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Ruth Karras

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Curriculum Vitae

Department Affiliations

Narrative

Ruth Mazo Karras is Professor of History and Director of the Center for Medieval Studies. She is also a co-editor of the journal Gender & History.  She recently finished a term as President of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians (2005-08). She is the author of four books and numerous articles on various aspects of medieval social and cultural history, gender, and sexuality. Her current research concerns the formation of quasi-marital unions in medieval Western Europe.


Specialties

  • masculinity
  • medieval Europe
  • medieval sexuality
  • women's and gender history
  • Scandinavia
  • England

Educational Background

  • Ph.D.: History, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 1985.
  • M.Phil.: European Archaeology, Oxford Universisty, Oxford, UK, 1981.

Publications

  • Common Women: Prostitution and Sexuality in Medieval England. Karras, Ruth Mazo, Oxford University Press, 1996.
  • From Boys to Men: Formations of Masculinity in Later Medieval Europe. Karras, Ruth Mazo, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003.
  • "'This Skill in a Woman is By No Means to Be Despised': Weaving and the Gender Division of Labor in the Middle Ages,": Karras, Ruth Mazo, Palgrave MacMillan, Medieval Fabrications: Dress, Textiles, and Other Cultural Imaginings, ed. E. Jane Burns, 2004.
  • "'Because the other is a poor woman, she shall be called his wench': Gender, Sexuality, and Social Status in Late Medieval England,": Karras, Ruth Mazo, University of Minnesota Press, Gender and Difference in the Middle Ages, ed. Sharon Farmer and Carol Braun Pasternak, 2003.
  • "Using Women to Think With in the Medieval University,": Karras, Ruth Mazo, Brepols, Seeing and Knowing: Women and Learning in Medieval Europe 1200-1550, ed. Anneke Mulder-Bakker, 2004.
  • "Women's Labors: Reproduction and Sex Work in Medieval Europe: Karras, Ruth Mazo, Journal of Women's History, 2004.
  • "Marriage and the Creation of Kin in the Sagas,": Karras, Ruth Mazo, Scandinavian Studies, 2003.
  • "The Lechery That Dare Not Speak Its Name: Sodomy and the Vices in Medieval England," in In the Garden of Evil: The Vices and Culture in the Middle Ages, ed Richard Newhauser: Karras, Ruth Mazo, Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 2005.
  • Christina's Tempting: Karras, Ruth Mazo, Kathryn Kelsey Staples and Ruth Mazo Karras, Routledge, Christina of Markyate, ed Samuel Fanous and Henrietta Leyser, 2004.
  • Sexuality in Medieval Europe: Doing Unto Others. Karras, Ruth Mazo, Routledge, 2005.
  • The History of Marriage and the Myth of Friedelehe: Karras, Ruth Mazo, Early Medieval Europe, 14 119-151, 2006.
  • Knighthood, Compulsory Masculinity, and Sodomy: Karras, Ruth Mazo, University of Chicago Press, The Boswell Thesis: Essays on Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, ed. Matthew Kuefler, 2006.
  • Thomas Aquinas's Chastity Belt: Clerical Masculinity in Medieval Europe: Karras, Ruth Mazo, University of Pennsylvania Press, Gender & Christianity in Medieval Europe: New Perspectives, ed. Lisa M. Bitel and Felice Lifshitz, 52-67, 2008.
  • Law and the Illicit in Medieval Europe. Karras, Ruth Mazo, Ruth Mazo Karras, Joel Kaye, and E. Ann Matter, University of Pennsylvania Press, Co-Editor, 2008.
  • "Marriage, Concubinage, and the Law": Karras, Ruth Mazo, University of Pennsylvania Press, Law and the Illicit in Medieval Europe, ed. Karras, Kaye, & Matter, 117-129, 2008.

Research Activities

  • Quasi-Marital Unions in Medieval Europe: Book Project

Professional Activities

  • General Editor of the Middle Ages Series: University of Pennsylvania Press
  • President, Berkshire Conference of Women Historians: 2005 - 2008
  • American Historical Association, Committee on Committees: 2006 - 2009
  • Go-Editor, Gender & History: 2008-2013

Awards

  • Scholar of the College, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota, 2003 - 2006
  • American Philosophical Society Sabbatical Fellowship, 2004 - 2005
  • Outstanding Woman Scholar Award, 2008

Courses Taught

  • Hist 5900 - Medieval England
  • Hist 3614 - Women in Medieval Europe
  • Hist 5612 - Proseminar in Medieval History
  • Hist 5900 - Gender in Medieval Culture
  • Hist 4971 - The Viking World
  • Hist 1031 - Western Civilization
  • Hist 8709 - History of Sexuality
  • Hist 4961 - Major Paper
Alternative Output Formats Alternative Output Formats

Featured Faculty

  • Gary Cohen Awarded Austrian Medal of Honor

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    Gary Cohen has been awarded the Austrian Medal of Honor (Verdienstkreuz) for Science and Arts, First Class. The ceremony was held at the Austrian Embassy in Washington. He was presented the award by Dr. Christian Prosl, the Austrian Ambassador to the United States.

    Congratulations to Gary! This is a much-deserved recognition of Gary's scholarship on the Habsburg Empire and his leadership of the Center for Austrian Studies.

    November 17th, 2009

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    Regina Kunzel has been awarded the Lambda Literary Award in the category of LGBT Studies for her book Criminal Intimacy: Prison and the Uneven History of Modern American Sexuality. Congratulations Regina.

     June 5th, 2009

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    Tthe Graduate School has appointed Donna Gabaccia to the Fesler-Lampert Chair in Public Humanities for 2009-2010.

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