Prof Bonnie Effros BA, MA, PhD, FRHistS

Personal Statement

I have been Professor of European History and the Chaddock Chair in Economic and Social History the School of Histories, Languages, and Cultures at the University of Liverpool since Autumn 2017. My research and teaching address a number of chronological and thematic fields, including late antique and early medieval history and archaeology, history of archaeology (nineteenth and twentieth centuries), and gender history and archaeology. The main focus of my research and teaching is France (and its colonial possessions), though my teaching addresses topics related to the lands surrounding the Mediterranean basin and northwestern Europe.

In supervising graduate students, I am interested in exploring topics in late antique and early medieval history of Western Europe, particularly projects that examine Christianity, gender, ethnicity, or themes that make use of archaeological evidence. I am also eager to work with students on the history of archaeology and museums in Europe and colonial contexts, whether focused on the continent or in Britain. Since work in the medieval field requires proficiency in Latin and at least two modern languages, and research on nineteenth-century archaeology and museums mandates proficiency in at least one modern languages, students should begin this preparation as early as possible in their studies.

I previously taught at the University of Florida, where I served as the inaugural Robert and Margaret Rothman Chair and Director of the Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere and had an appointment as a professor of history (2009-2017). Before that I taught as an associate professor and professor in the Department of History at Binghamton University (SUNY) (2001-2009), where I served as departmental chair from 2004 to 2006. At Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, I was an assistant and associate professor in the Department of Historical Studies (1996-2001). From 1994 to 1995, I held an Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of History and Classics. I earned my Ph.D. in medieval history from UCLA in 1994.

I am the series editor of the Brill Series on the Early Middle Ages, a continuation of the Transformation of the Roman World series published by E.J. Brill in the Netherlands (2004-present) and am a member of the editorial board of Studies in Late Antiquity published by University of California Press (2016-present). From 2011-2014, I served as a Councillor of the Medieval Academy of America and was a member of the Executive Committee (2013-2014). For several years, I served as a sponsored lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America.

Prizes or Honours

• Invited Scholar (2015)

Funded Fellowships