Flora Cassen is Senior Faculty at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America.
Flora was born and raised in Antwerp, Belgium. She attended college in Brussels, where she studied history and law. She moved to the US to continue her studies, earning an MA in comparative history from Brandeis University and a Ph.D. in Jewish History from New York University.
She has taught European and Jewish history at the University of Vermont, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Washington University in Saint Louis, where she also served as chair of the Department of Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies.
Flora’s book, Marking the Jews in Renaissance Italy: Politics, Religion, and the Power of Symbols, published by Cambridge University Press, explores the history of the yellow badges and hats Jews were compelled to wear in Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The book sheds light on the origins and implications of Renaissance anti-Judaism, examining its impact on both Italian Jews and Christians. She has also contributed numerous articles to academic journals and essay collections, creating a body of work that explores various aspects of early Modern Jewish life in Italy and the Spanish Empire, including anti-Judaism, dress, travel, espionage, and food.
Bridging the gap between academia and the general public, Flora also writes for broader audiences. Her articles have appeared in publications such as Haaretz, Slate, The Conversation, Psyche/Aeon, Smithsonian Magazine, and The Forward. Flora’s forthcoming book on antisemitism will be published by the New Jewish Press.
She lives in St. Louis with her husband and two sons.
