By Temma Kaplan (NHC Fellow, 1992–93) Crazy for Democracy vividly shows, through the lives of six women in the United States and South Africa, just what can be and is being accomplished to change our lives. At a time when we're depressed about democracy, pessimistic about race relations, and anxious about feminism, Crazy for Democracy vividly shows, through … Continued
By Mary Floyd-Wilson (NHC Fellow, 2008–09; 2016–17) Belief in spirits, demons and the occult was commonplace in the early modern period, as was the view that these forces could be used to manipulate nature and produce new knowledge. In this groundbreaking study, Mary Floyd-Wilson explores these beliefs in relation to women and scientific knowledge, arguing … Continued
By Linda Colley (NHC Fellow, 2005–06) In this remarkable reconstruction of an eighteenth-century woman’s extraordinary and turbulent life, historian Linda Colley not only tells the story of Elizabeth Marsh, one of the most distinctive travelers of her time, but also opens a window onto a radically transforming world.Marsh was conceived in Jamaica, lived in London, … Continued
By Deborah Lyons (NHC Fellow, 1997–98) Inspired by anthropological writing on reciprocity and kinship, this book applies the idea of gendered wealth to ancient Greek myth for the first time, and also highlights the importance of the sister-brother bond in the Classical world.
By Theresa Braunschneider (NHC Fellow, 2005–06) Before 1660, English readers and theatergoers had never heard of a "coquette"; by the early 1700s, they could hardly watch a play, read a poem, or peruse a newspaper without encountering one. Why does British literature of this period pay so much attention to vain and flirtatious young women? Our … Continued
By Jane Turner Censer (NHC Fellow, 1983–84) This impressively researched book tells the important but little-known story of elite southern white women’s successful quest for a measure of self-reliance and independence between antebellum strictures and the restored patriarchy of Jim Crow. Profusely illustrated with the experiences of fascinating women in Virginia and North Carolina, it … Continued
By Nancy Scheper-Hughes (NHC Fellow, 1989–90) When lives are dominated by hunger, what becomes of love? When assaulted by daily acts of violence and untimely death, what happens to trust? Set in the lands of Northeast Brazil, this is an account of the everyday experience of scarcity, sickness and death that centres on the lives … Continued
By Dyan Elliott (NHC Fellow, 1997–98; 2012–13) Around the year 1215, female mystics and their sacramental devotion were among orthodoxy’s most sophisticated weapons in the fight against heresy. Holy women’s claims to be in direct communication with God placed them in positions of unprecedented influence. Yet by the end of the Middle Ages female mystics … Continued
By Robert Bireley (NHC Fellow, 1998–99) Unlike the traditional terms Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reform, this book does not see Catholicism from 1450 to 1700 primarily in relationship to the Protestant Reformation but as both shaped by the revolutionary changes of the early modern period and actively refashioning itself in response to these changes: the emergence … Continued
By Akram Fouad Khater (NHC Fellow, 2005–06) Hndiyya al-‘Ujaimi, a young eighteenth-century nun whose faith was matched by her ambition and intellect, lies at the heart of this absorbing history of Middle Eastern Christianity. At the age of twenty-six, Hindiyya left her hometown of Aleppo to establish a convent in the mountains of Lebanon. Her … Continued