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Northern Illinois University

Department of History

Valerie L. Garver
Assistant Professor

Fields of Study: Medieval Europe, Cultural, Gender, Sexuality, and Women, Religion

Education: Ph.D., University of Virginia, 2003

Current Research: My research interests center upon the early Middle Ages, particularly the social, cultural, and religious history of the Carolingian Empire. Specifically I concentrate upon the history of women, family, and gender.  My other major interest is the study of early medieval material culture from both historical and interdisciplinary perspectives. Currently I am finishing a book entitled Women and Aristocratic Culture in the Carolingian World and have begun work on a second major project on textiles in Carolingian lands.

Major/Recent Publications:

  • “Old Age and Women in the Carolingian World,” in Old Age in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, ed. Albrecht Classen (Berlin and New York: de Gruyter, forthcoming 2007).
  • “Intellectual Women? Liutberga and the Instruction of Carolingian Women,” in Lay Intellectuals in the Carolingian World, ed. Patrick Wormald and Janet L. Nelson ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, forthcoming November 2007).
  • “The Influence of Monastic Ideals Upon Carolingian Conceptions of Childhood,” in Childhood in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: the Results of a paradigm shift in the history of mentality, ed. Albrecht Classen (Berlin and New York: de Gruyter, 2005), pp. 67-85.

Teaching Interests: My undergraduate teaching interests encompass the European Middle Ages and Late Antiquity, the history of the Islamic world to c. 1700, and the history of women, gender, and the family from antiquity to the modern era. In addition to teaching history classes, I regularly teach two interdisciplinary courses in medieval studies. At the graduate level, my teaching interests focus upon the Middle Ages, especially western Europe in the early Middle Ages; Late Antiquity; women and gender; the history of Christianity; and the historical use of material culture.

Courses Taught:

  • HIST 110 Western Civilization to 1500
  • IDSP 225 Introduction to Medieval Society and Culture
  • HIST 305 Europe in the Early Middle Ages
  • HIST 306 Europe in the Later Middle Ages
  • HIST 319 Early Islamic World
  • HIST 408 Medieval Everyday Life
  • IDSP 425 Seminar in Medieval Studies
  • HIST 530a/b Material Culture in Ancient and Medieval History

Interdisciplinary Affiliations:
Co-Director, Medieval Studies Program
Associate, Women’s Studies Program

Link to CV | Link to Personal Website