CV | Courtney Erin Thomas

Courtney Erin Thomas

courtneythomas@aya.yale.edu

Education:

PhD (History and Renaissance Studies), 2006-2012 (MA earned in 2008 and MPhil earned in 2009), Yale University. Thesis: “Honor and Reputation Among the Early Modern English Elite, 1530-1630.” Supervised by Keith Wrightson. Dissertation Committee: Keith Wrightson, Carlos M.N. Eire, Brendan Kane, and Charles Walton. Dissertation awarded with distinction.
MA (History), 2003-2005, University of Alberta. Thesis: “Queen Anna of Denmark: Social Roles, Political Agency and Gender Expectations at the Jacobean Court, 1603-1619.” Supervised by Julian Martin.
BA Honours (History), 1999-2003, University of Alberta. Honours Thesis: “The Roles of a Queen: Elizabeth I, Performative Skill and Symbolic Authority.” First class honours, supervised by Julian Martin.

Published Work:

2020, “Domestic Servants in Renaissance and Reformation Europe,” entry in The Greenwood Encyclopedia of the Daily Life of Women: How They Lived from Ancient Times to the Present, edited by Colleen Boyett, Mildred Diane Gleason, and H. Micheal Tarver, published by ABC-CLIO.
2018, “Anne of Denmark,” entry for the Map of Early Modern London, a digital humanities project based at the University of Victoria.
2017, Aeon Magazine, “The Early Moderns Had Their Work Cut Out Curating Their Honour.”
2017, University of Toronto Press, ‘If I Lose Mine Honor I Lose Myself:’ Honor Among the Early Modern English Elite.
2013, Cultural and Social History, volume 10.3, “ ‘The Honour & Credite of the Whole House:’ Family Unity and Honour in Early Modern England.”
2011, “Attainders,” entry in the Encyclopaedia of Tudor England, edited by John A. Wagner and Susan Walters Schmid, published by ABC-CLIO.
2011, The Seventeenth Century, volume 26.1, “ ‘Not Having God Before his Eyes:’ Bestiality in Early Modern England.”
2009, Quidditas: The Journal of the Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association, volume 29, “Politics and Culture at the Jacobean Court: The Role of Queen Anna of Denmark.”

Published Reviews:

2016, Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal, volume 10.2, Gender Matters: Discourses of Violence in Early Modern Literature and the Arts, edited by Mara R. Wade.
2013, History, volume 98.329, The Elizabethan World, edited by Susan Doran and Norman Jones.
2010, Journal of British Studies, volume 49.2, The Jacobites at Urbino: An Exiled Court in Transition, by Edward Corp.
2009, Sixteenth Century Journal, volume 40.4, The Historical Study of Women: England, 1500-1700, by Amanda Capern.
2009, Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal, volume 4.1, Catholic Queen, Protestant Patriarchy: Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Politics of Gender and Religion, by Kristen Post Walton.
2009, Journal of British Studies, volume 48.1, The Renaissance Villa in Britain 1500-1700, edited by Malcolm Airs and Geoffrey Tyack.

Selected Employment:

