Crusades-Encyclopedia Return to Crusades Historians    Return to Crusades-Encyclopedia Nina Caputo
Dr. Nina Caputo is currently Assistant Professor of History at the University of Florida (2003 to present). Prior to employment at the University of Florida, Dr. Caputo served as a Visiting Assistant Professor for the Department of History and Frankel Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan (2002-2003) and as both a Visiting Lecturer (1998-1999) and Assistant Professor of History at Florida International University (1999-2003). During this time she was also Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Humanities, University of Pennsylvania (2001-2002). Dr. Caputo is also the author of a number of scholarly publications. They include "In the Beginning....Typology, History, and the Unfolding Meaning of Creation in Nahmanides's Exegesis," Jewish Social Studies (Spring 1999); To Kill the Thorns in the Vineyard: A Medieval Rabbi's Argument for Diversity within Unity, in Orthodoxie, Christianisme, Histoire, (ecole Francaise de Rome, 2000); and "Prophecy and Redemption: Messianic Expectation in Nahmanides' Sefer ha-Ge'ulah," in Time and Eternity in the Middle Ages (Turnhout: Brepols, 2003). Dr. Caputo also has a number of work in progress including, At the Threshold of Redemption: Time and Community in Medieval Jewish Catalonia, (under review at Notre Dame University Press) , The Second Purim of Narbonne: Local Commemoration and Global Narration,(working title) solicited article for the journal Jewish History (submission date: 15 June, 2005), and is contributing a chapter in collaboration with other scholars for a work dealing with modern myths of the crusades. As a specialist in Medieval Jewish history her work is especially helpful in illuminating issues of interfaith relations during the crusades as well as the attacks on Jews by the crusaders. Her forthcoming chapter for the tentatively titled Seven Myths of the Crusades (in progress) will deal with common misconceptions about the goals and purpose of the crusades with regard to Jews. Additionally, Dr. Caputo teaches courses dealing with Jewish history that focus on the period of Islamic rule in Spain (Jewish History: 711-1492), as well as Holy War in the Middle Ages. Dr. Caputo received her Ph.D from the University of California Berkeley in December 1999. Her dissertation was titled, And God rested on the seventh day and sanctified it: Time, Creation, and Historical Change in Medieval Jewish Culture. During her time at Berkeley, she also served as a Visiting Researcher at The Remarque Institute, New York University (October 1996-June 1998). Dr. Caputo received both her M.A. in Jewish History and B.A. in History from the University of California Los Angeles (1992). During her time at U.C.L.A. she spent a year as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel (1991-1992). Nina Caputo- Home Page at the University of Florida Curriculum Vitae- Nina Caputo- At the University of Florida (c) Andrew Holt, May, 2006- Permission is granted for electronic copying and distribution in print for educational and personal use. No permission is granted for commercial use.