DISSERTATION
Body and Sacred Place in Medieval Europe, 1100-1389: Interpreting the Case of Chartres Cathedral
Director: Professor Penelope D. Johnson
This dissertation investigates the medieval understanding of sacred place and argues that bodies and bodily metaphors were central to the establishment, function, use, and power of medieval churches. It lays bare the intimate relationship between the two facades of Christian sacred place: building and body. It questions the traditional division of sacred and profane jurisdictions, arguing for the need to consider non-devotional uses of churches in the Middle Ages. Only when the tension between the jurisdictions is explored will historians construct accurate representations of medieval sacred places and reveal living churches.
Part one examines idealized visions of medieval sacred places. Chapter I addresses the shift in locus of Christian sacred space from building to body while the second chapter shows how the body was central to the function of churches. As the clergy of Chartres Cathedral cultivated a place for their church in the world of medieval pilgrimage, they tried to harness the energy of the cult of the Virgin and localize it in their cathedral. The anchor of that energy was the sancta camisia, which transferred power to Chartres and to the human bodies it touched.
The second part of the dissertation turns to mundane and profane uses of these buildings, examining how bodies could challenge their sacred quality. Chapter three details common non-devotional activities that medieval churches accommodated. The fourth chapter discusses the profanation of time, place, and person with the assassination in 1170 of Thomas Becket and argues that Thomas' remains championed his violated church and contributed to the prestige of Chartres Cathedral. The conclusion places in a larger context observations made in previous chapters, considering them in relation to historical change. It posits that as loyalties were torn by emerging political, economic, and social groups the Church suffered a loss of security that was reflected in the uses of sacred spaces. It appears that sacred spaces became truly reserved as identities shifted and Europeans began to order the ambiguity of the Middle Ages.
CITIZENSHIP
Italy
United States
GRANTS
NEH Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Grant (Level II), Principal Investigator: $350,000 for The Norman Sicily Project, 6/1/22 - 5/31/25 (Decision: April 2022)
CHSS Interdisciplinary Group Grant (
MSU) for intra-university collaboration on global cultural heritage and sustainability, 2021-2022
NEH
Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Grant $49,783 for
The Norman Sicily Project, 9/1/19 – 8/31/21
Separately Budgeted Research Award (
MSU) for research in Rome related to current book project, Rosalia of Palermo: An Enigmatic Norman Saint and her Reconstruction in Seventeenth-Century Sicily - 2019
Angelo and Mary V. Cali Fund for Italian Studies Grant (
MSU): "A Collaborative Historical Preservation Project Joining MSU History and Environmental Studies Faculty and a Yale University Architecture Student in Support of a Web App Dedicated to Sicily’s Surviving Arab-Norman Monuments" - 2019
Herman and Margaret Sokol Faculty/Student Research Grant (
MSU, with
Dr. Greg Pope,
Department of Earth and Environmental Studies): “Rendering People and Places in the Norman Sicily Project” - 2018
Angelo and Mary V. Cali Fund for Italian Studies Grant (
MSU): "Proofs of Concept for The Norman Sicily Project" - 2018
PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies Grant in Support of the Development of
The Norman Sicily Project (
MSU) - 2017
Dean's Summer Research Grant in Support of the Development of
The Norman Sicily Project (
MSU) - 2016
NEH Summer Institute for College Teachers: Negotiating Identities: Expression and Representation in the Christian-Jewish-Muslim Mediterranean - 2015
Angelo and Mary V. Cali Fund for Italian Studies Grant (
MSU): "A Digital Conservation Project for Sicily’s Norman Past" - 2015
Angelo and Mary V. Cali Fund for Italian Studies Grant (
MSU):
Envisioning Norman Sicily: A Web-Based Digital Image Project - 2013
Global Education Grant (
MSU) - 2007 (Fall)
Global Education Grant (
MSU) - 2006 (Spring)
Student Faculty Research Award (
MSU) - 2005
Separately Budgeted Research Award (
MSU) - 2005
NEH Summer Institute for College Teachers: Anglo-Saxon England (at the
University of Cambridge) - 2004
Global Education Grant (
MSU) - 2004 (Fall)
Summer Grant Proposal Development Award (
MSU) - 2004
Global Education Grant (
MSU) - 2004 (Spring)
Student Faculty Research Award (
MSU) - 2004
PSC-CUNY Research Award (
BMCC,
City University of New York) - 2003
Collegium Fellowship (
Iona College) - 2001
Arts Council Grant: Conference on Eastern Catholic Churches (
Iona College) - 2000
Bernadotte E. Schmitt Grant (
American Historical Association) - 2000
Faculty Travel and Research Summer Grant (
Iona College) - 1999
Faculty Instructional Technology Initiative Grant (
Iona College) - 1999
NEH Summer Seminar for College Teachers/
Columbia University's Media Center for Art History/Andrew W. Mellon New Media Program: Gothic in the Ile-de-France - 1998
New York University
Graduate School of Arts and Science Student Travel Grant - 1998
Bernadotte E. Schmitt Grant (
American Historical Association) - 1996
New York University Graduate Assistantships, 1991 - 1994
CHAPTERS
"The Norman Sicily Project: An Ongoing, Web-Based Effort to Promote the Island's Eleventh- and Twelfth-Century Past." Forthcoming in
Mapping Pre-Modern Sicily: Maritime Violence, Cultural Exchange, and Imagination in the Mediterranean, ed. Emily Sohmer Tai and Kathryn Reyerson (Palgrave Macmillan).
