Director and Staff
During the spring 2021 semester, the institute office will be open in person Monday–Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (remotely available Thursday and Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
Thomas E. Burman
Robert M. Conway Director of the Medieval Institute
Professor of History
Thomas E. Burman joined the Medieval Institute as Robert M. Conway Director in January 2017 with the vision of enhancing the Institute’s traditional strengths in northern European history and culture and, at the same time, expanding its focus to include the whole Mediterranean region.
Burman, who holds a joint appointment as Professor of History, earned his Ph.D. in Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto and has long been engaged in interdisciplinary scholarship that blends history, theology, religious studies, and literature. His research—which has been supported by fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities—focuses on Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages.
Read his full Director's Profile
Email tburman@nd.edu
Twitter @bobqur
Megan J. Hall, Ph.D.
Assistant Director
In her role, Dr. Hall directs the staff and daily operations of the Medieval Institute, including communications, budget, and special events, while researching and publishing in her areas of specialty: medieval women's literacy and education, manuscript studies, digital humanities, and the effects of landscape and environment on the production of texts and text technologies.
Dr. Hall earned her Ph.D. in Medieval English Literature from the University of Notre Dame and her M.A. and B.A. in English Literature from the University of Georgia. She has taught courses on writing and modern and medieval English literature at the University of Notre Dame, the University of Georgia, Augusta State University, the University of North Georgia, and Athens Technical College.
She has authored a number of publications including essays in Journal of the Early Book Society and Early Middle English. Most recently she has been invited to contribute to a special edition of History of Education Quarterly on Medieval and Renaissance education and an episode of the HEQ&A podcast on her work.
Email meganjhall@nd.edu
Twitter @meganjhallphd
CJ (Claire Taylor) Jones
Director of Graduate Studies
William Payden Associate Professor of German
CJ Jones is an interdisciplinary scholar based in German studies. Her research focuses on the reform of religious orders in late medieval Germany. Her first book, Ruling the Spirit (Penn Press 2018), reexamines the mystical literature of the Dominican order, arguing that strict adherence to the order’s rule was considered a source of—not an impediment to—spiritual experience. Her second book, Women’s History in the Age of Reformation (PIMS 2019), presents the first full-length English translation of Johannes Meyer’s Buch der Reformacio Predigerordens, the most important source for the role of German nuns in late medieval religious reform. Read her full bio on her faculty fellow page.
Phone (574) 631-3795
Email Claire.T.Jones.406@nd.edu
Christopher Liebtag Miller
Assistant Teaching Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies and Engagement
Professor Miller serves the institute and its undergraduates as the Director of Undergraduate Studies and connects the institute to the wider Michiana area through his work as Director of Engagement. He teaches courses in German language and literature and his research concentrates on Middle High German literature and the cultural and social history of the Medieval German Empire. He is particularly interested in literary representations of competition and their relationship to aristocratic economies of symbolic capital during the 12th and 13th centuries. Read his full bio on his faculty fellow page.
Phone (574) 631-6081
Email cmille34@nd.edu
Thomson Guster
Administrative Coordinator
Phone (574) 631-6603
Email tguster@nd.edu
The Medieval Studies Research Blog
The Medieval Studies Research Blog is a multi-author blog site sponsored by the Medieval Institute. The blog is maintained and promoted by a blog manager and regular contributors who are current or former Notre Dame graduate students working in some area of medieval studies. Guest posts come from current and former members, as well as friends, of Notre Dame’s vibrant international medievalist community.
Richard Fahey, Ph.D. (English)
Blog Manager + Contributor
Email rfahey@nd.edu
Cait Stevenson, Ph.D. (Medieval Institute)
Blog Contributor
Email Caitlin.Stevenson.30@nd.edu
Emily McLemore, Ph.D. Candidate (English)
Blog Contributor
Email emclemor@nd.edu
Hüsamettin Şimşir, Ph.D. Candidate (History)
Blog Contributor
Email hsimsir@nd.edu
Medieval Institute Library Collections
Two subject specialists from the Hesburgh Libraries administer the Medieval Institute collections and advise on research for medievalists and Byzantinists.
Julia Schneider, Ph.D.
Phone (574) 631-5724
Email Julia.Schneider.31@nd.edu
David T. Gura, Ph.D.
Phone (574) 631-6489
Email dgura@nd.edu