Advisory Board
The Advisory Board of the Program in Medieval and Early Modern Studies is comprised of faculty from across the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC who have agreed to serve multi-year, renewable terms.
Members of the Board have the following core responsibilities: (1) the selection of two scholars for the year’s Wiley Keynote lectures from a pool of nominees; (2) the selection of winning applications for grants from the Wiley fund, Gilman funds, and other monies; and (3) the approval of new appointments to the MEMS Board by vote. Members also (4) advise the Director of MEMS on program business where needed and (5) serve as ambassadors for the program to their respective areas, departments, and disciplines.
The current composition of the Advisory Board is as follows:
Name |
Department |
Term |
Specialty |
Dr. Jessica Wolfe (chair) |
English and Comparative Literature | 2023-28 | Early modern Italy and England; comparative literature and science; Homer, Spenser, Browne, Milton |
Dr. Jes Boon |
Religious Studies | 2024-29 | Mysticism and Catholicism in medieval and early modern Spain; theories of embodiment, especially those relating to gender, sexuality, disability, and race; histories of medicine, emotion, and materiality |
Dr. Harry Cushman |
English and Comparative Literature | 2023-28 | Medieval drama; vernacular theology and the religious culture of late-medieval England |
Dr. Suzanne Lye |
Classics | 2023-28 | Ancient Greek religion and magic; Homer and Homeric reception; gender and ethnicity in antiquity |
Dr. Hassan Melehy |
Romance Studies | 2023-28 | Early modern France and political thought; Jack Kerouac, critical theory, and French film |
Dr. Morgan Pitelka |
Asian and Middle Eastern Studies | 2023-28 | Late-medieval and early modern Japan; art, material culture, and social ritual; urban and environmental history of the 16th and 17th centuries |
Dr. Aleksandra Prica |
German and Slavic | 2023-28 | Late-medieval and early modern Germany; exegesis and the medieval interpretation of the Bible; philosophy and literature |
Dr. Ellen Welch |
Romance Studies | 2023-28 | 17th- and 18th-century France; travel, imperialism, and diplomacy in the early modern world; theatre and ballet |
Dr. Brett Whalen |
History | 2023-26 | Intellectual, religious, and cultural history of medieval Europe; the medieval papacy; crusades, apocalyptic thought, and pilgrimage |
To contact the Board, please write to Dr. Jessica Wolfe, the current chair, at wolfej@unc.edu, or write to the current MEMS Director, Dr. Taylor Cowdery, at cowdery@email.unc.edu.