A Medieval Woman's Companion

The students in my class, The Sounds of Silence: A Biodiversity of Mute and Quiet Women in a World of Brutal Noise,* made silence erotic. The best example of this is Ria Stubbs-Trevino’s funny and profound scrapbook, “My Hot Date With a Book: A Modern Tale of Young Love.” Ria wrote a paper to accompany … More Making Silence Erotic

The students in my class, The Sounds of Silence: A Biodiversity of Mute and Quiet Women in a World of Brutal Noise,* made silence move into films. Grad student Angela Allen made three short films about Griselda, a tragically silenced figure who fascinated Boccaccio, Petrarch, Chaucer, and Christine de Pizan. Here are Angela’s films. To … More Making Silence Move-ie

The students in my class, The Sounds of Silence: A Biodiversity of Mute and Quiet Women in a World of Brutal Noise,* made silence poetic, showing that #ShePersisted has long been true for women’s lives. From a reimagining of Jane Eyre meeting Antoinette, Rochester’s first wife, to a slave narrative, as well as a version … More Making Silence Poetic

My student, poet Emily Beyda, built her own loom and wove her final poem using binary code for her final project.  Emily, a fantastic poet and weaver of warp and woof, made a lovely white tapestry. Her poem is based on the sole extant poem by the Greek Erinna, who lived around 300 BCE. Emily … More Making Silence Tactile (Part 2)

My student, Corene Studstill, crocheted her final project for my class on silence and women. The class, called The Sounds of Silence: A Biodiversity of Mute and Quiet Women in a World of Brutal Noise,* has been a joy to teach. I’ve learned so much from my amazing students who had the option of writing … More Making Silence Tactile (Part 1)

Germanophiles! I’ll be helping Rebecca Schuman launch her new memoir at Malvern Books on April 14, 2017 at 7 p.m. I’ll be talking about Germanic legendary and historic women.

My students in my class, The Sounds of Silence: A Biodiversity of Quiet Women in a World of Brutal Noise,* made silence harmonic. Alejandro Miramontes’ beautiful song, “Lost in Times of Hardship,” braids the stories of Griselda (from Boccaccio’s Decameron, Chaucer’s Clerk’s Tale, and Christine de Pizan’s The Book of the City of Ladies), the … More Making Silence Musical

“Morrison does a superb job of making medieval women accessible to mainstream audiences.” Thanks to The Medieval Magazine for this lovely review of  A Medieval Woman’s Companion on International Woman’s Day 2017. #InternationalWomensDay #medievalwomen Sandra Alvarez writes, “[I]it is an excellent book for readers who want a good starting point on their journey into women’s studies, … More Celebrating International Woman’s Day with a Lovely Review of “A Medieval Woman’s Companion”

The website Women’s Literary Culture and the Medieval Canon always has such wonderful information and news. The latest: the story of an incredible discovery for those interested in women’s lives and the history of the book. This manuscript of works by Christine de Pizan still has new clues to uncover. A detective, aka the medieval … More Detective Work Uncovers Medieval Female Reader of Christine de Pizan

The students in my class, The Sounds of Silence: A Biodiversity of Mute and Quiet Women in a World of Brutal Noise,* made silence visual. Molly Williams painted a deeply affecting image of a crucified nightingale. She depicts “violently imposed silence such as Philomela’s, God imposed silenced such as the case with Teresa de Cartagena, … More Making Silence Visual