Joel Pattison

Assistant Professor of History

Joel Pattison is an Assistant Professor of History at Williams College, having joined the faculty in 2022. He specializes in the medieval Mediterranean, focusing on merchant culture and the interplay of religion and trade among Christians, Jews, and Muslims in Italy and the Western Mediterranean. His research examines how Islamic law and Christian canon law influenced trade dynamics between Genoa and the Maghrib from 1150 to 1300 CE. Currently, he is working on a book titled Trade and Religious Boundaries in the Medieval Maghrib .1 3

Education

Ph.D. in History and Medieval Studies from the University of California, Berkeley (2019)
M.Phil. in Medieval History from the University of Cambridge (2010)
B.A. in History from Yale University

Research and Publications

Pattison's academic contributions include several publications on medieval trade and religious interactions. Notable works include:

“Wine, Taxation, and the State in Ḥafṣid Tunis: Ethical Consumption and Public Finance in a Medieval Muslim City” (forthcoming in Speculum).
“Italy and the Hafsids in the Medieval Period” (Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History, June 2023).
“Trade and Immigration in Early Ḥafṣid Tunis: Evidence from Genoa” (Journal of North African Studies, May 2020) .1 4

Teaching

In Fall 2024, Pattison will teach courses including:

HIST 122: The Black Death
HIST 224(S): Introduction to Medieval Europe
HIST 326(S): The Crusades: 1050-1550
HIST 327(F): The Byzantine Empire, 330-1453 CE
HIST 495(F): The Medieval World System: Globalization before 1500 .1 2

Awards and Fellowships

Pattison has received various accolades for his work, including:

A Fulbright award for study in Italy.
The Marian and Andrew Heiskel Rome Prize in Medieval Studies at the American Academy in Rome.
An Andrew Mellon postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania .1 5

His academic profile reflects a commitment to exploring complex historical interactions within medieval societies, making significant contributions to our understanding of this period.