Professor of Comparative Literature and Women's and Gender Studies
she, her, hers
Office Information:
2233 Lane Hall
204 S. State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1290
hours: Tuesday 9-11
Comparative Literature; Middle East and North Africa; Mediterranean; Philosophy and Theory; Poetry and Poetics; History of the Book; Film and Media; Gender and Women's Studies; Race and Ethnicity; Migration and Diaspora; Colonialism and Postcolonialism
Education/Degree:
Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley 1993, Near Eastern Studies DepartmentHighlighted Work and Publications

The Stains of Culture: An Ethno-Reading of Karaite Jewish Women, Raphael Patai Series in Jewish Folklore and Anthropology
Ruth Tsoffar
A minority within Judaism, the Karaites are known as a 'reading community'-one that looks to the Bible as the authority in all areas of life, including intimate relations and hygiene. Here Ruth Tsoffar considers how Egyptian Kariates of the San Francisco Bay Area define themselves, within both California culture and Judaism, in terms of the Bible and its bearing on their bodies. Women's perspectives play a large role in this ethnography; it is their bodies that are especially regulated by rules of cleanliness and purity to the point where their biological cycles-menstruation, procreation, childbirth... See MoreThe Stains of Culture: An Ethno Reading of Karaite Jewish Women
Ruth Tsoffar
A minority within Judaism, the Karaites are known as a ‘reading community’—one that looks to the Bible as the authority in all areas of life, including intimate relations and hygiene. Here Ruth Tsoffar considers how Egyptian Kariates of the San Francisco Bay Area define themselves, within both California culture and Judaism, in terms of the Bible and its bearing on their bodies. Women’s perspectives play a large role in this ethnography; it is their bodies that are especially regulated by rules of cleanliness and purity to the point where their biological cycles—menstruation, procreation, childbirth...
See MoreLife in Citations: Biblical Narratives and Contemporary Hebrew Culture (Routledge Studies in Comparative Literature)
Ruth Tsoffar
In her latest book, Life in Citiations: Biblical Narratives and Contemporary Hebrew Culture, Ruth Tsoffar studies several key biblical narratives that figure prominently in Israeli culture. Life in Citations provides a close reading of these narratives, along with works by contemporary Hebrew Israeli artists that respond to them. Together they read as a modern commentary on life with text, or even life under the rule of its verses, to answer questions like How can we explain the fascination and intense identification of Israelis with the Bible? What does...
See MoreCurrent Courses
COMPLIT 240-001
Literature Across Borders
FTVM 190-002
First-Year Film Seminar
JUDAIC 150-003
First Year Seminar in Judaic Studies
WOMENSTD 150-001
Humanities Seminars on Women and Gender