"Christian Sanctuary and Repository of France's Political Culture: The Construction of Holiness and Masculinity at the Royal Abbey of St.-Denis." in
Holiness and Masculinity in the Middle Ages, edited by Patricia Cullum and Katherine Lewis (Cardiff:
University of Wales Press, 2004), 127-42. Paperback published by the
University of Toronto Press, 2005.
"Body as Champion of Church Authority and Sacred Place: The Murder of Thomas Becket." in
'A Great Effusion of Blood?': Interpreting Medieval Violence, Oren Falk, Mark Meyerson and Daniel Thiery, eds. (Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 2004), 190-215.
ARTICLES
"The Case of Geoffrey of Hauteville, Lord of Ragusa: A Story of Leprosy and Legitimacy from Norman Sicily." Forthcoming in
Speculum.
“The Norman Sicily Project: Deriving Meaning from the Prototype’s Data.” Forthcoming in
Kalkas: rivista sulla preistoria, storia, archeologia, numismatica, storia dell’arte, scienze del paesaggio e storia agraria e forestale del Gargano e del mezzogiorno d’Italia.
"The Norman Sicily Project: A Digital Portal to Sicily's Norman Past." With Joseph Hayes.
Digital Medievalist 12 (2019): 1-31. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.16995/dm.68
"The Cult of St. Nicholas of Myra in Norman Bari, c. 1071-c.1111,"
Journal of Ecclesiastical History 67 (2016): 492-512.
"The Political Significance of Roger II of Sicily's Antiquated Loros in the Mosaic of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio, Palermo," Allegorica 29 (2013): 52-69.
"French Connections: The Significance of the Fleurs-de-Lis in the Mosaic of King Roger II of Sicily in the Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio, Palermo,"
Viator 44 (2013): 119-149.
"Harnessing the Potential in Historiography and Popular Culture when Teaching the Crusades"
History Teacher 40 (2007): 349-62.
"From Boundaries Blurred to Boundaries Defined: Clerical Emphasis on the Limits of Sacred Space in the Later Middle Ages," in Alex Smith and Alison Brookes, eds.,
Holy Ground: Theoretical Issues Relating to the Landscape and Material Culture of Ritual Space (Oxford: British Archaeological Reports International Series 956, 2001): 85-90.
"Mundane Uses of Sacred Spaces in the Central and Later Middle Ages, with a Focus on Chartres Cathedral,"
Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies 30 (1999): 11-36.
"Birth, Flesh & Bodies: The Construction of Sacred Space in The Miracles of Our Lady of Chartres,"
Medieval Perspectives 14 (1999): 98-114.
BOOK REVIEWS
"
Medieval European Pilgrimage: A Student's Guide to 'Who?', 'What?', 'When?', 'Where?', and 'Why?'." Review of Diana Webb,
Medieval European Pilgrimage, c. 700-c. 1500,
H-NET review for
H-CATHOLIC, October 2004.
"
The Formation of a Persecuting Microcosm: Cluny and Intolerance in the Medieval World." Review of Dominique Iogna-Prat,
Order and Exclusion: Cluny and Christendom Face Heresy, Judaism, and Islam (1000-1500),
H-NET review for
H-CATHOLIC, June 2003.
