Get to know Jon

The literature, language, and thought of early medieval England lie at the heart of my professional activity. I teach courses that engage students in the challenges and pleasure of literature of the distant past, while my research explores the complexities and delights of cultures of early England. One strand of my writing centers on uncovering the wide scope of early Christian thought, as in my book Ælfric's Prefaces (Durham, 1994); another centers on medieval manuscripts, as in the edited collection, Scraped, Stroked, and Bound: Materially Engaged Readings of Medieval Manuscripts (Brepols, 2013). I have a long-standing interest in techniques of humor in the past, reflected in my upcoming monograph, Humour in Old English Literature: Communities of Laughter in Early Medieval England (to be published by University of Toronto Press in late 2023).

My involvement in the scholarly field of medieval studies has included editing the Old English Newsletter, serving on the executive committee of the MLA and the International Society for the Study of Early Medieval England, and as President of the Medieval Association of the Midwest. I am interested in supporting international education and have led study abroad to the United Kingdom, taught as a visitor in France, and was a 2019 Fulbright Scholar in Iceland. I have been widely active in service at the University of Iowa, including two stints as chair of the Department of English, and my achievements have been recognized in a Regents Award for Faculty Excellence and appointment as a Collegiate Fellow.