Tovah Bender

Tovah Bender serves as a Teaching Professor and Undergraduate Program Director in the Department of History at Florida International University's Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs. Her office is located in SIPA II 315 with contact details including phone 305-348-3557 and email tbender@fiu.edu.

Dr. Bender's research centers on social and gender history in late medieval and early modern Europe (400-1800 AD), specializing in non-elite Florentine artisans' marriage strategies, gender performance, food exchange systems, and social network formation during the 1400s. She examines how individuals navigated daily physical, economic, and social needs through comparative analysis of societal roles and identity construction.

Scientific Awards

• Notable Global Learning Faculty Member

As Undergraduate Program Director, Dr. Bender oversees history curriculum development and student advising. Her teaching methodology emphasizes immersive exploration of premodern European history, challenging students to critically evaluate historical perspectives while connecting past societal dynamics to contemporary contexts through active perspective-taking exercises.