Lauren Mancia
Assistant Professor
History
Location: 1123B Boylan Hall
Phone: 718.951.5000 x2810
Fax: 718.951.4504
Email:
Lauren Mancia looks at what medieval Europeans left behind -- art, writings, artifacts, institutions, etc. -- in order to understand how they experienced their religion, and, thereby, how they understood themselves. In her research, Mancia focuses on the devotional culture of medieval monasteries in the 11th and 12th centuries. Some of her courses stem from her research interests (e.g., courses on medieval Christianity or on the history of emotions), but she also teaches courses on wider subjects of medieval and early modern history. She is also a lecturer at The Met Cloisters, the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to the study of medieval art.
Education:
Ph.D., Yale University - 2013 (History)
M.A., Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto - 2006 (Medieval Studies)
B.A., Columbia College, Columbia University - 2005 (English/Medieval Studies)
Areas of Expertise:
Mancia's current book project examines the spiritual writings of the Benedictine abbot John of Fécamp (ca. 990-1078 C.E.), who is responsible for some of the earliest known prayers to a suffering, crucified Christ. Drawing on the intellectual, visual, homiletic and liturgical culture of John's Norman monastery, her work sheds light on the emotional qualities of Benedictine monastic devotion and reform in the 11th century, and the high medieval monastic roots of later medieval affective piety.
Books and Publications
"Introduction to the Sources of Monasticism of the High Middle Ages," Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism of the Latin West, forthcoming from Cambridge University Press. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2018
"Praying with an Eleventh-Century Manuscript: A Case Study of the Engimatic Paris, BnF, ms. lat. 13593," in Boundaries in the Medieval and Wider World, forthcoming from Brepols' Europa Sacra series. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2017
Review of Krijn Pansters and Abraham Plunkett-Latimer, eds. Shaping Stability: The Normation and Formation of Religious Life in the Middle Ages. Turnhout: Brepols, 2016. . In The Medieval Review, 17.04.04 (2017). (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2017
Review of Michael Champion and Andrew Lynch, eds., Understanding Emotions in Early Europe. (Early European Research 8.) Turnhout: Brepols, 2015. In Speculum, July 2017. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2017
Review of Joel Kalvesmaki and Robin Darling Young, eds., Evagrius and His Legacy, Notre Dame, 2016. In The Medieval Review, 16.12.02 (2016). (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2016
"John of Fécamp and Affective Reform in Eleventh-Century Normandy." Anglo-Norman Studies 37: 161-79. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2015
Review of Phillip C. Adamo, New Monks in Old Habits. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 2014. Catholic Historical Review, Autumn 2015, Vol. 101, No. 4, 916-917. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2015
"Reading Augustine's Confessions in Normandy in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries." Tabularia "Études 14: 195-233. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2014
Review of Studies on Medieval Empathies. Series: Disputatio 25 (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2013). Eds. Karl F. Morrison and Rudolph M. Bell. The Medieval Review, March 11. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2014
Awards, Honors and Fellowships
Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation Fellowship for Outstanding Teaching in the Humanities, Spring 2017 (Grants and Fellowships) 2017
PSC-CUNY Grant (Grants and Fellowships) 2016
HSS Mini-Grant, Brooklyn College. (Grants and Fellowships) 2015
PSC-CUNY Grant (Grants and Fellowships) 2014
Elizabeth Ann Bogert Grant for the Study of Christian Mysticism. (Grants and Fellowships) 2012
Etienne Gilson Dissertation Grant, Medieval Academy of America. (Grants and Fellowships) 2012
Fulbright Research Grant to France. (Grants and Fellowships) 2012
John B. and Theta H. Wolf Travel Fellowship, Society for French Historical Studies. (Grants and Fellowships) 2012
Travel Bursary for the Study of Medieval Languages & Literature, Medium Aevum. (Grants and Fellowships) 2012
National Organization of Italian American Women Scholarship. (Grants and Fellowships) 2010
Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums
"Emotional Reform in the Benedicting Monastery of the Eleventh Century (And the Periodization of 'Medieval' and 'Renaissance')," in "Periodizing Medieval Emotions" session, chaired by William Reddy, at the History of Emotions Conference at George Mason University (organized by Susan Matt and Peter Stearns), 1-2 June 2017. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2018
"Discussing Faith: What the Studies of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism Can Learn from One Another," with Profs. David Brodsky and Bilal Ibrahim, as a part of the Brooklyn College 'We Stand Against Hate' programming, 23 March.