"
The Medieval Heresy that Refuses to Die: Catharism, Then and Now." Review of Malcolm Barber,
The Cathars: Dualist Heretics in Languedoc in the High Middle Ages,
H-NET review for
H-CATHOLIC, June 2001.
"Reuniting Genders." Review of John Kitchen,
Saints' Lives and the Rhetoric of Gender: Male and Female in Merovingian Hagiography, in
Cross Currents, the Journal of the
Association for Religion and Intellectual Life, 51 (spring 2001): 139-41.
"
Heresy, Conquest and the Unification of France: The Albigensian Crusade." Review of Jonathan Sumption,
The Albigensian Crusade,
H-NET review for
H-CATHOLIC, February 2001.
ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS
"The Murder of Thomas Becket," translated selection of Edward Grim's account for
Western Legal Tradition (Pearson E-Book for
American University, 2014).
"Teaching in - and about - a Crossroads of Civilizations: Reflections on Learning in Sicily, the Kingdom in the Sun."
National Capital Language Resource Center (joint project of
Georgetown University,
The George Washington University, and the
Center for Applied Linguistics), Speaker's Corner, April 2008.
"The Crusades."
ProQuest History Online KnowledgeNotes, 2002.
"William the Conqueror and the Norman Conquest."
ProQuest History Online KnowledgeNotes, 2002.
Translated selections (from the Latin) of Edward Grim's account of the murder of Thomas Becket.
The Internet Medieval Sourcebook, ed. Paul Halsall.
DIGITAL HUMANITIES PROJECT
The Norman Sicily Project: A Digital Preservation Effort for Sicily's Norman Past,
www.normansicily.org (initiated late 2015)
CONFERENCE PAPERS
"Network Analysis of Rosalia of Palermo's Early Images Exploring the Evolution of her Cult." To be presented with Joseph Hayes at the 68th Annual Meeting of the
Renaissance Society of America, Dublin, Ireland, March 30 - April 2, 2022.
"The Norman Sicily Project: A Completed Prototype and Next Steps." To be delivered at the
International Medieval Congress,
University of Leeds, July 5-8, 2021.
"Norman Sicily: Multiculturalism and its Limits in the Medieval Mediterranean World." To be given at the Mediterranean Studies Symposium, Syracuse, Sicily, July 1-4, 2021.
"Memories of Norman Sicily in Seventeenth-Century Palermo: The Cult of Santa Rosalia in its Historical Context." Given at the 25th Annual
International Medieval Congress,
University of Leeds, England, July 2-5, 2018.
"The Condition of Cultural Stones in Norman Sicily, 1061-1194." Greg Pope, Dawn Marie Hayes and Joe Hayes. Pope presented the results of collaborative research carried out in Sicily in July 2017 at the
American Association of Geographers’ annual meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 10-14, 2018.
"The Wives of Roger II of Sicily: Reflections on the Marriage Strategies of an Evolving Monarchy." Given at "
The Normans in the South," convened by
The Haskins Society.
University of Oxford, England, June 30 – July 2, 2017.
"Devotion Magnified by the Perils of the Sea: Roger II of Sicily, St. Nicholas of Bari and the Challenges of Travel in a Maritime Kingdom." Presented at the Twentieth Annual International Conference of the
Mediterranean Studies Association,
University of Malta, May 31 – June 3, 2017.
"Kinship and Aspiration in the Medieval Mediterranean: Identity and Shared Experience during the Reign of Roger II of Sicily, c. 1112-1154." Given at the Nineteenth Annual International Conference of the
Mediterranean Studies Association,
University of Palermo, Sicily, May 25-28, 2016.
"Sicilia Normanna: A Digital Conservation Project for Sicily's Norman Past." Delivered with Joseph Hayes at the
Medieval Academy of America's annual meeting, Boston, Massachusetts, February 25 - 27, 2015.
"Roger II of Sicily and the Legacy of Alfonso VI of Leon-Castile: Identity and Aspiration on Europe's Margins in Early Twelfth-Century Europe." Given at the Thirtieth Annual Conference of the
Medieval Association of the Midwest,
St. Louis University,
Madrid Campus, January 23-25, 2015.
"On the Significance of Roger II of Sicily's Antiquated Loros in the Mosaic in Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio, Palermo." Presented at the First Annual
Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies,
St. Louis University, Missouri, June 17-19, 2013.
