Welcome
When I was a high school student outside Boston at the time of Kent State, I was immersed in the anti-war movement and — inspired by a terrific teacher — the study of US history. I thought I was headed for a career in public service; but then I went to the University of Toronto, discovered the Middle Ages, and… subsequent chapters in my professional life are clear from my curriculum vitae. Over the last several years, however, the growing inequities in the US have led my scholarly interests back to their starting point. While certain of my projects still focus on early medieval Europe, others concern modern issues of social justice and the distinctive perspective that medieval studies can offer on those issues, as for instance here: Why the Middle Ages Matter.
Away from my teaching and research in the field of medieval studies, I teach and tutor in area prisons as a volunteer for the Petey Greene Program. In the past, I served as the director of TCNJ’s Institute for Prison Teaching and Outreach; this initiative has now joined forces with the Petey Greene Program. The NJ Consortium for Scholarship and Transformative Education in Prisons (NJ STEP), which offers courses leading toward associate degrees to the incarcerated populations throughout NJ, was formed through a collaborative endeavor of the TCNJ Institute and other prison education organizations in the state.
The online essays by my husband Bernard eloquently express a perspective on current events and social justice matching my own.