As a researcher and teacher, my aims in both are to widen knowledge of the production, reception, and contexts for medieval and renaissance writing in English, and its modern critical reception, and to bring this research to as wide an audience as possible, both specialist and non-specialist. My method of inquiry is interdisciplinary; both in terms of contextualising English literary achievement in the Middle Ages relative to its vernacular peers, and assessing the place of literature in the cultural networks – musical, artistic, religious – of the Middle Ages and thereafter. Ongoing research in the next five-year period will focus not only on the cultural dissemination of ideas of mortality, over time, but also reflect my interest in teaching and publishing on romance and other genres, and their cross-cultural, textual, and intertextual matrices.
Biography
A graduate of University College Cork, I joined the department of English as College Lecturer in Medieval and Renaissance Literature in 2006 after serving as temporary lecturer in the period 2004-2006. My doctoral research was funded by the IRCHSS Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
I teach Middle English and Renaissance writing in the School of English's lecture and seminar courses at undergraduate level, and its MA programme in Medieval and Renaissance English.
My research focuses on the literary responses stimulated by the language, art and ideologies of death in English vernacular writing in the Middle Ages - the subject of my first book, Mortality and Imagination (Brepols, 2011)
Research Interests
My research concentrates on the genres and contexts of later medieval English literature (Middle English) and its interaction with other modes of medieval and renaissance culture. My first monograph, Mortality and Imagination: The Life of the Dead in Medieval English Literature, was published by Breols in 2011. It is the first history of the literary ‘life’ of the dead, in all genres, in English medieval vernacular writing.As a researcher and teacher, my aims in both are to widen knowledge of the production, reception, and contexts for medieval and renaissance writing in English, and its modern critical reception, and to bring this research to as wide an audience as possible, both specialist and non-specialist. My method of inquiry is interdisciplinary; both in terms of contextualising English literary achievement in the Middle Ages relative to its vernacular peers, and assessing the place of literature in the cultural networks – musical, artistic, religious – of the Middle Ages and thereafter. Ongoing research in the next five-year period will focus not only on the cultural dissemination of ideas of mortality, over time, but also reflect my interest in teaching and publishing on romance and other genres, and their cross-cultural, textual, and intertextual matrices.
Publications
Books
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2011) | Mortality and Imagination: the Life of the Dead in Medieval English Literature. Rooney, Kenneth (2011) Mortality and Imagination: the Life of the Dead in Medieval English Literature. Turnhout: Brepols. [Details] |
Book Chapters
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2011) | 'Romance Macabre: Middle English Narrative and the Dead in the Codex' Rooney, Kenneth (2011) 'Romance Macabre: Middle English Narrative and the Dead in the Codex' In: Mixed Metaphors: The Dance of Death in Medieval And Early-Modern Europe. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars. [Details] | |
| (2007) | 'Tradition and Innovation in the Middle English debates of Mortality' Rooney, Kenneth; (2007) 'Tradition and Innovation in the Middle English debates of Mortality' In: Transmission and Transformation in the Middle Ages; Texts and Contexts. [Details] |
Other Journals
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2009) | ''Middle English Literature: Excluding Chaucer - The Gawain Poet'' Rooney, Kenneth; (2009) ''Middle English Literature: Excluding Chaucer - The Gawain Poet'' The Year's Work in English Studies, 88 :234-240. [Details] | |
| (2008) | ''Middle English Literature: Excluding Chaucer - The Gawain Poet'' Rooney, Kenneth (2008) ''Middle English Literature: Excluding Chaucer - The Gawain Poet'' The Year's Work in English Studies, 87 :247-251. [Details] | |
