Tara Alberts

Dr. Tara Alberts is a Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of York's Department of History. Her research focuses on cross-cultural exchanges between Europe and Asia (c.1500–1700), particularly the circulation of medicines and health ideas along Southeast Asian trade routes. Before joining York in 2012, she held a Research Fellowship at Jesus College, Cambridge, and was a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute. She currently serves as the department's International Officer.

Her teaching includes undergraduate modules like HIS00125I Historical Thinking and HIS00154H The Crossroads of the World: Southeast Asia c.1500–1750, as well as postgraduate courses such as HIS00065M Medicine & Spiritual Healing in the Early Modern World. Her research projects explore topics like premodern medical translation, colonial religious conflicts, and intercultural exchange in Southeast Asia.

Dr. Alberts has contributed to major journals like Osiris, co-editing special issues on translating medicine across premodern worlds. She leads the Translating Medicine in the Premodern World research project, investigating how medical knowledge traversed global networks between 800–1900. Her work bridges historical methods with interdisciplinary approaches to understand premodern globalization.

Her activities include editorial work for Medical History and organizing workshops on medical translation. Her research emphasizes the agency of indigenous actors in knowledge exchange, challenging Eurocentric narratives of early modern global interactions.