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2017
"L'invention d'un dieu souffrant: Réforme émotionelle dans le monastère de Fécamp," La bibliothèque monastique de l'abbaye de la sainte Trinité de Fécamp, Fécamp, France, 25-26 October 2017. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2017
"Lament for Lost Solitude? Monastic Devotion Cultivated in the Secular Landscape," Medieval Club of New York, CUNY Graduate Center, 10 November 2017. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2017
"What did Medieval Monks Desire?: Weaving a Scholarly Argument Out of 'Dark Age' Sources," invited by the Brooklyn College Historical Society, 21 February. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2017
Session Chair, "Plurality and 'Ambiguity' in Female Religious' Observance in the Ninth to Eleventh Century Medieval West," at Berkshire Conference of Women, Genders, and Sexualities, Hofstra University, 1-4 June. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2017
"Praying with an Eleventh-Century Manuscript: A Case Study of the Engimatic Paris, BnF, ms. lat. 13593" in Boundaries in the Medieval and Wider World: A Conference in Honor of Paul Freedman, UCLA, Los Angeles, 14-15 October 2016. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2016
"The Mirror of the Middle Ages: Scholarship and Social Engagement in the 21st Century," invited by the Brooklyn College Historical Society to speak with two other Brooklyn College medievalists at Brooklyn College, 18 April 2016. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2016
"'Harming to Help' and Affective Reform at Eleventh-Century Fécamp." International Medieval Congress. University of Leeds. Leeds, United Kingdom, July 6-9. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2015
"Compassionate Cruelty: John of Fécamp and Emotional Devotion in the Eleventh-Century Monastery." Department of History, Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore, Oct. 5. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2015
"Emotional Devotion in the Medieval Monastery." Department of French, New York University. New York, Feb. 26. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2015
"Getting Medieval at Brooklyn College" roundtable. Brooklyn College Faculty Day. May 20. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2015
"John of Fécamp, Monastic Discipline, and Abbatial Empathy." Colloquium of the Late Antique-Medieval-Early Modern. Brooklyn College Faculty Working Group. Feb 3. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2015
"Jesus Through the Middle Ages: The Development of the Image and Doctrine of Christ in Medieval Christianity." St. Francis College. Brooklyn, N.Y., April 4. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2014
"John of Fécamp and Affective Reform in Eleventh-Century Normandy." Battle Conference of Anglo-Norman Studies. Winchester, United Kingdom, July 29. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2014
"Reading John of Fécamp in an Eleventh-Century Monastery." Brooklyn College's Late Antique-Medieval-Early Modern Faculty Working Group Colloquium. May 1. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2014
"Realizing Prayer in the Material: The Devotional Culture of the Eleventh-Century Monastery of Fécamp." Medieval Materiality. University of Colorado at Boulder. Oct. 23-25. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2014
"Religious Reform as Emotional Reform in the Eleventh-Century Monastery of John of Fécamp." Friends of the Saints. CUNY Graduate Center. New York, Dec. 12. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2014
"The Art of Reform at Fécamp." International Congress on Medieval Studies. Kalamazoo, Mich. May 8-11. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2014
"The Invention of a Suffering God: Emotional Reform of Devotional Practice in a Medieval Monastery." Varieties of Academic Experience: Religious Studies at Brooklyn College Panel. Faculty Day. Brooklyn College. May 21. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2014
"Visualizing Emotion: Cultivating Empathy and Modeling the Ineffable in Medieval Art." Department of Art History, Wellesley College. Wellesley, Mass., April 3. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2014
Speaker in the "Medieval and Renaissance Lives" series of Columbia/Barnard's Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program. Barnard College. New York, Oct. 8. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2014
Speaker, "Persecution, Punishment, Purgatory" faculty roundtable. 10th Annual Medieval Studies Graduate Student Conference. CUNY Graduate Center. New York, Nov. 7. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2014
"Jean de Fécamp et la culture religieuse à son monastère au XI siècle." Journée d'études on the monastery of Fécamp. Université de Caen Basse-Normandie. Caen, France, June 15. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2013
"John at Fécamp." International Congress on Medieval Studies. Kalamazoo, Mich., May 9-12. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2013
"Monastic Reform, Monastic Devotion, and the History of Emotions." New Directions in Medieval Scholarship Panel. CUNY Graduate Center. New York, Nov. 15. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2013
"Reading John of Fécamp in an Eleventh-Century Monastery." Medieval Academy of America Annual Meeting. University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Knoxville, Tenn., April 4-6. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2013
"Emotional Reform in the Eleventh-Century Monastery: The Case of John of Fécamp." Conventus Medieval Seminar. Henri Pirenne Institute for Medieval Studies, Ghent University. Ghent, Belgium, May 23. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Writing a History of Religious Experience: The Case of John of Fécamp." Groupe de recherche sur les pouvoirs et les societés de l'Occident médiéval et moderne" Grepsomm, Université de Québec à Montréal. Montreal, Dec. 14. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"The Monks of Fécamp and Their Ducal Patrons: Transformations of the Eleventh Century." Charles Homer Haskins Society Annual Meeting. Boston College. Boston, Nov. 4-6. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2011
"More Than Alpha et Omega: God the Father in Medieval York." International Congress on Medieval Studies. Kalamazoo, Mich., May 9. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2008
"A City for All the Faithful: Representations of the City of God in Two Canterbury Manuscripts of Augustine's De Civitate Dei." International Medieval Congress. University of Leeds. Leeds, United Kingdom, July 12. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2007
Professional Leadership
Chair, Late Antique-Medieval-Early Modern (LAMEM) Faculty Working Group, Brooklyn College. E-mail for more information. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2017
Co-chair, Columbia University Seminar in Affect Studies. For more information and for a schedule of events, see http://universityseminars.columbia.edu/seminars/affect-studies/ (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2017
Executive Board Member, Roberta S. Matthews Center for Teaching (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2017
Community Activities
For a complete list of Prof. Mancia's upcoming special talks at The Met Cloisters, see www.metmuseum.org. 2017
Other Professional Activities
Featured guest on four History Café podcasts (out of Marlboro College, Marlboro, Vt.): "History Café Visits the Met I: The Cloisters' Gothic Chapel"; "History Café Visits the Met II: Medieval Mysticism"; "History Café Visits the Met III: Archeological Reconstruction"; and "Affective Piety with Lauren Mancia." Listen here for free: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-cafe/id701289889?mt=2. 2015
