Jewish Women’s Ritual and Healthcare Practices in the Late Ottoman Empire: An Embodied Perspective

Anabella Esperanza is a social and cultural historian of the late Ottoman Empire and Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) Jewry. Esperanza’s research interests lie at the intersection of Jewish and Ottoman studies, history of science and health, and gender studies. She is particularly interested in the integration of history from the perspective of the body and the history of body practices, women’s health, sexuality, and shared ritual and medical cultures. Esperanza’s research deepens understanding of and raises new questions about Jews’ and women’s everyday life and Jewish-Muslim relations. 

Before coming to the Katz Center, Esperanza was a postdoctoral researcher at the Dan David Fellows at Tel Aviv University. She received her Ph.D. from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.