Medieval Studies

 

As a medievalist and church historian, I study religious texts which explore meaning-making and serve as windows into religious culture and history. I currently serve as Adjunct Associate Professor of Medieval Studies and Church History at Wesley Theological Seminary.

     My main area of scholarship is the history of Christian spirituality in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, particularly medieval vernacular theology, spirituality, and mysticism. I have developed and taught courses on themes, texts, and traditions in early and medieval spirituality, including courses that study Julian of Norwich (and more broadly, the role of women as spiritual authorities in the early/medieval church), Gregory the Great on discernment, and texts that grapple with the problem of suffering from diverse perspectives (medieval philosophy, liberation theology, Jewish theology, and speculative fiction).

     I have special research interest in Old English literature and religious thought. My current research for a monograph under contract with Wipf & Stock Publishers/Pickwick Publications examines Alfred the Great’s educational reform as spiritual formation and the pursuit of wisdom in early medieval England. I have also begun exploring the history of western esotericism within and alongside mainstream religious traditions.

     I completed graduate work at The Catholic University of America (PhD, 2017), where I studied the history of Christian spirituality and medieval English vernacular writing.

 

Partial CV

 

Courses Developed and Taught: As adjunct Assoc. Professor of Medieval Studies and Church History at Wesley Theological Seminary, I have developed and taught courses on the history of Christian spirituality from 2017 to 2021:

  • Patterns of Spirituality in Early & Medieval Christianity (online)
  • Meaning, Suffering, and Spirituality (online and face-to-face)
  • Women in Early & Medieval Christianity (online)
  • Readings in the Christian Tradition: Julian of Norwich (online)
  • Leadership & Discernment in the Early Church: Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Care (online)

Presentations:

  • “Worlds Apart: The Medieval Cosmology of Bernardus Silvestris and the Religious Imagination of C.S. Lewis.” International Society for the Study of Medievalism (St. Catharine’s, ON), 2018
  • “Then I Prayed to that Tree: Old English Verse as Vernacular Prayer.” Biennial International Conference of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality (Kappel, Switzerland), 2017
  • “There Would be a Greater Wisdom in the Land: Alfred the Great as Sapiential Theologian.” Alfredian Texts and Contexts Session, International Congress of Medieval Studies (Kalamazoo, Michigan), 2013
  • “Pagan Heroes on a Christian Stage: Religious Interlace in Beowulf.” Medieval & Byzantine Studies Conference, The Catholic University of America (Washington, DC), 2010
  • “The Word Made Flesh: Christ as Sign [Language] of God in Deaf Theology.” Religion and Disability Studies Group, American Association of Religion Annual Meeting (Montreal, QC), 2010

Publications:

  • “Julian of Norwich: a Brief Reading Guide. A bibliographic supplement to Kiki McGrath’s installation, “Anchorhold” (2024). Available at https://jamesestes.is/julian-of-norwich-a-brief-reading-guide/
  • Beowulf by All (lines 2371-2385), ed. Elaine Treharne and Jean Abbot (2018) https://texttechnologies.stanford.edu/publications/beowulf-all.
  • Review of Church History: An Introduction to Research Methods and Resources (Second edition), by James E. Bradley and Richard A. Muller. In Theological Librarianship 11, no. 1 (2018): 55–57. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31046/tl.v11i1.504.
  • Review of Julian’s Gospel: Illuminating the Life and Revelations of Julian of Norwich, by Veronica Mary Rolf. In Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality 15, no. 2 (Fall 2015): 260–62.
  • Review of Using e-Books and e-Readers for Adult Learning: With a Focus on Adult Literacy by Sandie Gay and Tina Richardson. Reflective Teaching [Teaching Theology & Religion Book Reviews], 2015.

Affiliations & Memberships:

  • International Society for the Study of Medievalism (ISSM, a non-membership organization), 2018–current
  • International Society for the Study of Early Medieval England (ISSEME), 2011–current
  • Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality, 2006–2021.

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