The Department of English is happy to announce that Lora Walsh, assistant professor of English, has been chosen as one of two 2020-2021 recipients of the Junior Scholar Grant from the Southwest Commission on Religious Studies, a regional consortium for the academic study of religion.

The SWCRS Junior Scholar Grant promotes early research by scholars of religion living in the Southwest region of the United States. Walsh, who holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Northwestern University, specializes in medieval Christianity.

Walsh first learned about the grant program when she attended SWCRS's annual conference soon after finishing graduate school. The conference was regional, easy to get to, and reasonably priced.

"Although national or international conferences sometimes are considered more prestigious," said Walsh, "I've found that regional conferences are much more helpful for making connections with people at a wide variety of career stages, including senior scholars who have been directly helpful with my work."

This summer, Walsh will apply her grant funding to become more adept at working with texts written or published between 1500 to 1700. Specifically, she will be completing two Rare Book School online courses.

At present, she is researching a book project entitled Lady Church: Reformations of the First Christian Goddess, 1350-1650. Lady Church, explained Walsh, refers to "the Church feminized as a mother, bride, or even whore in late medieval and early modern literature."

The Rare Book School training will prepare Walsh to move forward with researching and writing the next chapter of her book project, which will examine a Latin play that features the Church as a central dramatic figure.

The additional skills Walsh acquires will allow her to "include more information about how the author, John Foxe, revised his play from his own manuscript version, and about how the play circulated in early modern Europe."

Being allowed more time and funding to devote wholly to her research is, for Walsh, a significant benefit of receiving the SWCRS's Junior Scholar Grant.

"I'm excited to have a release from teaching this summer to make more substantial progress on my book," she said.