Dr. Sarah Ifft Decker, associate professor of history at Rhodes College, is the recipient of the Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies Best Article Prize for her article titled “The Widow and the Notary: Death, Gender, and Legal Culture in the Jewish and Christian Communities of Medieval Catalonia.” The article was published in 2024, and the prize recognizes an article published in the preceding year.
According to the award announcement, “The committee found this article methodologically exemplary and thoughtfully crafted, with a sharp critical focus and a consequential thesis. Ifft Decker established a multifaceted comparative frame by juxtaposing and scrutinizing both Christian notarial documents and Hebrew responsa literature to explore how they illuminate not just the funerary and legal practices, but also the emotional experiences, of both Jewish and Christian women in Catalan cities in the late Middle Ages.”
A member of the Rhodes faculty since 2020, Ifft Decker teaches a wide array of courses on the global Middle Ages, many of which encompass both Europe and the Middle East and incorporate the lived experiences of Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
Ifft Decker—who has expertise in medieval Europe, Jewish history, and women and gender—is the host of Media-eval: A Medieval Pop Culture Podcast. She also is the author of Jewish Women in the Medieval World: 500-1500 CE.
In 2024, Ifft Decker received the La corónica International Book Award for her book titled The Fruit of Her Hands: Jewish and Christian Women's Work in Medieval Catalan Cities.