The Medieval and Early Modern Mediterranean was a dynamic zone of cultural contact, exchange, and innovation, the nexus between Europe, Africa, and Asia, and between the Byzantine, Latin, and Islamic worlds. It was home to an array of ethnic groups, and an array of vernacular and literary languages. Muslims, Christians and Jews of various origins, denominations and persuasions lived throughout the region, frequently cohabiting within the same regions, towns, and even households, engaging in dynamics of conflict and of collaboration, and exhibiting common identities that frequently crossed religious and ethnic lines. Multilingualism, bi-culturalism were common among individuals, and "code-switching" a common strategy. This panel brings together three papers that illuminate dynamics of interaction, transgression, engagement and conflict involving individuals and groups and the strategies they deployed as they navigated this diverse environment.

The session’s papers bridge the late-fourteenth to early-seventeenth centuries, and cross the Mediterranean, from the Iberian peninsula to the Ottoman empire. Wartell’s "Seeking Refuge under the Wings of the Shekhinah" takes a philological approach to analyze the use of multilingual rabbinical responsato mitigate the trauma of post-1492 diaspora Jewish communities. Kupin-Lisbin show how a multiconfessional religious ceremony to delve into the ambiguities and fluidities of religious identity in the early Modern Balkans. Houssaye Michienzi focuses on the tensions inherent in inter-ethnic and inter-communal relations, and the divergence between ideal and practice among the merchant community of late Medieval Mallorca.

The three presenters, all women, and including two PhD candidates, one American scholar, one French scholar, and one Australian scholar, present a diverse range of backgrounds and perspectives, which will enhance the diversity of the AHA Annual Meeting and provide a chance for foreign and junior scholars to reach a broad audience of scholarly peers. Through the Mediterranean Seminar Brian Catlos has co-organized eight successful panels at AHA Annual Meetings since 2010. Based on our experience organizing a panel at the 2019 meeting, we have limited this panel to three papers in order to have adequate time for response, and audience participation in the question period.