Academic Department Manager, Humanities Division, University of Alberta, 2022-present. Responsibilities include administrative oversight and related assistance for six humanities-based departments within the Faculty of Arts, staff management, involvement in budget building and associated processes, development of departmental teaching plans and associated reconciliation processes, assistance with events, and ongoing strategic work within the departments.
Individualized Study Tutor, History 372: High Medieval Europe and History 383: The Vikings, Athabasca University, 2022-2023. Responsibilities included assessing submitted course work, grading exams, entering marks into the institution’s online assessment platform, and advising revolving cohorts of students.
Executive Director, Graduate Students’ Association, 2016-2022 (Director of Services and Governance, 2012-2016). Responsibilities included supporting and advising a team of elected graduate student leaders, supporting the annual development of a strategic work plan, oversight of human resources and management of staff, oversight of GSA services and governance processes (including policy development), oversight of budget development and financial reporting (as well as an annual audit), communications management, leadership in the planning and execution of all GSA events and engagement activities, infrastructure management (including the GSA Health and Dental Plan, U-Pass, Graduate Student Assistance Program, etc), drafting and review of legal agreements and memorandums of understanding with respect to GSA services, and offering support and advice for GSA elections and referenda.
Private Tutor, 2014-present. Responsibilities include designing lesson plans for students focusing on a broad range of topics (including history and English literature), as well as aiding in the improvement of reading comprehension, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Meetings held in person and remotely.
Director of Services and Governance, Graduate Students’ Association, 2012-2016. Responsibilities included supporting and advising a team of elected graduate student leaders, supporting the annual development of a strategic work plan, oversight of sustainability initiatives, oversight of GSA services and governance processes (including policy development), assistance with budget development and ensuring financial controls such as quarterly reporting, oversight of processes and disbursement with respect GSA grants, awards, and bursaries, leadership in the planning and execution of all GSA events and engagement activities, and offering support and advice for GSA elections and referenda.
Sessional Instructor, History 111: World History 1400-1800, the Early Modern World, Grant MacEwan University, 2013. Responsibilities included developing a syllabus, assigning readings, formulating seminar discussion topics, preparing lesson plans, leading a weekly seminar, and grading essays, midterms, and final exams for 30 undergraduate students.
Acting Instructor, History 256: Women, Politics, and Society in Early Modern England, Yale University, 2012. Responsibilities included assigning readings, formulating seminar discussion topics, preparing lesson plans, leading a weekly seminar, and grading essays for 6 undergraduate students. The course was designed by me and awarded placement in the 2012 academic calendar.
Cataloguing Assistant, Yale University Library, Yale University, 2008-2012. Responsibilities included collections maintenance and recommendations, cataloguing of materials, associated tasks in support of the work of an academic library.
Teaching Fellow, History 205: Introduction to Ancient Greek History, Yale University, 2011. Responsibilities included grading essays and exams and leading a weekly seminar (including preparing lesson plans) for 15 undergraduate students.
Transcription Editor, Yale Center for Media and Instructional Innovation (CMI2), Yale University, 2009. Responsibilities included editing and formatting transcriptions of History 251 lectures as part of the Open Yale initiative to make certain undergraduate courses available online via video and accessible transcriptions.
Teaching Fellow, History 251: Politics, Religion, and Society Under the Tudors and Stuarts, Yale University, 2009. Responsibilities included grading essays and exams and leading a weekly seminar (including preparing lesson plans) for 16 undergraduate students.
Graduate Research Assistant, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale Center for British Art, 2009. Responsibilities included examining and cataloguing material related to the 1824 European Sketching Tour through France, Switzerland, and Italy of Anna Margaret Carr (including a miscellany in an album plus a number of loose sketches on card, a two-volume Tour of France and Italy in 1827-28 comprising more than 120 sketches and wash drawings, a history of the Carr family (3 volumes), and a quantity of important Carr family records in scrapbooks).
Teaching Fellow, History 251: Politics, Religion, and Society Under the Tudors and Stuarts, Yale University, 2008. Responsibilities included grading essays and exams and leading a weekly seminar (including preparing lesson plans) for 27 undergraduate students.
McDougal Center for Student Life, Arts and Culture Fellow, Yale University, 2008. Responsibilities included organizing and promoting social, mental health, and engagement events for the graduate student community.
General Faculties Council Committees Assistant, University Secretariat/Office of University Governance, University of Alberta, 2003-2006. Responsibilities included the organization and preparation of Governance 101 sessions hosted by senior administrative staff, assistance to the Director, University Governance, and the Director, General Faculties Council Committee Services and Secretary to General Faculties Council, Recording Secretary to the GFC Facilities Development Committee, occasional Recording Secretary to the GFC Academic Standards Committee, GFC Campus Law Review Committee, GFC University Teaching Awards Committee, and GFC Academic Planning Committee, preparation of annual reports detailing the work of the standing committees of General Faculties Council, and website, filing, and database maintenance.
Manuscript Assistant, 2003-2005. Assisted with the production of a text detailing the history of the University of Alberta. Responsibilities included editorial work, transcription tasks, preparing photographs and other visual material for publication, and assistance with oral interviews.
Teaching Assistant, Classics 110: The Ancient World, University of Alberta, 2005. Responsibilities included grading and proctoring exams for more than 75 students.
Teaching Assistant, Classics 302: Classical Myth and Religion, University of Alberta, 2004. Responsibilities included grading papers and exams and leading a weekly seminar (including preparing lesson plans) for 15 undergraduate students.
Library Assistant, Edmonton Public Library, 1999-2003. Responsibilities included providing front-line assistance to patrons, assisting with collections maintenance, coordinating and hosting an array of programs for patrons, and scheduling of branch staff.

Selected Grants and Awards:

Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2013, declined in order to pursue alternate employment and research.
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2013, declined in order to pursue alternate employment and research.
Postdoctoral Research Assistantship in Exhibitions and Publications, Yale Center for British Art, 2012, declined in order to pursue alternate employment and research.
Hans Gatzke Prize for Outstanding Dissertation in a Field of European History, 2012.
Stern Travel Fund Award, North American Conference on British Studies, 2011.
Leylan Fellowship of $27,000, 2010-2011.
MacMillan Center Dissertation Research Grant of $8,100, 2010.
Huntington Library W.M. Keck Foundation Short-Term Fellowship, 2010, declined in order to pursue alternate research.
Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library Short-Term Research Fellowship, 2010.
Yale Center for British Art, Graduate Research Assistantship funded by a Paul Mellon Center Grant, Rare Books and Manuscripts, 2009.
Yale University, Summer Language Institute Fellowship, 2007.
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Doctoral Grant of $20,000 per year, 2006-2010.
Government of Alberta, Alberta Learning Graduate Student Scholarship, 2005.
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), Master’s Grant of $17,500, 2004-2005.

