English literature students present at undergraduate conference in Medieval and Early Modern Studies

Several English literature students are presenting at the Eighth Undergraduate Conference in Medieval and Early Modern Studies at Moravian College, PA, on December 7.

This day-long conference draws students from several universities, including Fordham University, Sarah Lawrence College, Iona College, the University of Maryland, and many others. It will include a keynote presentation by Dr. Tracey-Anne Cooper (St. John’s University) and Dr. Christine Senecal (Shippensburg University) on “Medieval Representations of Women Warriors and Female Aggression.”

English major Taylor DiSarcina will present “Space Invasion: Challenging the Conventions of Nature in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” Alexandra Majeski “The Chivalric Code is Dead: Marie de France’s Lanval,” and Kelly Cherie Webster “In Adherence and Opposition to Behavioral Norms: Gender Roles and Courtly Love in Lanval and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.”

Their papers draw on recent ideas about environment and gender to reexamine medieval romances, including one by the earliest named woman author active in England, that have been so important in the history of English literature.