Teofilo Ruiz is a specialist in the social and popular cultures of late medieval and early modern Spain and the western Mediterranean who has taught medieval history at the University of California, Los Angeles, since 1998. Among his many accolades are a National Humanities Medal for 2011 (presented by President Barrack Obama) and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Mellon Foundation, Institute for Advanced Study, American Council of Learned Societies, and Guggenheim Foundation.

Ruiz will work on two monographic essays while in Rome. One of these articles explores the social and economic life of Jews and Muslims in late fifteenth century Ávila, Spain. The topic is driven by three case studies: a Florentine painter working on Avila-area church decoration who married an Avila (a Castilian woman) and who acquired materials from Jews; Muslims engaged in the building trade and their frequent business with members of the cathedral chapter of Ávila; and a marriage contract between a converso and a Jewish family.