"St. Nicholas of Bari in the Art of Norman Italy." Presented as part of a
Hagiography Society panel at the Forty-Seventh
International Congress on Medieval Studies,
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 10-13, 2012.
"Capetian Influence in the Royal Iconography of Roger II of Sicily." Presented at the Forty-Sixth
International Congress on Medieval Studies,
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 12-15, 2011.
"Teaching in and about a Crossroads of Civilizations: Reflections on Learning in the Kingdom of the Sun." Presented at the
American Association of Teachers of Italian Conference, Washington, D.C., October 11-13, 2007.
"Women, Religion, Maternity: Possible Impacts of Literacy on Childbirth within Jewish and Christian Communities in Medieval Europe." Presented at the Forty-First
International Congress on Medieval Studies,
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 4-7, 2006.
"Didactic or Experiential?: Literacy and the Maternal Cultures of Christians, Jews and Muslims in Medieval Europe." Given at
Siena College's conference "Children of Abraham: Christians, Jews and Muslims in the Middle Ages and Early Moderm Europe", Loudonville, New York, October 7-8, 2005.
"Maternity Across Cultures: Jewish and Christian Approaches to Pregnancy and Childbirth in Medieval Western Europe." Given at the Nineteenth
Barnard Medieval and Renaissance Studies Conference, "Medicine Across Cultures: 600-1600", New York City, December 4, 2004.
"Pregnancy and Childbirth in Medieval Jewish, Christian and Muslim Sources." Paper delivered at
SUNY Binghamton's
Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies conference, "Science, Literature, and the Arts in the Medieval and Early Modern World", Binghamton, New York, October 22-23, 2004.
"Medieval Maternity through Modern Eyes." Paper presented at the Thirty-Ninth
International Congress on Medieval Studies,
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 6-9, 2004.
"Burying the Bodies of the Most Christian Kings: Capetian Corpses and the Construction of Politics and Sacredness at the Royal Abbey of Saint-Denis." Paper presented at the Thirty-Seventh
International Congress on Medieval Studies,
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 2-5, 2002.
"Christian Sanctuary and Repository of France's Political Culture: The Construction of Holiness and Masculinity at the Royal Abbey of St.-Denis." Paper given at the
University of Huddersfield as part of the conference "Holiness and Masculinity," July 12-14, 2001.
"Mundane and Profane Uses of Chartres Cathedral in the Later Middle Ages." Given at the
International Medieval Congress,
University of Leeds, Leeds, England, July 9-12, 2001.
"Negotiating the Powers of Good & Evil in Twelfth-Century Europe: The Purifying & Fortifying Liturgy of Church Consecration." Paper delivered at the
Convivium Center for Medieval & Early Modern Studies at
Siena College, Loudonville, New York, October 13-14, 2000.
"Violent Deaths as Commentaries on Vice-Ridden Lives in the Memoirs of Guibert of Nogent." Paper given at the
International Medieval Congress,
University of Leeds, Leeds, England, July 10-13, 2000.
"From Boundaries Blurred to Boundaries Defined: Clerical Emphasis on the Limits of Sacred Space in the Later Middle Ages." Paper given at the 1999 annual meeting of the Theoretical Archaeological Group,
School of Archaeology and Religion,
Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, December 14-17, 1999.
"The Political Clout of a Martyr's Body in Twelfth-Century England: The Assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket." Paper given at
Iona College's Dean's Symposium, December 2, 1998.
"Body as Champion of Church Authority and Sacred Place: The Murder of Thomas Becket." Paper given at the
University of Toronto's
Centre for Medieval Studies Annual Conference, "Violence in Medieval Society," October 24, 1998.
"Using the Body to Elevate Space: The Pious Propaganda of Thirteenth-Century Chartres Cathedral." Paper given at the
Southeastern Medieval Association (SEMA) Conference,
Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia, October 15-17, 1998.
"Raising Money and Generating a Cult in Thirteenth-Century Northern France: The Miracles of Our Lady of Chartres." Paper given at the New York Friends of the Saints, New York, New York, October 9, 1998.
INVITED TALKS
"The Formidable Kingdom in the Sun: Sicily and Southern Italy, c. 1061-1194." To be presented to the
National Organization of Italian American Women at the
John D. Calandra Italian American Institute,
Queens College,
CUNY, September 6, 2018.
"Reflections on
The Norman Sicily Project." With Greg Pope (
MSU,
Earth and Environmental Studies) and Joe P. Hayes. Delivered at the
Digital Humanities Summer Institute,
Drew University, June 21, 2018.
