TSU History Professor, Author Wins Humanities Fellowship to Study Medieval Religious Spaces in England

Dr. Elizabeth Dachowski

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – A Tennessee State University History professor will participate in a four-week seminar on “Arts, Architecture and Devotional Interaction” at the University of York in York, England, this summer.

Dr. Elizabeth Dachowski is one of 16 teachers selected nationwide as National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Scholars to attend one of 30 seminars and institutes supported by the NEH.

The Endowment is a federal agency that supports enrichment opportunities at colleges, universities and cultural institutions each summer to help faculty work in collaboration and study with experts in humanities disciplines.

Dachowsky, author of First Among Abbots: The Career of Abbo of Fleury, who also teaches world history and upper-division courses in pre-modern Europe, said the seminar will focus on medieval religious spaces.

“York’s archival resources will be very useful in my current research project, which grew out of my book on Abbo of Fleury,” Dachowski said. “Recent research on how communities used spaces is very exciting, and this seminar will give me a chance to develop materials that will fill out my medieval and early modern history courses.”

Her research interests include ecclesiastical politics in France around the year 1000, cross-cultural interactions in monastic communities, and hagiographical writings as historical sources.

At the York Seminar, Dachowski will work on cross-cultural interactions among medieval monks, as well as study the alien priories and cells of Yorkshire, and search for references to foreign monks in English houses.

“York is an incredible city, and I’ve long thought that it would be a great base for exploring the historical sites of Britain,” Dachowski added.

Topics for the 30 seminars and institutes offered for college and university teachers this summer include Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia: literature, the arts, and cinema since independence; American Maritime People; America’s East Central Europeans: migration and memory; arts, architecture, and devotional interaction in England, 1200–1600; black aesthetics and African diasporic culture; and bridging national borders in North America, among others.

According to the NEI, the nearly 437 summer scholars who participate in these programs of study will teach over 113,925 American students the following year

Additionally, Dachowsk and her fellow scholars participating in the summer program will each receive a stipend of $3,300 to cover travel, study and living expenses.

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