Dr. Joan Nuth John Carroll University Julian of Norwich: Medieval Woman, Mystic, Theologian Friday April 4, 2008 at 7:30 PM UK Newman Center 320 Rose Lane, Lexington Free and open to the public Refreshments follow presentation

Abstract: The talk will focus on one of the most extraordinary women of the Middle Ages, Julian of Norwich, an English anchoress who lived between 1342-c. 1416. It will progress in four parts, first treating the medieval context for Julian’s life and work, then what it meant to be a woman in 14th century England, followed by a discussion of Julian’s mystical experience, and finally an elaboration of the theology created by this remarkable woman in her book Showings. Julian is representative in many ways of medieval women mystics, and of medieval theology and devotion generally, but she is also rather unique in both respects. An effort will be made to explore these likenesses and differences.

Joan M. Nuth, Ph.D is associate professor of theology in the Religious Studies Department at John Carroll University, Cleveland, OH and Director of the Ignatian Spirituality Institute, a training program for spiritual directors. She has a Masters of Divinity degree from Weston Jesuit School of Theology and a doctorate in systematic theology from Boston College. She has taught a wide variety of courses in the Religious Studies Department, encompassing all the areas of Christian doctrine, focusing in particular on the theology of Karl Rahner, along with courses on medieval women mystics, Ignatian spirituality, and feminist theology. Her research has produced two books: Wisdom’s Daughter: The Theology of Julian of Norwich and God’s Lovers in an Age of Anxiety: The Medieval English Mystics. Both of these reflect her main area of research, which is to explore the relationship between lived spirituality and the articulation of doctrine.