a History of the Corner” (forthcoming in RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics).

“Survivors of Witchcraft Trials and the Quest for Justice in Early Modern Germany” (forthcoming in the Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies).

"Comfort, Class and Climate Change: The Rise of Glass in Late Medieval and Early Modern Domestic Architecture” Cultural & Social History 15, no. 5 (2018), pp. 621–641.  

Walls, Borders, and Boundaries in World History (AHR Conversation with S. Akbari, T. Herzog, C. Nightingale, W. Rankin, and K. Weitzberg), American Historical Review 122, no. 5 (2017), 1501–1553.

Defenestration as Ritual Punishment: Windows, Power, and Political Culture in Early Modern Europe, in: Journal of Modern History 89, no. 1 (2017), pp. 1–38.

 “Living Stones: The House as Actor in Early Modern Europe.” Journal of Urban History 42, no. 4 (2016), pp. 659–687.

“‘They shall not keep their doors or windows open’: Urban Space and the Dynamics of Conflict and Contact in Premodern Jewish-Christian Relations.” European History Quarterly 46, no. 2. (2016), pp. 209–237. Winner of the journal’s annual prize for the best article published in 2016

 “Window Gazes and World Views: A Chapter in the Cultural History of Vision.” Critical Inquiry 42 (2016), no. 3, pp. 611–646.

“Smashed Panes and ‘Terrible Showers’: Windows, Violence, and Honor in the Early Modern City,” West 86^th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture 22, no. 2 (2015), pp. 131–156.

“Entering a City: On a Lost Early Modern Practice.” Urban History 41, no. 2 (2014), pp. 204–227.  Winner of the Dyos prize for the best article submitted to the journal in 2012

“Interfaith Encounters between Jews and Christians in the Early Modern Period and Beyond: Toward a Framework,” American Historical Review 118, no. 2 (2013), pp. 378–400.

“Trading in Secrets: Jews and the Early Modern Quest for Clandestine Knowledge.” Isis 103, no. 4 (2012), pp. 668–686.

For a complete list of publications, please see www.danieljuette.com/publications/