"The Norman Sicily Project: Reflections on how an Historian, Software Engineer and Earth Scientist are Collaborating to Create a Unique Web App for the Island's Norman Heritage." Report to be given to the
Center for Heritage and Archaeological Studies,
MSU, March 28, 2018.
"
The Norman Sicily Project." TEDx-Style Introduction to
The Norman Sicily Project requested by the
Office of Alumni Relations,
MSU. Recorded March 26, 2018.
"The Formidable Kingdom in the Sun: Sicily and Southern Italy, c. 1061-1194." To be presented to the
National Organization of Italian American Women at
The Garibaldi-Meucci Museum, November 9, 2017.
"Desire and Aspiration in Medieval Sicily: The Message of the Royal Mosaic in Santa Maria dell''Ammiraglio, Palermo," The Lynda Nilsen Memorial Lecture delivered at the
Archaeology Society of Staten Island/Archaeological Institute of America,
Wagner College, December 4, 2016.
"Imitation is not always a Sincere Form of Flattery: The Message of Roger II of Sicily's Byzantine Loros in the Mosaic of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio, Palermo," delivered as part of
MSU's
Medieval and Early Modern Studies Seminar, March 26, 2014.
"Sanctity, Safety and the Sea: St. Nicholas of Bari and the Devotion of the Early Normans in Sicily and Southern Italy." Delivered at the
CUNY Graduate Center, New York CIty, October 5, 2012.
"The Integration of iClicker Technology into Large Introductory GenEd Courses as a Way to Foster Individual Student Engagement." PowerPoint lecture presented to Montclair's Second Ward Councilor Cary Africk as part of a discussion on the pedagogical benefits of technology (with Dr. Patty Kahn, Director of Technology Training and Integration,
Office of Information Technology), November 4, 2008.
"The Crusades through Medieval and Modern Eyes." PowerPoint lecture given as part of
MSU's "Humanities in the Schools Day, 2004". December 7, 2004.
"Monarchy, Monastery and Mutuality: Relationships between Politics and Religion at the Medieval Abbey of Saint-Denis." Lecture to be given to the
Archaeology Society of Staten Island/Archaeological Institute of America,
Wagner College, January 12, 2003.
Tour of
The Cloisters.
Archaeology Society of Staten Island/Archaeological Institute of America, June 15, 2002.
Speaker in the Humanities,
New York Council for the Humanities, 2000-2003: "The Profane History of a Sacred Place: The Civic Context of Chartres Cathedral." Presented at:
The
Archaeology Society of Staten Island/Archaeological Institute of America,
Wagner College, March 4, 2001
Orange County Community College, Middletown, New York, April 11, 2001
Senior Citizens of Bronxville, Bronxville, New York, March 26, 2002
"From Tolerance to Persecution: The Marginalization of Western Europe's Jews in the Opening Years of the Second Millennium." Presentation made at Temple Israel New Rochelle, April 11, 2000.
PARTICIPATION IN PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS
Poster Presentation with Itewari Ekpebu-Bryan, Office of Information Technology,
MSU, "Facilitating a Digital Group Project: A Collaborative Approach," at the 10th Annual
NJEdge Conference, Plainsboro, New Jersey, November 21, 2013.
Organizer: "Sicily and its Neighbors" at the Forty-Eighth
International Congress on Medieval Studies,
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 9-12, 2013.
Chair, "Multidisciplinary St. Nicholas". A panel organized by the
Hagiography Society for the Forty-Eighth
International Congress on Medieval Studies,
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 9-12, 2013.
Organizer and Chair: "Medieval Sicily as a Cultural Frontier" at the Forty-Seventh
International Congress on Medieval Studies,
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 10-13, 2012.
Organizing Committee Member: "Storytelling", Romance Studies Colloquium,
MSU, October 1-3, 2009.
Invited Symposium Participant: "Making the Transition with Epsilen, an Integrated Course Content, Portfolio, and Communication Tool" at "Making the Transition from Face-to-Face to Online Pedagogy,"
MSU Summer Symposium, Montclair, New Jersey, June 2-5, 2008.
Organizer and Chair:
Medieval Religion Discussion List Session "Dispersion and Reception: The Fate of Constantinople's Relics after the Sack of 1204" at the 39th Meeting of the
International Congress on Medieval Studies,
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 6-9, 2004.
