My life has been a mix of English and German since I was a teenager. I grew up in Ontario, Canada, in an English/Scottish household, so English is my first language. I started learning German in high school at the age of 15 and haven’t stopped since. I have worked, studied and traveled extensively in Germany all my adult life.
I am a historian of German and Canadian history by profession and have taught history at both universities in Vancouver, where I live. I have also worked in university administration at the Open University of British Columbia, which offers degree programs to adults across Canada.
Awards and recognitions
Honorary doctorate, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, British Columbia
Entry in Lich’s Golden Book
Education
PhD [History], University of British Columbia Territories: Canada, Germany and Latin America. Dissertation: “The Struggle for the Sabbath: The Sabbatarian Movement in Canada, 1888-1912”. The postcard on the right is a reminder of both my hometown of Toronto and my dissertation, as the question of whether or not streetcars were allowed to run on the Christian Sabbath was one of the major debates in the 1890s.
MA [History], University of Toronto- Dissertation: “The Role of Literature in the Nazi Seizure of Power”.
- BA, University of Toronto [History & Modern Languages [German & Spanish]
- Undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the Universities of Freiburg im Breisgau (map at right) and Hamburg, supported by DAAD scholarships (German Academic Exchange Service).
Professional experience:
- 2022- Lead researcher/curator , “Emigrated on 10.05.1942 to the Belzyce Ghetto: Fates of Thuringian Jews”.
- 2012- Lead researcher and administrator, Hahn Collection, UBC
Since 2009: Senior researcher/author, Their Voices Live On/Ihre Stimmen Leben Noch - 2007-2010: Lecturer, History of the Holocaust, University of British Columbia,
- 2002-2011: Educational Consultant, Postsecondary System, Undergraduate Degree Program Development
- 1992-2002: Dean of Arts and Sciences at British Columbia Open University, a distance education university.
- 1978-1992: Non-tenured Assistant Professor in the Departments of History at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University.
Experience with translations:
- Carl Zeiss Optical Company, Oberkochen Germany
Activity of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Center, 2008. credit: VHEC2003 to present
- Research volunteer and German-English translator, Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.
See: Sharon Meen, “How a box of letters became a website”, Zachor, Winter 2011.
Sharon Meen, “Touching a letter was like touching her”, Zachor, October 2008
Relevant scholarships
- SSHRC Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship
- DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), Post-Baccalaureate Fellowship, Universities of Freiburg im Breisgau and Hamburg
- DAAD Summer Scholarship