The NCJSS welcomes Paola Tartakoff, professor of History and Jewish Studies, and chair of the Department of Jewish Studies, at Rutgers University. She is the author of two books about Jewish-Christian relations in the Middle Ages: Between Christian and Jew: Conversion and Inquisition in the Medieval Crown of Aragon (link opens in a new window/tab)and Conversion, Circumcision, and Ritual Murder in Medieval Europe(link opens in a new window/tab). She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Fulbright Foundation, the European Institutes for Advanced Study, the Israel Institute for Advanced Study in Jerusalem, and the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the recipient of a Rutgers Presidential Fellowship for Teaching Excellence. Professor Tartakoff is a member of the Exploring Hate advisory committee.
Tartakoff studies the social and cultural history of Jews and Christians in medieval and early modern Europe. She is particularly interested in conversion to and from Judaism, the medieval and Spanish inquisitions, and ritual murder accusations. Her first book was based on archival research conducted in Catalonia, Aragon, and Valencia. Her current work explores Western Europe and the Mediterranean more broadly.
