Dr. Jessica Brantley

Biography

Jessica Brantley is the Frederick W. Hilles Professor at Yale University specializing in medieval literature. She received her Ph.D. from UCLA in 2000, an M. Phil. from Cambridge University in 1994, and her A.B. from Harvard University in 1992. Her research interests encompass the cultures of the medieval period, reading practices, and the preservation of manuscripts. Brantley's work includes the book 'Reading Wilderness' published by the University of Chicago Press in 2007, which examines late-medieval miscellanies and reveals the complex relationships between private reading, meditative lyric, and public performance in civic drama. She is currently working on a handbook for literary manuscript studies as well as a long-term project exploring connections within late-medieval vernacular literature, particularly focusing on books of hours. Brantley has also edited and contributed to significant publications that address various aspects of medieval literary culture and visual arts, highlighting the relevance of these themes in contemporary scholarship.

Research Interests

Courses