Arnold Franklin is a social and cultural historian whose research focuses on the Jewish communities of the medieval Near East. He is an associate professor in the History department at Queens College, CUNY, where he also directs the Jewish Studies Program and the Center for Jewish Studies. His work has explored genealogy as a cultural practice, letter-writing and the historiography of the medieval Jewish community. He is the author of This Noble House: Jewish Descendants of King David in the Medieval Islamic East.