Mónica

Colominas Aparicio

I joined the CSIC as an ATRAE grantee in September 2025 (ILC-CCHS, CSIC). As specialist on Muslims and Islam in the pre-modern West, I currently lead the project West of Eden (WE): Muslim and Jewish Cultures in the Western Mediterranean (13th-17th centuries) — AEI, ATR2024-154505, as PI. WE interrogates critically the boundaries between Muslims and Jews in the Western Mediterranean, aiming to shed new light and advancing knowledge on their interactions. The project includes postdoctoral researchers dr. Ivana Arsić and dr. Dr Bárbara Berrocal Fonseca. 

Born in Barcelona, I studied Arabic Language and Culture at the University of Amsterdam — cum laude, BA and MA Degree. Following my PhD (2016, UvA, Department of Religious Studies, PhD Dissertation Award of the Amsterdam School of Historical Studies, 2015-2016), I conducted research at internationally renowned centers, including the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and the Frankel Institute, University of Michigan, and taught at the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel Aviv University, the Bard College Berlin, and the Faculty of Religion, Culture and Society at the University of Groningen, while holding a Rosalind Franklin Fellowship and receiving a tenured appointment in 2023. I count under my supervision bachelor’s and master’s theses and supervise PhD students. I have received funding by the Netherlands Interuniversity School for Islamic Studies (NISIS), a preliminary PhD research grant Catharine van Tussenbroekfonds, and the competitive VENI grant for individual research, NWO, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (2020-2024), to study the conditions of Christian and Jewish minorities in Muslim Iberia (8th–15th c.). 

My research focuses on identity formation among the Muslim minorities of Mudejars and Moriscos, particularly in the context of their religious polemics with Christians and Jews, and has produced several publications (e.g. Article of the Month, April 2023, http://www.mediterraneanseminar.org/2023-april-article-of-the-month), and two monographs: The Religious Polemics of the Muslims of Late Medieval Iberia. Identity and Religious Authority in Mudejar Islam (2018, BRILL, MEMI Series), and The Book of Disputation. A Mudejar Religious-Philosophical Treatise against Christians and Jews (2024, BRILL, MEMI Series). In 2025, the later has received the Honorable Mention Best Edition and Translation, Prize for the Best Source Edition, Book Translation, or Essay Collection of The Medieval Mediterranean Seminar. A key aspect of my work has been to shed light on an often unknown and understudied corpus in Arabic and in Aljamiado that reveals the contours of pre-modern and early-modern peninsular societies in their connection with North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean.

As active member of the scholarly community, I currently represent my Institute on ENIS (European Network on International Student Mobility), and sat on the executive board of NISIS (Netherlands Interuniversity School for Islamic Studies). I also have served as Reviews Editor of Medieval Encounters (BRILL) and am now its Editor-in-Chief. In addition, I participate on the executive boards of several book series, including Brill’s The Iberian Religious World and contribute as a peer reviewer and evaluator in my field. I am committed to disseminating scientific knowledge and regularly participate as a key speaker and invited speaker in international conferences, workshops and media engagements.