James Terrasi graduated from UIUC in 2022 with a major in both Medieval Studies and History. His History honors thesis, advised by Prof. Carol Symes, provided a new translation and analysis of the Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitanorum, an anonymous account of the First Crusade. In autumn of 2022, he began a Master's program in Medieval Studies at Fordham University, where he developed an interest in the social and economic history of the medieval Mediterranean. Fordham provided him with the opportunity to do archival work in Catalonia and to present at two conferences, including the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo. He also began to explore the possibilities of Digital Humanities projects, and he led the team behind the Oxford Outremer Map, an interactive digital edition of a thirteenth-century map of the Holy Land. His time at Fordham culminated in the defense of his thesis, entitled "Cloth at a Crossroads: The Social and Economic Activity of Drapers in Peralada, 1297-1308," on August 1st, 2024. This thesis, advised by Prof. Elizabeth Comuzzi, used notarial sources to explore the social and economic lives of small-town Catalan cloth retailers, emphasizing their status as members of the non-aristocratic elite in a rurally-oriented market town.

James is currently in his first year of the PhD program in history at Stanford University. We are so excited about the new directions his work is taking -- and very proud of his achievements!