Incoming CJS Director and Lipton Professor of Jewish Studies
Beginning this fall, Nina Caputo will become the Lipton Professor of Jewish Studies and the Center’s next director. Caputo joins us from the University Florida, where she was an associate professor and the associate chair of the Department of History. She received her B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Caputo focuses on Jewish intellectual history and Jewish-Christian relations, with particular attention to the ways in which Jews negotiated their status as a religious minority in the medieval world. She is especially interested in the medieval scholar Nahmanides (Rabbi Moses ben Nahman, or Ramban, ca. 1194-1270), a significant figure in the history of Catalonian Jewry. In her first book, Nahmanides in Medieval Catalonia: History, Society, and Messianism, she examined Nahmanides’ exegesis, letters, and polemics to show how they engaged with Christian views of history and scripture, at times embracing Christian forms and at times refuting them. Her second book, Debating Truth: The Barcelona Disputation of 1263, A Graphic History, is a close study of Nahmanides’ public theological debate with a Dominican friar who had converted from Judaism to Christianity. Offering a graphic representation of their debate (illustrated by artist Liz Clarke), the book is regularly assigned in courses on medieval and Jewish history.
Caputo’s areas of expertise will fill longstanding gaps in our curriculum. This fall she will teach “Medieval Jewish History,” covering the early rabbinic period through the end of the 15th century—an era which, she argues, marked a radical shift in the role and status of Jews worldwide. Her future courses will cover a variety of topics in medieval and early modern Jewish history, including “Jewish Conversion” and “Jews in Medieval Spain.”
In her teaching, Caputo encourages students to view developments in Jewish practice, culture, and politics as a product of the interplay between canonical Jewish culture and the specific societies in which they lived. “In a similar manner to my research,” she explains, “my Jewish history classes stress Jewish actions and culture, rather than conditions imposed on Jews, in an effort to shed light on the complexity of local Jewish acculturation and identities.”
In addition to her research and teaching, Caputo brings a wealth of administrative experience, with particular strengths in curriculum, governance, personnel, and policy. Her experience in planning public lectures, workshops, and conferences will serve her well in overseeing the Center’s robust outreach program.
“Guiding discussions and decisions about the future of the Mosse/Weinstein Center is a uniquely exciting prospect,” Caputo says. “The Center’s long history as a leading Jewish studies program and its strong core faculty provide a solid foundation that can support development in a variety of directions. I look forward to participating in and contributing to a truly first-rate and dynamic program in Jewish studies.”
The Lipton Professorship in Jewish Studies was created through a generous gift from Samuel H. Lipton (1922 – 2013), a brother of Frances Lipton Weinstein (1923 – 2025). A memorial to Weinstein appears on p. 11 of this newsletter.