Martin Jacobs

Martin Jacobs is a Professor of Rabbinic Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, affiliated with the Department of Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies (JIMES), History Department, and Religious Studies Program. He holds a PhD and Habilitation in Jewish Studies from the Free University of Berlin.

His research focuses on Jewish history and cultural interactions in the medieval and early modern Mediterranean, including Jewish-Muslim encounters, medieval travel literature, and Sephardic diasporas. Notable works include Reorienting the East: Jewish Travelers to the Medieval Muslim World (2014) and Islamische Geschichte in jüdischen Chroniken (2004).

Jacobs has held visiting fellowships at institutions such as the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of Pennsylvania, Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, and the University of Michigan. His current book project explores Jewish historians' perspectives on the Spanish and Ottoman empires.

He teaches rabbinic studies and engages with themes of identity formation in premodern Jewish communities navigating multiple cultural spheres.