Center Administration
Michael Gately is Assistant Director of the Center for American Studies. He studied philosophy and politics at Princeton University and has taught history and English at the Collegiate School and Regis High School. He has worked as an editor and researcher, as writer-in-residence at a law firm, and he was a nonfiction fellow of The Writers' Institute at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. For five years he administered the Leon Levy Center for Biography there as Program Director, and he is now Executive Director of BIO, the international organization of biographers. He is also writing a book about Woodrow Wilson and cycling in the 1890s. Before joining the Center for American Studies, Michael worked as Assistant Director of the Narrative Medicine M.S. program at Columbia University.
Jeremy Dauber is the Mendelson Family Professor of American Studies at Columbia University and director of the Center for American Studies. He is the author of seven non-fiction books: Antonio's Devils: Writers of the Jewish Enlightenment and the Birth of Modern Hebrew and Yiddish Literature (Stanford University Press, 2004); In the Demon's Bedroom: Yiddish Literature and the Early Modern (Yale University Press; 2010); The Worlds of Sholem Aleichem (Schocken Books, 2013); Jewish Comedy: A Serious History ( W.W. Norton, 2017); American Comics: A History (W.W. Norton: 2021), Mel Brooks: Disobedient Jew (Yale University Press: 2023); and, most recently, American Scary: A History of Horror from Salem to Stephen King and Beyond (Algonquin: 2024). He also publishes novels for children under the name J.A. Dauber; the most recent, Press 1 For Invasion, is just out from Simon&Schuster/Aladdin. Dauber, who is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Jewish Research, also serves as the university's Atran Professor of Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture and, for a decade, directed the Institute of Israel and Jewish Studies. He frequently lectures on topics related to Jewish literature, history, humor, and both Jewish and American popular culture throughout the world.
Reporting to the Director and Assistant Director, Arelis Herrera provides administrative and clerical support to the Center for American Studies. Arelis acts as the point of contact for the academic department, communicating with individuals at all levels, including students, faculty, scholars, visitors, and the general public and refers non-routine inquiries to appropriate staff or faculty.
Arelis joined the Center for American Studies in January 2022, having previously held the role of accounts payable in the Business Office of the Law School in Columbia. Before coming to Columbia, she worked as an online ESL tutor for international students. Arelis received a bachelor’s degree in Art & Graphic Design from the City College of New York. Although she gets to use her creativity and skills everywhere she goes, Arelis has always worked closely with higher education sector and loves interacting with students.