Papers Presented, Panels Chaired, and Public Talks:

2015, North American Conference on British Studies (Little Rock, AR), “ ‘A Good Servant is a Precious Jewell:’ Mistresses and Servants in the Early Modern English Elite Household” – panel chaired by Elizabeth Ewan with commentary provided by Richard Connors.
2014, Department of History and Classics, University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB), “Careers for Holders of Degrees in History” – part of a career and mentorship forum for current students.
2014, Western Conference on British Studies (Calgary, AB), “Acting ‘Not Lyke a Gentleman:’ Honor, Mediation, and Settlement in Early Modern England” – panel chaired by Rob Falconer.
2013, North Eastern Conference on British Studies (Mansfield, CT), “Reconciliation, Mediation, and Honor in Early Modern England” – panel chaired by Tim Stretton.
2012, Mid-Atlantic Conference on British Studies (Abington, PA), “The Prescription and Practice of Honor: The Gentlemanly Duel in Early Modern England” – panel chaired by Alastair Bellany.
2012, Renaissance Society of America Conference (Washington, DC), “The Rhetoric and Reality of Gentlemanly Honor in Early Modern England” – panel chaired by Brendan Kane.
2011, British Historical Studies Colloquium, Yale University (New Haven, CT), “ ‘The Honour & Credite of the Whole House:’ Family Unity and Honor in Early Modern England.”
2011, North American Conference on British Studies (Denver, CO), “Elite Women, Honor, and Reputation in Early Modern England” – panel chaired by Amanda Herbert.
2011, Sixteenth Century Society and Conference (Fort Worth, TX), “The Rhetoric and Reality of the Gentlemanly Duel in Early Modern England” – panel chaired by Jacob Melish.
2010, Shakespeare and Renaissance Ethics Conference, Yale University (New Haven, CT), chair of a panel on gender, honor, and Shakespearean ethics.
2010, Engendering Gender Conference at the University of Exeter (Exeter, Devon), “Family Honour, Female Honor and Local Reputation in Early Modern England” – no panel chair.
2010, Pacific Coast Conference on British Studies (Claremont, CA), “Elite Women, Family Unity, and Honor in Early Modern England: The Case of Lettice Kynnersley” – panel chaired by Lisa Cody.
2009, Yale University Renaissance Studies Student Working Group at Yale University (New Haven, CT), “ ‘Not Having God Before His Eyes:’ Bestiality in Early Modern England.”
2009, Yale Center for British Art Gallery Lecture (New Haven, CT), “Mrs. Delaney and Her Social Networks.”
2008, North Eastern Conference on British Studies (Boston, MA), “Negotiating Distance and Proximity: Lady Honor Lisle’s Networks at the Court of Henry VIII” – panel chaired by Robert Tittler.
2008, Yale British Studies Colloquium, Yale University (New Haven, CT), “Lady Honor Lisle and Networking at the Early Tudor Court.”
2007, Yale-Princeton Graduate Workshop in Early Modern British Studies, Yale University (New Haven, CT), chair of a panel on scientific history.
2005, Scholastic Saturday: University of Alberta, Department of History and Classics Annual Graduate Student Colloquium, “Queen Anna and the Historians.”
2002, Western Canadian Undergraduate Historical Conference, “The Queen is a Woman: An Analysis of Historiographical Portraits of Three Renaissance Queens Within the Contexts of Gender and Stereotyping.”

Service:

Anonymous peer reviewer, Journal of British Studies, 2023
Anonymous peer reviewer, Routledge Press, 2021
Anonymous peer reviewer, Bloomsbury Press, 2019
Interim Director, Alberta, of the Yale Alumni Schools Committee, 2017-2018
Yale applicant interviewer on behalf of the Yale Alumni Association, 2015-present
Anonymous peer reviewer, Journal of Canadian History, 2015
Student Associate of the MacMillan Center Initiative on Religion, Politics, and Society at Yale University, 2007-2012
Organizing member of the Pre-Modern Gender and Sexuality Working Group at Yale University, 2010-2011
Organizing member of the Student Working Group on Renaissance Studies at Yale University, 2009-2010
Co-organizer of the North Eastern Renaissance Conference (NERC) at Yale University, 2010
Organizing member of the British Studies Colloquium at Yale University, 2006-2010

Professional Development and Skills:

Reading knowledge of Spanish, Latin, French, and Italian
2020, Resolving Conflict in Human Resources, TrainUp
2019, Indigenous Canada (12-week course), University of Alberta
2019, Not-For-Profit Governance Essentials Program, Institute of Corporate Directors in partnership with the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
2018, Sexual Assault Disclosure Training for Student Advisors, University of Alberta
2016, Conflict Resolution and Restorative Practices in Graduate Studies, University of Alberta
2016, University Management Course, Centre for Higher Education Research and Development
2008, Graduate of Fundamentals of Teaching, Yale University