Jessica Barr

Jessica Barr's research interests include medieval visionary and dream vision literature, hagiography, and the role of reading in medieval devotional activity, as well as feminist approaches to medieval literature.  Geographically, her focus tends to be on France, Germany, Belgium, and Britain; temporally, it lies in the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries. Her current book project, entitled "Medieval Holy Women and the Desire for Death," explores attitudes towards death and dying in the writings of medieval Christian mystics.

She is co-editor of the Journal of Medieval Religious Cultures and an associate editor of Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, she was Associate Professor of English and Chair of the Humanities Division at Eureka College.