Natalie Rothman

E. Natalie Rothman is a Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Historical and Cultural Studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough. She specializes in early modern Mediterranean history, focusing on Venetian-Ottoman diplomacy, diplomatic interpreters, and the genealogies of Orientalism. Her work bridges historical anthropology and digital scholarship, with notable contributions including Brokering Empire (2011) and The Dragoman Renaissance (2021).

• Education: M.A. from Tel Aviv University (Culture Research, 1999), Ph.D. from University of Michigan (Anthropology and History, 2006)

Her research interests span historical anthropology, postcolonial theory, semiotics, translation studies, and the history of archives. She has been funded by major grants including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Mellon Foundation. Her digital project, The Dragoman Renaissance Research Platform, integrates archival and computational methods to study cultural mediation.

• Awards: Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship (Newberry Library), Jackman Humanities Fellowship (U Toronto), Early Researcher Award (Ontario Government)

Rothman teaches courses on early modern Mediterranean history, Venice’s empire, and digital history methodologies. She advises graduate seminars on translation, archives, and travel writing. Her work emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to empire, language, and cultural exchange.