Invited Roundtable Participant: "The Virtual Canterbury Cathedral Website: Future Directions for a Western Michigan University Teaching Project", at the 39th Meeting of the
International Congress on Medieval Studies,
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 6-9, 2004.
Organizer: "Medieval Maternity, I: Pregnancy and Childbirth in Song, Spirituality and Sculpture" and "Medieval Maternity, II: Pregnancy and Childbirth in Medical and Other Manuscripts," two sessions to be held at the
International Medieval Congress,
University of Leeds, Leeds, England, July 14-17, 2003.
Invited Chair and Commentator: "Real and Imagined Topographies: Mapping Social Space," a session held at the
Medieval Academy of America's annual meeting, Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 10-12, 2003.
Organizer and Chair: "Mundane and Profane Uses of Medieval Sacred Spaces I: Misuses and Abuses of Churches and their Precincts," "Mundane and Profane Uses of Medieval Sacred Spaces II: Synagogue, Mosque and Shrine in the Central Middle Ages," and "Mundane and Profane Uses of Medieval Sacred Spaces III: (Re)Negotiating Boundaries for the Holy," three sessions held at the
International Medieval Congress,
University of Leeds, Leeds, England, July 9-12, 2001.
Roundtable Participant: "Exile in the Middle Ages: Definitions, Representations."
International Medieval Congress,
University of Leeds, Leeds, England, July 9-12, 2001.
Organizer of Conference: "Same but Different: Exploring the Cultures and Histories of the Eastern Catholic Churches,"
Iona College, November 6, 2000.
TEACHING FIELDS
Survey of Medieval History
Western Civilization (classical - present)
Medieval and Early Modern Culture
Church History to 1519
English Common Law
Jews and Christians in Ancient and Medieval Europe
History of Women in the Middle Ages
Medieval Legacies to the Modern World
Heresy and Dissent in Medieval Europe
Medieval France
Medieval England
Sicily and Southern Italy in the Middle Ages
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Professor of Medieval History,
Montclair State University, September 2019 -
Associate Professor of Medieval History,
Montclair State University, September 2006 - August 2019
Assistant Professor of Medieval History,
Montclair State University, September 2003 - August 2006
Graduate
Cross-Cultural Contacts in the Medieval World: Western Europe, Byzantium, and the Levant, ca. 1050-1189
Castle, Cathedral and Crusade: Europe in the High Middle Ages
Undergraduate
Foundations of Western Civilization (Face-to-Face, Technology Enhanced via
iClicker, Online via
Blackboard and Online via
Canvas)
Heresy and Dissent in the Later Middle Ages
Medieval European Civilization
Senior Seminar: Cross-Cultural Contacts in the Medieval World: Western Europe, Byzantium, and the Levant, ca. 1050-1189
Senior Seminar: Women in the Middle Ages
Senior Seminar: Kingdoms in the Sun: Sicily and Southern Italy in Antiquity and the Middle Ages
Senior Seminar: Southern Italy and Sicily in the Central Middle Ages
Architecture of Space and Place
Assistant Professor of History,
Borough of Manhattan Community College,
City University of New York, Fall 2002 - Spring 2003
Western Civilization: From Ancient to Early Modern Times
Western Civilization: The Emergence of the Modern World
Assistant Professor of European History,
Iona College, Fall 1998 – Spring 2002
Graduate
Europe in the Middle Ages
The Shaping of Contemporary Europe
The Shaping of Modern Europe: 1789-1914
Undergraduate
Honors Humanities Seminar II: The Middle Ages
Jews and Christians in Ancient and Medieval Europe
Western Civilization
Age of Ideology
Early Modern Europe
Europe in the Middle Ages
Contemporary Civilization I (to 1600)
Contemporary Civilization II (since 1600)
Europe since 1929
Adjunct Lecturer,
College of Staten Island,
City University of New York, 1996 – 1998
History of Western Civilization, Antiquity to 1500
Medieval and Early Modern Culture
World Civilization Since 1500
Past and Present
Teaching Assistant,
New York University, 1991 – 1994
The Foundations of English Common Law
The Civilization & Culture of the Middle Ages
The Crusades
ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATION
Departmental Personnel Advisory Committee,
MSU - Member 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2017; Co-Chair in Fall 2009; Chair in Spring 2010 and academic years 2014-2015 and 2020-2021
School Leadership Teams (
New York City Department of Education)
I.S. 7 (
District 31, Staten Island), September 2018 - August 2020
P.S. 36 (
District 31, Staten Island), Chair, September 2015
I.S. 7 (
District 31, Staten Island), September 2013 - June 2015
P.S. 36 (
District 31, Staten Island), September 2012 - June 2013
P.S. 36 (
District 31, Staten Island), September 2010 - June 2011
Chair, Task Force on the Development of an MA in the Digital Humanities,
MSU,
College of Humanities and Social Science, Spring 2016
Assessment Liaison for the
Department of History,
MSU, Fall 2014 – Spring 2016
Nineteenth-Century American Historian Search,
MSU,
Department of History, Fall 2014-Spring 2015
Sponsor Faculty Member for Graduate Student Paper, "A Kaleidoscope of Culture: Cross-Cultural Influences on Twelfth-Century English Illuminated Manuscripts," Presented at
MSU's 8th Annual
Student Reseach Symposium, April 12, 2014.
