With the exception of my blog, I have not posted the full version of any of these projects to this website. If you want to read the entirety of any of them, please let me know via the form on the Contact Me page and I will do my best to get back to you quickly.
Completed Projects
Hildegard of Bingen
This is a long paper on prophecy and exegesis (defined here as the interpretation and explanation of sacred knowledge) in the letters of St. HIldegard of Bingen. Hildegard, an abbess and visionary in twelfth century Germany, is one of the only female writers we know of from that time period. In addition to producing three books recording her visions, two more books on medicine, an entire collection of music, and the first known morality play, she also corresponded regularly with people from the Pope to a variety of laywomen and preached openly to mixed groups of laypeople and clergy alike. Many, including In Hildegard herself, saw her as a prophet. In this paper I argue that while these letters show prophecy as central to Hildegard's identity, scholars have heretofore ignored the privileged place held by her actions as exegete and judge within her prophetic identity. (Image: a miniature of St. Hildegard from a manuscript of her visionary work, Scivias, Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Veneration and Fear of Beguines in the Medieval Low Countries
Abstract:
In the early 12th century there arose a new religious movement in Northwestern Europe. What is remarkable about this particular movement, however, is that unlike any other in this time period, this one was started by women. Known as “beguines” or “begijnen,” they took vows similar to those of nuns and devoted themselves to living a pious life, but their vows were not permanent, they could own property individually, and they lived and worked in the cities. Where there were enough of them, they lived in community and had their own churches and priests. Where there were not, they lived and worshiped among lay people.
In this paper I explore the factors that shaped the beguines as a group. I will look at the evidence we have on their lives before they took vows, their reasons for becoming beguines, the spaces they lived in, and the work they performed, both religious and economic. From here I highlight the boundaries beguines lived on, both social and spiritual. Because of their vows and their work, they existed between religious and lay, between life and death, and between heaven and humanity. As a result, different groups of other religious and lay people both venerated and condemned them, leading first to their great popularity from the late 12th through the 13th centuries and then to their suppression in the 14th century.
(Image: the begijnhof in Amsterdam, photographed by Bert K., Source: Wikimedia Commons)
This presentation can now be viewed online here. Go to the "On Demand" tab, find "Session 3 Spring 2013 Student Symposium at Beloit College," and click "watch." My symposium starts at 1:24:53.
In the early 12th century there arose a new religious movement in Northwestern Europe. What is remarkable about this particular movement, however, is that unlike any other in this time period, this one was started by women. Known as “beguines” or “begijnen,” they took vows similar to those of nuns and devoted themselves to living a pious life, but their vows were not permanent, they could own property individually, and they lived and worked in the cities. Where there were enough of them, they lived in community and had their own churches and priests. Where there were not, they lived and worshiped among lay people.
In this paper I explore the factors that shaped the beguines as a group. I will look at the evidence we have on their lives before they took vows, their reasons for becoming beguines, the spaces they lived in, and the work they performed, both religious and economic. From here I highlight the boundaries beguines lived on, both social and spiritual. Because of their vows and their work, they existed between religious and lay, between life and death, and between heaven and humanity. As a result, different groups of other religious and lay people both venerated and condemned them, leading first to their great popularity from the late 12th through the 13th centuries and then to their suppression in the 14th century.
(Image: the begijnhof in Amsterdam, photographed by Bert K., Source: Wikimedia Commons)
This presentation can now be viewed online here. Go to the "On Demand" tab, find "Session 3 Spring 2013 Student Symposium at Beloit College," and click "watch." My symposium starts at 1:24:53.
The Gendering of Heroism in Ancient Greece
This is a short paper I wrote in an attempt to answer the question "were there any female heroes in ancient Greece or was the term 'hero' on available exclusively to men?" In order to do that I first define what qualities were necessary to be considered a "hero." From there I looked at the lives of Penelope, Atalanta, and the Amazon Penthesilea to see if any of could be said to embody enough of these to be considered such. Through this examination I find that only one, Penthesilea lives up to those expectations, but to do so she must lose much of her femininity and take on masculinity instead. (Image: Penthesilea fighting Achilles, Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Poly Families with Children Op-Ed
In 1998, a judge in Tennessee removed a child from the custody of her mother, April Divilbiss, and placed her instead in the care of her grandmother. The reason: April lived with and was in a relationship with two different men at the same time, with the knowledge and consent of both. The law has not changed since then. This could easily happen now, 15 years later. Some would argue that such families are necessarily unstable and bad for children. I hope to show the opposite. (Image: "Family, Community, Patchwork," Source: Pixabay)
Textile Intern at the Beloit Historical Society
I spent the summer of 2012 doing an internship at the Beloit Historical Society. The bulk of my work involved working with the collection of women’s dresses housed in the Textile Room there. This collection, consisting of just shy of 250 items had not been dealt with in any depth in ten years and had no coherent system of organization. My goal was to lay the groundwork for a reorganization of the collection based on the time period each garment came from. In order to do this I produced not only an inventory and a list of all garments in the collection in chronological order, but also several lists of recommendations based on which items needed different storage, were slightly damaged, or were not worth keeping. In addition to this I copy edited announcements, managed the reception desk when the regular volunteer couldn’t make it, and helped people find various items within the Historical Society. Though due to time constraints I was unable to actually reorganize the collection myself, it is my hope that someone will be able to do so in the near future. (Image: A Civil War era formal dress in the Beloit Gallery at the Beloit Historical Society, Source: Beloit Historical Society, Used with Permission)
Shah Bano: Maintenance, Protection, & Community Identity
In 1985, the Supreme Court of India upheld the decision of a lower court to award maintenance to Shah Bano, a woman who several years prior had been divorced by her husband without any promise of maintenance or other support. Though the court had made such decisions before, this one sparked a nationwide controversy. In this paper I examine the practices of Muslim law in India, the case itself, its aftermath, and issues of Muslim identity and community in order to understand how this particular case became a vehicle for discussion on so many other topics and finally led to the passing of the Muslim Women Act of 1986. (Image: the seal of the state of Mahaya Pradesh, India, where the case was originally decided, Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Women and the Spread of Sufism in India
This presentation looks at the role of women in the spread and practice of Sufism, or mystic Islam, in Mughal India. In it I argue that women played an important, if easily ignored role in the spread of Islam in India. I cover the use of women and the female voice in literature and poetry, the ways in which women's daily lives were suited to diffuse the religion throughout the population, and finally, the influence of two female saints on Sufism both in India and the broader Muslim world at the time. (Image: a miniature of the Sufi Saint Rabi'a al-Adawiyya painted sometime after her death in 801 CE, Source: Wikimedia Commons)