Monica White
Lecturer in Russian & Slavonic Studies, Faculty of Arts
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Biography
I received a BA with High Honors in Russian and East European Studies from Wesleyan University and a PhD in Slavonic Studies from the University of Cambridge. Following my doctoral studies I held a Research Fellowship at Clare College, Cambridge and a Stanford Humanities Fellowship before coming to Nottingham. I currently teach or contribute to the following modules:
Introduction to Russian History and Culture (R81009)
The History and Culture of Early Rus, c. 900-1350 (R81028)
The World of Orthodox Sainthood (R82098)
Russian 1 (R82087)
Russian 2 (R83097)
Research Summary
I am currently revising my PhD for publication by Cambridge University Press. For the revised version, I am conducting new research on the phenomenon of divine intercession in warfare, the naming of… read more
Recent Publications
MONICA WHITE, 2012. Military Saints in Byzantium and Rus, 900-1200 Cambridge University Press. (In Press.)
WHITE, M., 2010. Byzantine Saints in Rus and the Cult of Boris and Gleb. In: ANTONSSON, HAKI TH. and GARIPZANOV, ILDAR H., eds., Saints and Their Lives on the Periphery: Veneration of Saints in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe Brepols. (In Press.)
WHITE, M., 2008. The Rise of the Dragon in Middle Byzantine Hagiography Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies. 32(2), 149-167 WHITE, M., 2006. Byzantine Visual Propaganda and the Inverted Heart Motif Byzantion. 76, 330-363
Current Research
I am currently revising my PhD for publication by Cambridge University Press. For the revised version, I am conducting new research on the phenomenon of divine intercession in warfare, the naming of churches in Kievan Rus and the iconography of the minor arts in Byzantium and Kievan Rus.
Past Research
My doctoral dissertation, Military Saints in Byzantium and Rus, 900-1200, studies the cults of the patron saints of armies in the medieval Orthodox world. Starting with an analysis of the religious re-orientation of Byzantine military thought in the tenth century, it goes on to examine the emergence of a new corps of divine patrons with the support of successive emperors. The Byzantine tradition of military sainthood went on to exert a strong influence in Kievan Rus, shaping the cult of the martyred princes Boris and Gleb.
Following my PhD I completed two major projects on aspects of Byzantine culture and religion. The first was a study of the inverted heart motif, a pattern found on enamels in the medival Orthodox world which served as a marker for groups of saintly and imperial figures. The second project investigated the evolution of dragon-slaying miracles in Byzantine hagiography, with particular reference to three female saints whose dragon-slaying exploits had not received much previous attention.
Future Research
I plan to expand my work on dragon-slaying miracles and the naming of churches in Kievan Rus.