معرفی
Katherine Smith is a Professor of History at the University of Puget Sound, specializing in medieval and early modern European history. Her research focuses on monasticism’s cultural and material dimensions, including how monastic communities negotiated identity through warfare, biblical exegesis, and daily rituals. She teaches courses on the Crusades, witch-hunting, gender in premodern Europe, and Late Antiquity/Early Middle Ages, emphasizing material culture analysis through objects.
Education: BA from Vassar College (1998), MA and MPhil from New York University (1999-2001), PhD from New York University (2004).
Her research interests include monastic narratives of conflict, material culture’s role in religious practice, and the intersection of gender and religious authority. Recent work explores lightscapes, textile production, and weapon-relics in medieval monastic contexts. She has published extensively on monasticism’s engagement with warfare, biblical interpretation, and sensory environments.
Her articles collectively examine how monastic communities shaped their identities through material objects, historical memory, and theological frameworks. Notable works include studies on medieval monks’ sewing practices and the symbolism of light in monastic spaces.
