Ilse Schweitzer
Academic History:
- PhD in English literature (in progress), Western Michigan University: September 2005--present
- Master of Arts in Early Medieval Studies (with distinction), University of York, England: October 2003-September 2004
- Dissertation: "Trees in Anglo-Saxon Literature and Art"--an interdisciplinary analysis of trees in the context of the natural world, as divine images, and as anthropomorphized images in Anglo-Saxon sources
- Bachelor of Arts in English and History (magna cum laude), University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), and University of Aberdeen, Scotland: September 1998--May 2003
- UMBC English Honors Thesis: "King Arthur the Tyrant and the Scottish Call for Freedom"-- an analysis of three Scots Arthurian legends in the historical and political context of medieval Scotland
Teaching Experience:
Western Michigan University:
English 2070—Mythology and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien (Upcoming: Spring 2007)
English 1050—Thought and Writing (Fall 2006)
English 1100—Introduction to Literary Interpretation (Fall 2005, Spring 2006, Summer 2006)University of Maryland, Baltimore County:
English 241—Rings, Cauldrons, and Cattle Raids: the Mythologies of the North (Spring 2005)
Publication:
"The Crux Gemmata and Shifting Significances of the Cross in Insular Art."In Marginalia: The Journal of the Medieval Reading Group at the University of Cambridge, Summer 2006. Available at: <http://www.marginalia.co.uk/journal/06illumination/schweitzer.php>.
Conference Papers:
“The Memory of Trees in Anglo-Saxon Poetry”—
University of Leeds International Medieval Congress, July 2006
“ ‘Still Combatants’ of Ragnarök in Anglo-Scandinavian Stone Sculpture”—
International Medieval Congress, Kalamazoo (WMU), May 2006
“The Crux Gemmata and Shifting Significances of the Cross in Insular Art”—
University of Glasgow “Visions and Visionary” Conference Workshop, Spring 2004
“King Arthur the Tyrant and the Scottish Call for Freedom”—National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR) at Salt Lake City, Utah, Spring 2003; also at UMBC Undergraduate Research Day, Spring 2003Selected Additional Professional Experience:
- President of Association of Graduate English Students (AGES) at Western Michigan University (2006-2007):
Presided over all AGES meetings; disseminated information about current events and decisions in the department to graduate students; coordinated book vendors and organized graduate student and faculty textbook fair in November, 2006; organized nomination and voting processes for 2007 AGES Reader selection.
- Student Representative for Graduate Committee, WMU English Department (2006-2007): Communicated concerns of graduate students to faculty committee; relayed committee decisions to students.
- Programmer for Online Old English Paradigm Project (OOEPP), sponsored by Western Michigan University (2006-2007):
Used Macromedia Flash program to create pronoun and adjective paradigms and quizzes.
- Organizing Committee member for WMU Teaching Assistants Union (2005-2006):
Communicated with and organized graduate teaching assistants in preparation for the 2006 union-forming vote.