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Faculty
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 Bonnie
Effros
Professor
Ph.D., 1994, UCLA
Early Medieval European History and Archaeology,
Gender History, History of Archaeology and Museums
My research in the medieval
period focuses broadly on the role of ritual in early medieval communities,
with emphasis on burial customs and rites pertaining to the distribution
and consumption of food and drink. Because the extant written record in
the early middle ages is often meager, I utilize archaeological and art
historical evidence to supplement my research. This material has permitted
me greater access to marginalized groups, particularly women, who were not
fully represented in law and other sorts of written documentation regarding
early medieval political structures. It has thus enabled me to ask questions
about how gender affected individuals' behavior and responsibilities. In
addition, my work on ritual is closely tied to current debates assessing
the nature of Christian conversion and survival of Roman mores in Western
Europe following the Germanic migrations of the fourth and fifth centuries.
Closely related to
my work on burial practice is my interest in the history of European antiquarianism
and archaeology from the eighteenth century to the present, and the impact
of the formation of the latter discipline on the collection and interpretation
of material artifacts. These topics are linked to the rise of nationalism
and the creation of archaeological and art historical museums, since the
latter were intended to foster a sense of national identity and history
from at least the early nineteenth century. Although my research has concentrated
on France, Germany, England, Austria and the United States, I am also
very interested in comparative examples of the use of indigenous artifacts
for a variety of nationalistic purposes.
In supervising graduate
students, I am eager to explore topics in late antique and early medieval
history, Christianity and archaeology in Western Europe where I can best
lend my expertise. Of particular interest to me is the role of gender
in medieval society. I would also like to work with students on the history
of collecting, archaeology and museums. Since work in the medieval field
requires proficiency in Latin and at least two modern languages, and research
on the nineteenth- century archaeology and museums mandates proficiency
in at least two modern languages, students should begin this preparation
as early as possible in their studies.
Recent
or current undergraduate courses:
- Early Middle Ages,
190-900
- High Middle Ages,
900-1350
- Mass Movements
and Social Protest in Late Medieval Europe
- Towns and Trade,
200-1200
- Western Civilization
to 1500
- Medieval Magic
and Witchcraft
- Medieval Burial
and the Afterlife
- Early Medieval
Historians
- Representing Women's Bodies, 300-1400
Recent
or current graduate courses:
- Female Spirituality,
200-800
- Medieval Burial
and the Afterlife
- Collecting and
Museums
- Mass Movements
and Social Protest in Late Medieval Europe
- Towns and Trade,
200-1200
- Early Medieval
Historians
- The Gendered Body, 200-800
- Conversion in the West, 200-800
Significant
Publications
Books:
- Merovingian
Mortuary Archaeology and the Making of the Early Middle Ages (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2003).
- Chapter 3: "Grave Goods and the Ritual Expression of Identity," reprinted in Thomas F. X. Noble, ed., From Roman Provinces to Medieval Kingdoms (London: Routledge, 2006), pp. 189-232.
- Caring for Body
and Soul: Burial and the Afterlife in the Merovingian World (University
Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002).
- Creating Community
with Food and Drink in Merovingian Gaul (New York: Palgrave Macmillan,
2002).
Recent
Articles:
- “Auf der Suche nach Frankreichs ersten Christen: Camille de la Croix und die Schwierigkeiten eines Klerikers als Archäologe im späten 19. Jahrhundert,” in Zwischen Spätantike und Mittelalter: Archäeologie des 4. bis 7. Jahrhunderts im Westen, edited by Sebastian Brather, Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, Ergänzungsbände 57 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2008), pp. 119-146.
- "Selling Archaeology and Anthropology: Early Medieval Artifacts at the Expositions universelles and the Wiener Weltausstellung, 1867-1900," Early Medieval Europe 16.1 (2008): 23-48. (and, with Howard Williams, "Themed Volume: Early Medieval Material Culture in the Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Imagination," Early Medieval Europe 16.1 (2008): 1-2.)
