The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State encompasses nine departments, and the Armenian Studies Program.
Each year, new faculty are brought on to elevate the academic offerings here at Fresno State. These new faculty members bring innovative research, diverse fields of study and technical expertise to our college, inspiring new ways of thinking throughout our many disciplines.
This year, Dr. Lisa Weston takes over the English department as Interim Chair.
Dr. Lisa Weston has taught a variety of Medieval Literature courses at Fresno State. She was born in England and raised there and in Canada before immigrating to the United States. She received her Ph.D. in 1982 from UCLA, where she studied Old and Middle English, Medieval Latin, Norse and Celtic literatures.
Dr. Weston has published widely on Old English wisdom poetry and magico-ritual texts, on the works of women writers including Baudonivia of Poitiers and Hrotsvit of Gandersheim, and on constructions of gender and sexuality in monastic liturgy and hagiography. Her current research uses feminist and queer theory to explore the inter-connections of sexuality and literacy in Anglo-Saxon and Old English literature. She has also presented her research at numerous national and international conferences, and she maintains leadership and advisory positions in organizations such as the Old English Division of the Modern Language Association, the Society for Medieval Feminist Research and the Society for the Study of Homosexuality in the Middle Ages.
Q&A
Question: What are you looking forward to as the Chair of English?
Answer: The end of this year, when my appointment as Interim Chair will end. But I hope that when that happens, I will be able to say that I administered the Department with fairness and efficiency.
Q: Can you tell us how you became involved in your specialty area?
A: It’s not quite a joke when people say that Medieval Studies is where you end up if you can’t really decide on one discipline. I love the essential interdisciplinary of the field. And its alterity, its underlying quirkiness.
Q: Who or what has inspired you the most in your field?
A: Many, many previous scholars who were models of curiosity and intellectual creativity.
Q: What are some memorable moments during your time at Fresno State?
A: Too many to mention: so many supportive colleagues and inspiring students. But many of the memories come from my work with The California Faculty Association, labor organizing and (on occasion) rabble-rousing…
Q: What’s a fun fact people might not know about you?
A: Nothing I would want to see published.
Q: Anything else you’d like to share?
A: No.
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