Talk: “Accessing Wills: MS Access as a Tool for Historians”
Panel: “How-To Digital Humanities”
After receiving an MA from Florida State University in Medieval history [Dower Law During the Reign of King John: Evidence from the Curia Regis Rolls], I taught high school for three years, then decided to go back to school for a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto. After seven years of course work and research [MA and ABD], I returned to the US to teach and finish researching and writing my dissertation. Long story short: I became a single mom and had to put my degree on hold while I raised two children, ran a business, and taught part-time at local area colleges. Seven years ago I was able to resume teaching college as my full-time source of income, and four years ago I resumed working on my dissertation during summer breaks. Next year I will be defending my dissertation, Patterns of Bequest within the Family: Testamentary Evidence from the Registers of Medieval York and Canterbury, 1350-1450, and receive my much-delayed Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from the Centre.
Research interests/skills
Women’s history, medieval marriage and family, the development of canon and English common law, medieval inheritance law; Latin paleography and data analysis using MS Access
Recent papers read:
Private Act/Public Document: Marriage Reflected in the Wills of Husbands & Wives
Medieval and Renaissance Forum, 2008
Plymouth State University
English Testators Writing French Wills
27th Annual Conference of the Center for Medieval Studies, 2007
Fordham University