School:
School of Arts & Sciences
Department:
Department of History and Politics
Office Location:
Jeffries Hall 127A
Office Hours:
- For the Spring 2022 semester:
- Mondays: 12:30-1:30pm
- Tuesdays: 10:00am-12:00pm
- Wednesdays: 12:30-1:30pm
- And by appointment
- Note: Office Hours this semester will take place via Zoom until otherwise announced. Please e-mail me at wxrrar@trbetvna.rqh to schedule an appointment.
Educational Background
- Ph.D. History, Johns Hopkins University, 2020
- M.A. History, Johns Hopkins University, 2014
- M.A. Historical Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore, County, 2012
- B.A. History, Christopher Newport University, 2010
Professional Experience
- Assistant Professor of History, Department of History and Politics, Georgian Court University, 2020-present
- Instructor, Program in Expository Writing, Johns Hopkins University, Fall 2019
- Dean’s Teaching Fellow, Department of History and the Program for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Johns Hopkins University, Fall 2016
- Assistant Book Reviews Editor, Journal of British Studies, 2010-2012
Research / Creativity Interest Area
- Research interests: My research interests center on early modern English gender and religious history. My current book project, ‘Spiritual Fornication’: Monasticism and Sexual Depravity in Reformation England, argues that ideas about sexual depravity – whoredom, harlotry, incontinence, adultery, bastardy, and sodomy, to name a few- were central to the process and progress of Protestant reform in sixteenth century England. I explore the role of sexualized rhetoric in early English Reformation polemic and devotional literature, the role of sexuality in the dissolution of the monasteries, and the ways in which alleged acts of sexual deviance were utilized to justify the closure of the religious houses and legitimize the nascent Church of England.
- Publications:
- “‘Furnaces of all letcherousness’: Narratives of Sexual Depravity and the Dissolution of the English Monasteries.” The Sixteenth Century Journal (Fall 2022)
- Jessica L. Keene and Amanda E. Herbert, “The Tudors are Trending: An English Dynasty Continues to Dominate Popular Culture,” American Historical Association Perspectives on History, September 16, 2020 https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/october-2020/the-tudors-are-trending-an-english-dynasty-continues-to-dominate-popular-culture
- “Jane Drummond Kerr,” “Elizabeth Cowdray,” “Joan Bromley Greville,” “Judith Taylor,” “Frances Edmonds,” and “Elizabeth Henege Finch.” In A Biographical Encyclopedia of Early Modern Englishwomen: Exemplary Lives and Memorable Acts, 1500-1650. Edited by Carole Levin, Anna Riehl Bertolet, and Jo Eldridge Carney. (New York: Routledge, 2017)
- Public Engagement
- Interviewed and quoted, “Catherine Was Great. But Was She a Girl Boss?” The New York Times, December, 26 2021 <https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/26/arts/television/dickinson-the-great-six-feminism.html>
- Interviewed and quoted, “How Georgian Court Faculty Transitioned to Remote Learning Virtually Overnight,” Georgian Court University Magazine, Fall 2021 <https://1sikgj46i2w02qt7g02ati3b-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/GCU_Magazine-Fall-2021.pdf>
- Courses Taught at GCU:
- HST 120: World History I
- HST 121: World History II
- HST 300: Historian’s Craft
- HST 343: Atlantic World, 1400-1850
- HST 350: Colonial Latin America
- HST 365: Renaissance & Reformation
- HST 369: European History, 1789-1914
- In addition to the courses listed above, I taught the following classes at other institutions:
- Gender and Sexuality in Reformation and Counter Reformation Europe
- Women and Gender in European History
- The Tudors in Popular Culture
- Expository Writing
Additional Information
I tweet from @KeeneOnHistory