Ruth Karras

612-625-8578

History Department 737 Socal Science

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