Although accepted by three other excellent graduate programs in English, I chose to pursue my doctorate at Saint Louis University for the opportunity to work with three highly respected medievalists in a very strong and well-known English department. Additionally, Saint Louis University is known in Medieval Studies for the strength of its medieval and early modern faculty across the Humanities, as well as for its excellent resources. The presence of the Vatican Film Library at SLU provides students with a unique opportunity to work with microfilm and microfische of manuscripts and early printed works in the Vatican’s collection.

Now entering my fourth year as a Saint Louis University Presidential Fellow, I find myself researching and preparing to write my Dissertation. A linguistic study of direct speeches by female voices in Anglo-Saxon poetry, my dissertation is a culmination of the work that I have done both at the M.A. level and at SLU with Profs. Tom Shippey and Paul Acker. These two professors, along with Dr. Antony Hasler and Prof. David Murphy of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, have provided more support and encouragement than I could have anticipated. Through their guidance I have presented conference papers both at home and abroad, and recently had my first publication appear in the journal ANQ. The faculty of the English department has also been instrumental in helping graduate students establish discussion groups as well as language reading groups in Latin, Old English, and Old Norse. In addition to things Old English, my research interests include medieval representations of the Apocryphal Book of Judith, early women writers, Celtic mythology in medieval Welsh and early English tales, and the poetry of the Alliterative Revival."