Director and Founder, International Summer Institute in Sicily,
MSU, 2006 - 2008, 2011 and 2013
Funds Raised for the Program (Subsidies & Scholarships):
2006: $ 15,000
2007: $ 5,000
2008: $ 6,000
2011: $ 15,000
2013: $ 15,000
Total: $ 56,000
Technology Training and Integration Group's Faculty Showcase Interview on Online Teaching (Video Interview for the Campus Community) - Fall 2013
Provost's
Canvas (LMS) Review Committee, Spring 2013
Undergraduate Curriculum Committee,
MSU,
College of Humanities and Social Sciences - Fall 2012 - Spring 2014
Director of Technology Training and Integration and Senior Instructional Designer Search Comittee,
MSU - Spring 2010
Instructional Designer Search Committee (Two Positions),
MSU - Fall 2010
Online and Hybrid Course Policy Committee,
MSU,
College of Humanities and Social Sciences - Fall 2010
Presentation on Online Teaching to the Board of Trustees' Academic Program Planning Committee,
MSU - December 10, 2009
Student's Perception of Online Courses: Reflections on a Course Survey, Presentation at
MSU's
College of Humanities and Social Sciences Meeting - November 4, 2009
Provost's Strategic Planning Steering Committee,
MSU - Fall 2008-Spring 2010
Director of the J
oseph and Elda Coccia Institute for the Italian Experience in America Search Committee (Chaired),
MSU - 2008
Dean of the
College of Humanitites and Social Sciences Search Committee,
MSU - 2007-2008
Institute for the Humanities Advisory Board,
MSU - 2007
Life Cycle Replacement Committee,
MSU - 2007
Coccia Institute for the Italian Experience in America Scholarship Committee,
MSU - 2006
Newsletter Editor,
MSU,
Department of History, 2005 - 2006
List Editor,
H-Catholic, a member of
H-Net Humanities & Social Sciences OnLine, 2004 - 2007
Study Abroad Committee,
Iona College, 2000 - 2002
Middle States' Libraries and Learning Centers Task Force,
Iona College, 2000 - 2001
Web Designer and Webmaster,
Iona College,
Department of History, 1999 - 2002
Web Designer and Webmaster,
Department of History,
New York University, 1996 – 1997
Assistant to Professor Norman F. Cantor – Spring 1996
Assistant to the Chair of the
Department of History,
New York University – Fall 1993
LANGUAGES READ
Latin
Italian
French
Spanish
PEER REVIEW ACTIVITY
Editorial Board,
Kalkas: Rivista del Centro Studi Storico Archeologici del Gargano, 2019 -
Editorial Board,
Quaderni di Studi Garganici, 2019 -
Blind Reviewer for
Al-Masa̅q: Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean, 2018
Award Judge,
UNICO Foundation's Ralph J. Torraco Doctoral Scholarship for the Study of Italian History, 2015
Reviewer, Extended pre-publication review of The Humanities: Culture, Continuity and Change, Book Three:
The Renaissance and the Age of Encounter, 1400-1600 (
Pearson, 2007)
Reviewer, Solicited extended pre-publication review of
Bedford/St. Martin's western civilization text
The Making of the West, 3rd edition
Reviewer, "Canterbury and Saint-Denis: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Two Churches at the Intersection of Medieval Culture," an interactive, web-based teaching project of
The Medieval Institute at
Western Michigan University, June 2003
