Department of English
Cockefair Hall 016H
(816) 235-2766
FAX (816) 235-1308
blantonv@umkc.edu
Virginia Blanton, Professor, (B.A., Southwestern College, 1989; M.A., Binghamton University, 1991; Graduate Certificate of Medieval Studies,
Binghamton University, 1995; Ph.D., Binghamton University, 1998).
Co-Chair, Department of English Language and Literature. Doctoral faculty in
English. Representations of women in the religious culture of medieval England, as subjects, as patrons, as readers. Author of Signs of Devotion: The Cult of St. AEthelthryth in Medieval England, 695-1615 (Penn State Press, 2007) and co-editor of Intertexts: Studies in Anglo-Saxon Culture Presented to Paul E. Szarmach, (MRTS, 2008).
My research examines the production and reception of female saints' lives and
how the social, historical, and political contexts of these narratives inform
our understanding of medieval religious culture and medieval social life. A
newer area of investigations focuses on medieval nuns and their production and
reception of books. Publications forthcoming include: Nuns' Literacies
in Medieval Europe: The Hull Dialogue (Brepols, 2012) and Reading Nuns:
An Edition of the Middle-English Legendary in CUL MS 2604 (Brepols, 2013).