Dr. Amy Kaufman
Assistant Professor

B.A. English, 1996, Florida State University; M.A. English, 2000, Florida Atlantic University; Women's Studies Certificate, 2000, Florida Atlantic University; Ph.D., 2006, Northeastern University. (2010)

Office: 341 ; Phone/Voice Mail: 904-8578

Dr. Kaufman will be teaching courses in early European literature at MTSU, including Arthurian legend, medieval romance, and classical mythology. Her research includes work on women in Arthurian legend, the erotics of Chaucer's fabliaux, and the political uses of King Arthur. She is currently finishing a book on women in Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur. Kaufman also studies medievalism in contemporary culture, especially its uses in video games and in politics: she edited the 2010 issue of The Year's Work in Medievalism and is chair of Arthurian Legend for the national Popular and American Culture Associations: http://pcaaca.org.

See Publications

Upcoming Presentations

• "His Princess: Incest, Purity Balls, and Arthurian Family Drama." 23rd International Arthurian Society Congress, July 2011, Bristol, UK.
• "What Was A Moder? Mothering Men in the Alliterative 'Chevelere Assigne.' 126th MLA Convention, January 2011, Los Angeles, CA.

Conferences Hosted

The 23rd Annual International Conference on Medievalism. October 2008, Wesleyan College, GA.

 

Presentations Delivered

• "Erotic (Subject) Positions In Chaucer's Fabliaux," Seventeenth Biennial Congress of the New
  Chaucer Society, July 2010, Siena, Italy.

• "Is That Excalibur in Your Pocket?—The T.V. Heroine's Little Sword Problem," N ational
  Popular and American Culture Associations Conference, April 2010, St. Louis, MO.

• "Gender in the Middle Ages: Beyond Binaries," Keynote address for The Third Annual Southern
  Appalachian Student Conference on Literature, September 2009, Johnson City, Tennessee.

• "Response: Is Guenevere Dangerous for Girls? On Malory's 'Misogyny,' " 44th International
  Congress on Medieval Studies, May 2009, Kalamazoo, MI.

• "Bearing the Royal Seed: The Body of Mordred's Mother in Feminist Fiction," National Popular
  and American Culture Associations Conference, April 2009, New Orleans, LA.

• "Sex and the Single Damsel: Women's Bodies and States in Arthurian Romance," 22nd
  International Arthurian Congress, July 2008, Rennes, France.

• "Playing with Power: Magic, Romance, and the Female Reader,"123rd MLA Convention,
  December 2007, Chicago, IL.

• "Jesus Built My Hot-Rod: Masculinity, Medievalism, and the American Romance with God,"
  Neomedievalisms: The 22nd Annual Conference on Medievalism, October 2007, London, Ontario.

• "Proserpina's Gift: Women, Language, and Power in Chaucer's Fabliaux," 42nd International
  Congress on Medieval Studies, May 2007, Kalamazoo, MI.

• "Blood Will Out: Genealogy as Destiny in Medieval(ist) Gaming" (with Cory Grewell), 41 ^st
  International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 2006, Kalamazoo, MI.

• "The Law of the Lake: Ladies, Chivalry, and Justice in Malory's Morte Darthur," 21st International Arthurian Congress, July 2005, Utrecht, Netherlands.

• " 'Enemy to All Trew Lovers': Violence and Voyeurism in Flagrante Delicto," 40th International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 2005, Kalamazoo, MI.

• "Keira, Warrior Princess, or, A Knightl[e]y Guenevere," Southwest Texas Popular and American
  Culture Associations Conference, Feb. 2005, Albuquerque, NM.

• "The Desiring Object: The Female Arthurian Hero as Body Double," 39th International Congress
  on Medieval Studies, May 2004, Kalamazoo, MI.

• "When the Lioness Paints the Lion: Magical Damsels as Authors in Malory's Morte Darthur."
  University of Bristol Centre for Medieval Studies Postgraduate Conference, Feb. 2003, Bristol, UK.

• "The 'New' Male Mythology: How Pop Psychology Contributes to a Rape Culture," Florida
  Atlantic University Women's Studies Graduate Student Symposium, March 1999, Boca Raton, FL.