- "Art of the
'Dark Ages': Showing Merovingian Artefacts in North American Public
and Private Collections," Journal of the History of Collections
17(2005): 85-113.
- "Dressing
Conservatively: Women's Brooches as Markers of Ethnic Identity?"
in Gender and the Transformation of the Roman World: Women, Men and
Eunuchs in Late Antiquity and After, 300-900 CE, ed. Julia Smith
and Leslie Brubaker (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp.165-184.
- "A Century
of Remembrance and Amnesia in the Excavation, Display, and Interpretation
of Early Medieval Burial Artifacts," Erinnerungskultur im Bestattungsritual.
Archäologisch-Historisches Forum,edited by Jörg Jarnut
and Matthias Wemhoff (Paderborn: Institut zur Interdisziplinären
Erforschung des Mittelalters und seines Nachwirkens, 2003), pp.75-96
- "The Ritual
Significance of Vessels in the Formation of Merovingian Christian Communities,"
in The Construction of Communities in the Early Middle Ages: Texts,
Resources and Artefacts, ed. Richard Corradini, Max Diesenberger,
Hemut Reimitz, Transformation of the Roman World series 12(Leiden: E.J.
Brill, 2003), pp.213-227.
- "Memories
of the Early Medieval Past: Grave Artefacts in Nineteenth-Century France
and Early Twentieth-Century America," in Archaeologies of Remembrance:
Death and Memory in Past Societies, ed. Howard Williams (New York:
Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002), pp.255-280.
- "Appearance
and Ideology: Creating Distinctions between Merovingian Clerics and
Lay Persons" in Encountering Medieval Dress and Textiles: Objects,
Texts and Images, ed. Janet Snyder and Desirée Koslin (New
York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002), pp.7-24.
- "Monuments
and Memory: The Repossession of Ancient Remains in Early Medieval Gaul,"
in The Topography of Power in the Early Medieval West, ed. Mayke
de Jong and Frans Theuws, Transformation of the Roman World series 6
(Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2001), pp.93-118.
- "Skeletal Sex and
Gender in Merovingian Mortuary Archaeology," Antiquity 74 (2000):
632-639.
- "De partibus Saxoniae
and the Regulation of Mortuary Custom: A Carolingian Campaign of Christianization
or the Suppression of Saxon Identity?" Revue Belge de Philologie
et d'Histoire 75 (1997): 267-286.
- "Beyond Cemetery
Walls: Early Medieval Funerary Topography and Christian Salvation,"
Early Medieval Europe 6,1 (1997): 1-23.
- "Symbolic Expressions
of Sanctity: Gertrude of Nivelles in the Context of Merovingian Mortuary
Custom," Viator 27 (1996): 1-10.
Fellowships
and Awards
- Visiting Fellow, Wittgenstein Projekt, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna, Spring 2007.
- American Institute
of Archaeology Forsyth Lecturer, 2005-2006.
- American Philosophical
Society, Franklin Research Grant, 2004.
- Binghamton University
Individual Development Award, UUP, 2002-2003.
- Sylvan C. Coleman
and Pamela Coleman Memorial Fund Fellow, The Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York, 2001-2002.
- Berkshire Summer
Fellow at the Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College,
1998.
- Camargo Foundation
Residential Fellow, Cassis, France, September-December, 1997.
- American Council
of Learned Societies, Travel Grant, Summer, 1996.
- Bernadotte E. Schmitt
Grant, American Historical Association, November, 1995.
- Izaak Walton Killam
Memorial Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of History and Classics,
University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1994-December, 1995.
- Edward A. Dickson
History of Art Fellow, Los Angeles, California, 1993-1994.
- UCLA History Departmental
Fellow, Los Angeles, California, 1992-1993.
- Deutscher Akademischer
Austauschdienst Stipendiatin, Munich, 1991-1992.
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