Rebecca Stephenson

Rebecca Stephenson is an Associate Professor in the School of English, Drama and Film at University College Dublin (UCD), where she specializes in early medieval English literature, with a focus on the interplay between Latin and English during the Anglo-Saxon period. Her research explores monastic identity, the Benedictine Reform, and the literary and linguistic dynamics of Old English and Latin texts.

Her research interests include Early Medieval English Studies, Anglo-Saxon Literature, Old English, Medieval Literature, Latin and English Linguistic Interactions, Benedictine Reform, Monastic Identity, Hermeneutic Style, Gender Studies in Medieval Literature, Manuscript Studies, Science and Literature in Anglo-Saxon England, Computistics, Spiritual Warfare in Medieval Texts, Feminist Approaches to Medieval Studies, and Textual Identity. She has published extensively on these topics, with a major monograph titled The Politics of Language: Byrhtferth, Ælfric, and the Multilingual Identity of the Benedictine Reform, and is currently working on a new book project, Writing Poetry in the Stars: Interactions between Science and Literature in Anglo-Saxon England.

Her recent scholarly output reveals a strong trend in analyzing the intersections of science, religion, and literature in the early medieval period, particularly through computistics, liturgical practices, and allegorical interpretations. She frequently examines how monastic communities used language and textual practices to define identity, especially in opposition to secular clergy. Her work also reflects a growing engagement with feminist perspectives in medieval studies.

• Teaching Award - Top teaching contribution in the English Department (2013)
• Tommy and Mary Barham Endowed Professorship in English (2013)
• Teaching Award - Top teaching contribution in the English Department (2012)
• Research Award - Top research contribution in the English department (2011)
• Teaching Award - Top teaching contribution in the English Department (2011)
• Research Award - Top research contribution in the English department (2010)

Rebecca Stephenson has been actively involved in teaching and curriculum development, coordinating modules such as Advanced Old & Middle English, Reading Medieval Literature, and Apocalypse Then: Old English Literature. She has received significant grant funding, including support for an international conference on Conflicting Chronologies in the Pre-modern World and a research network trip to Toronto under the Science of Apocalypse grant. She is also an active member of professional associations such as the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists and the Teachers of Old English in Britain and Ireland. Her editorial work includes co-editing volumes like Feminist Approaches to Early Medieval English Studies and Textual Identities in Early Medieval England.

She leads and contributes to interdisciplinary research initiatives, often bridging literature, history, science, and gender studies. Her lab or research group is not explicitly named, but her collaborative projects and conference organization indicate leadership in a vibrant scholarly community focused on early medieval England.