معرفی
Jessica Brantley serves as the Frederick W. Hilles Professor of English and current Chair of the Department of English at Yale University, where she has taught since 2000.
Her academic credentials include:
- Ph.D. from UCLA (2000)
- M. Phil. from Cambridge University (1994)
- A.B. from Harvard University (1992)
Brantley specializes in medieval manuscript cultures, focusing on how reading practices in late medieval England intersected with devotional life, public performance, and material textuality. Her work bridges literary analysis, art history, and book history to examine text-image relationships, vernacular literature, and the cultural significance of objects like alabaster sculptures and Books of Hours. She investigates how manuscript formats shaped literary reception and religious experience.
Her publications reveal consistent methodological innovation in manuscript studies, with recent work expanding into remediation theory and digital media connections. Key thematic threads include the materiality of medieval texts, devotional aesthetics, and the interplay between private reading and communal performance across diverse genres from Chaucer to civic drama.
Her scholarly recognition includes:
- 2008 Book of the Year award from the Conference on Christianity and Literature for Reading in the Wilderness: Private Devotion and Public Performance in Late Medieval England
Brantley mentors graduate students while teaching undergraduate courses like Chaucer and Medieval Women Writers, and graduate seminars including Medieval Visionary Writing and Teaching Practicum. Her research has been supported by academic fellowships enabling extensive manuscript analysis and collaborative projects. She actively contributes to Yale's medieval studies initiatives and interdisciplinary scholarship.
She co-edited Reassessing Alabaster Sculpture in Medieval England (2020) with Stephen Perkinson and Elizabeth Teviotdale, demonstrating her commitment to collaborative scholarship that bridges literary studies and material culture analysis within Yale's academic ecosystem.
