Bergen began her academic career at the University of Vermont in 1991. While teaching there, Bergen was also a visiting instructor at the Universities of Warsaw, Tuzla, and Pristina. In 1996, Bergen was hired by the University of Notre Dame in their history department. She specialized in 20th century German history, with an emphasis on the Nazi era and the Holocaust, and European women's history. During this time, Bergen published Twisted cross: the German Christian movement in the Third Reich which focused on how the Protestant church responded to Nazism. A year later, in 1997, Bergen held a Fellowship for Archival Research at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. In 1999, Bergen was a fellow at the Institute on the Holocaust and Jewish Civilization at Northwestern University. Bergen would later admit that her interest in Holocaust studies grew from her personal connection to the Mennonite communities. While keeping a strong focus on the Jewish place during the Holocaust, Bergen was also interested in the oft-forgotten groups in the Holocaust narrative such as the disabled, the Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, and Polish civilians. After returning to Notre Dame, Bergen published War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust in 2003. This book analyzed the varying experiences of violence of different groups of perpetrators, victims and other participants during the Holocaust. She later edited a book on military chaplains and the military chaplaincy published by University of Notre Dame Press. In 2006, before taking a leave of absence, Bergen was elected Chair of the University Committee on Women Faculty and Students. In 2007, Bergen was named a full professor at the University of Toronto. She also replaced Michael Marrus as the Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor of Holocaust Studies at the University of Toronto. This is the only endowed chair in Canada in Holocaust history. The following year, she was awarded the Graduate History Society Distinguished Service Award. After the 2009–10 academic year, Bergen was elected a senior fellow at Massey College, Toronto. In 2012, Bergen was awarded U of T's Ludwik and Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize and named a member of the Academic Advisory Committee of the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. While assuming this role, she was also selected by Jason Kenney as an Advisory Council Members for the International Task Force on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research. Two years later, in 2014, Bergen was named to the National Holocaust Monument design team. This monument in Ottawa was recognized with the 2018 American Institute of ArchitectsNew York Design Award. In 2015, Bergen was selected as a final juror for the Laura Shannon Prize. Two years later, Bergen collaborated with photographer Edward Burtynsky to produce Chai, a book featuring images from various Holocaust sites in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania and Hungary. Following this, Bergen was one of eleven U of T professors elected to the Royal Society of Canada and sat on U of T's 2018–19 Policy Committee. She also serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for the University of Toronto Press Genocide Studies.
Selected publications
Women, Gender, and the Church Struggle: The German Christian Movement's Quest for a Manly Church.
