My research asks how objects, spaces, and images shaped urban identity in the medieval world, with a particular love for sacred and civic architecture and material culture. Much of my work centers on recovering medieval Jewish communities in the past and present.
I'm just as drawn to where that history resurfaces today, from debates over public memory and cultural patrimony to the surprising traces of medieval art and architecture scattered across the American Midwest. Having taught at both the high school and college levels, I've come to see the classroom as the best part of the work—a place where students and I get to look closely, ask hard questions, and discover that the past is far more alive, and far more relevant, than it first appears.
