Debbie Sharnak

My work studies the history of human rights, transnational networks, Latin America, and international relations. In my first book, Of Light and Struggle: Social Justice, Human Rights, and Accountability in Uruguay, I explore the origins and evolution of human rights discourse in Uruguay, particularly during its transition back to democratic rule. The research addresses issues of  transitional justice, the rise of the transnational human rights movement, and the shifting terrain of human rights in the 1970s and 1980s. The book won Best Book in the Humanities from the Latin American Studies Association, Southern Cone section in 2024 and was selected as a 2023 Outstanding Academic Title by Choice magazine. I am also the co-editor of the volume, Uruguay in Transnational Perspective (Routledge, 2023) and have published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in publications that include The Journal of Latin American Studies, the Journal of Contemporary History, Cold War History, among others. I also write commentaries in public-facing publications such as the Washington Post, TIME magazine, the Philadelphia Inquirer, NACLA, and more.

My new project, tentatively titled Jewish Internationalism and the Southern Cone Dictatorships, explores Jewish experiences and transnational responses to the military regimes across Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile in the late Cold War. I am also working on several book projects about the History of Human Rights in Latin American History.

I am Associate Professor of History and International Studies at Rowan University. ​I have also taught courses on human rights, Latin America, social movements, and U.S. foreign policy at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Tufts University, Hunter College, and St. Francis College.