Ruth Nisse’s research and courses are about medieval literature and culture. She has written on religious difference, translation theory, and performance. Her most recent book is Jacob’s Shipwreck: Diaspora, Translation and Jewish-Christian Relations (Cornell, 2017), which focuses on the influence of ancient Hebrew and Latin writings on medieval works.  She is also the author of Defining Acts: Drama and the Politics of Interpretation in Late Medieval England (Notre Dame, 1995). She has published articles in Speculum, ELH, New Medieval Literatures, and New Chaucer Studies among other journals. Nisse’s current projects are on multilingualism in medieval Hebrew religious and scientific texts and on apocalypse and empire in early medieval literature. She is affiliated with the Medieval Studies program and the Center for Jewish Studies. She believes that if you really want to understand the English major, you ought to know Geoffrey Chaucer and Margery Kempe.