| (2007) | ''Middle English Literature: Excluding Chaucer - The Gawain Poet'' Rooney, Kenneth (2007) ''Middle English Literature: Excluding Chaucer - The Gawain Poet'' The Year's Work in English Studies, 86 :244-250. [Details] |
Book Reviews
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2007) | Review of Ovid's Lovers by V. Rimmell. Kenneth Rooney; (2007) Review of Ovid's Lovers by V. Rimmell. Book Reviews [Details] |
Generic
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2003) | Proceedings of Borderlines Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Conference. Julianne Nyhan; Carrie Griffin; Kenneth Rooney; (2003) Proceedings of Borderlines Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Conference. Generic [Details] |
Professional Activities
Honours and Awards
| Year | Title | Awarding Body | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | CACSSS research publication fund | CACSSS, UCC | |
| 2007 | CACSSS research publication fund | CACSSS, UCC | |
| 2007 | CACSSS research publication fund | CACSSS, UCC | |
| 2000 | IRCHSS GOI Postgraduate Scholarship | ||
| 2007 | CACSSS research publication fund | CACSSS, UCC | |
| 2000 | IRCHSS GOI Postgraduate Scholarship | ||
| 2007 | CACSSS research publication fund | CACSSS, UCC | |
| 2000 | IRCHSS GOI Postgraduate Scholarship | ||
| 2000 | IRCHSS GOI Postgraduate Scholarship | ||
| 2000 | IRCHSS GOI Postgraduate Scholarship |
Professional Associations
| Association | Function | From / To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Early Book Society | Member | 30-DEC-99 / 30-DEC-99 | |
| IMBAS graduate journal in medieval studies, Galway | peer reviewer | 01-OCT-09 / |
Conference Contributions
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2010) | The twelfth biennial conference in medieval romance, multiple; (2010) Insular Romance: Contexts and Traditions. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], The twelfth biennial conference in medieval romance, University College Cork , 10-APR-10 - 12-APR-10. [Details] | |
| (2008) | Making Books, Shaping Readers, Kenneth Rooney; (2008) The Romances of the Ireland-Blackburne MS. [Oral Presentation], Making Books, Shaping Readers, UCC , 01-APR-08 - 01-APR-08. [Details] | |
| (2008) | Borderlines XII, Kenneth Rooney; (2008) n/a. [Other], Borderlines XII, UCC , 01-APR-08 - 01-APR-08. [Details] | |
| (2008) | Romance in Medieval Britain, Rooney, Kenneth; (2008) Art, Narrative and Eschatology in Middle English Romance. [Oral Presentation], Romance in Medieval Britain, The University of St Andrews , 29-MAR-08 - 31-MAR-08. [Details] | |
| (2006) | The Department of English Staff Research Seminar, Rooney, Kenneth; (2006) Strange Bedfellows: Contemptus Mundi and the Squire of Low Degree. [Oral Presentation], The Department of English Staff Research Seminar, The Department of English, UCC , 15-MAR-06 - 15-MAR-06. [Details] | |
| (2003) | International Medieval Congress, Rooney, Kenneth; (2003) 'Macabre Aesthetics and BL MS Additional 37049'. [Oral Presentation], International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds , 14-JUL-03 - 17-JUL-03. [Details] | |
| (2003) | Borderlines VII - Graduate Conference in Medieval Studies, Griffin, Carrie, Rooney, Kenneth, Nyhan, Julianne; (2003) *. [Oral Presentation], Borderlines VII - Graduate Conference in Medieval Studies, University College Cork , 08-APR-03 - 10-APR-03. [Details] | |
| (2003) | The Seventh Borderlines Postgraduate Conference in Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Rooney, Kenneth; (2003) “The Form of Death in the Poetry of Henryson and Skelton.”. [Oral Presentation], The Seventh Borderlines Postgraduate Conference in Medieval and Early Modern Studies, University College Cork , 08-APR-03 - 10-APR-03. [Details] | |
| (2003) | Borderlines VII, Kenneth Rooney; (2003) n/a. [Conference Organising Committee Member], Borderlines VII, UCC , 01-APR-03 - 01-APR-03. [Details] | |
| (2003) | Borderlines VII, Kenneth Rooney; (2003) The Form of Death in the Poetry of Henryson and Skelton. [Oral Presentation], Borderlines VII, UCC , 01-APR-03 - 01-APR-03. [Details] | |
