Jessica Rosenfeld

Jessica Rosenfeld is an Associate Professor of English and Associate Chair of the Department of English at Washington University in St. Louis. She holds a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and specializes in late medieval literature, the medieval reception of Aristotle, medieval women’s writing, and the history of emotions. Her research bridges ethical philosophy, psychoanalytic theory, and gender studies.

Education:

• PhD, University of Pennsylvania

Research Interests: Dr. Rosenfeld explores how medieval thinkers conceptualized emotions, ethics, and gender through works by Chaucer, Margery Kempe, and John Gower. She interrogates the legacy of Aristotelian ethics in medieval poetry and the modern relevance of medieval emotional frameworks, particularly envy and its intersections with social inequality.

Publications & Projects: Her book Ethics and Enjoyment in Late Medieval Poetry (2011) examines medieval love and labor through an Aristotelian lens. She is completing a manuscript on medieval foundations of modern emotion theory and co-edits Exemplaria and The Chaucer Encyclopedia . Recent work includes analyses of envy in premodern texts and public scholarship linking medieval themes to contemporary social issues.

Awards: She received the ACLS Ryskamp Fellowship (2014-15), supporting research on medieval emotions.

Teaching & Service: Dr. Rosenfeld teaches courses on medieval women’s writing, Chaucer, and premodern gender studies. She co-leads the Medieval Studies Writing Group and contributes to affiliated programs in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Classics, and Comparative Literature.