| (2002) | UCC Department of English Staff Research Seminar, Rooney, Kenneth; (2002) “The Appearance of Death in Middle English Narratives.”. [Oral Presentation], UCC Department of English Staff Research Seminar, University College Cork , 04-DEC-02 - 04-DEC-02. [Details] | |
| (2002) | The Sixth Borderlines Postgraduate Conference in Medieval Studies, Rooney, Kenneth; (2002) 'Glimpses of the Dead: Sight and Sound in Middle English Ghost Literature.'. [Oral Presentation], The Sixth Borderlines Postgraduate Conference in Medieval Studies, Trinity College Dublin , 30-MAR-02 - 01-APR-02. [Details] | |
| (2001) | International Conference of the Early Book Society, Rooney, Kenneth; (2001) 'The Book of the Knight of the Tower': A Medieval Horror Anthology?. [Oral Presentation], International Conference of the Early Book Society, University College Cork , 14-JUL-01 - 18-JUL-01. [Details] | |
| (2000) | Borderlines V, Kenneth Rooney; (2000) An anatomy of mortal violence in Middle English romance¿. [Oral Presentation], Borderlines V, UCC , 01-MAR-00 - 01-MAR-00. [Details] | |
| (2000) | Romance in Medieval England (Biennial conference series), Rooney, Kenneth; (2000) 'The Art of Deadly Wounds: An Anatomy of Violence in Thirteenth- and Fourteenth-century English Romance'. [Oral Presentation], Romance in Medieval England (Biennial conference series), University of Reading , 30-MAR-00 - 01-APR-00. [Details] | |
| (1999) | Borderlines IV, Kenneth Rooney; (1999) 'Ther thei deth tholeden': mortal violence in early Middle English romance. [Oral Presentation], Borderlines IV, UCC , 01-APR-99 - 01-APR-99. [Details] |
Committees
| Committee | Function | From / To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Departmental Graduate Studies Committee | / | ||
| Third Year Commitee, Department of English | Coordinator | 2006 / 1899 | |
| Website Committee, Department of English | Member | 2006 / 1899 | |
| Timetabling Committee, Department of English | Member | 2007 / 1899 |
Employment
| Employer | Position | From / To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UCC | Lecturer (Temporary Part-Time) | 01-OCT-04 / 01-DEC-04 | |
| UCC | Lecturer (Temporary Part-Time) | 01-APR-05 / 01-SEP-05 | |
| UCC | College Lecturer | 01-AUG-06 / | |
| UCC | Lecturer (Full-Time) | 01-OCT-05 / 30-SEP-06 |
Education
| Year | Institution | Qualification | Subject | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | UCC | B.A. | English | |
| 2004 | UCC | Ph.D. | English | |
| 1999 | UCC | M.A. | English |
Teaching Activities
Teaching Interests
I teach Middle English and Renaissance writing in the School of English's lecture and seminar courses at undergraduate level, and in its MA programme in Medieval and Renaissance English, for which I am coordinator.
EN 1001 Medieval Literature and Society: Middle English
EN 2011 Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales
EN 3095 Romance: Medieval to Renaissance (with Dr. A. King)
En 3006: Life, Death and Afterlife in Medieval & Renaissance Poetry
EN 2007: Medieval Pulp Fiction
MA: Texts and Contexts - Medieval to RenaissanceI hold the Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning from UCC (2011).
As a teacher, as well as researcher, my aims are to introduce students to knowledge of the production, reception, and contexts for medieval and renaissance writing in English. My method of inquiry is interdisciplinary; both in terms of contextualising English literary achievement in the Middle Ages relative to its vernacular peers, and assessing the place of literature in the cultural networks – musical, artistic, religious – of the Middle Ages and thereafter. My goal is to allow students to recreate for themselves the cultural contexts and pleasures of these unfamiliar and exciting texts.
Modules Taught
| Term (ID)) | Title | Link | Subject | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | First English | EN1001 | First English | |
| 2010 | Romance: Medieval to Renaissance | EN3065 | Romance: Medieval to Renaissance | |
| 2010 | Critical Skills Seminar II | EN2007 | Critical Skills Seminar II | |
| 2021 | Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales and Related Texts | EN2011 | Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales and Related Texts |