Thesis Title:
Bede and the Psalms
Supervisor:
Prof. Sarah Foot
College:
Blackfriars
Biography:
Maura completed her undergraduate studies in ASNaC at Cambridge, where she discovered her love of the early English church and its literature, particularly in early Northumbria. She then graduated with an MSt in Medieval Studies from Oxford, her thesis focusing on literary motifs and ecclesiastical authority in the Bonifatian Correspondence. Following her MSt, Maura returned to her native County Durham, where she served as a county councillor, parish councillor, school governor and community activist, founding Coxhoe Community Pantry and serving on the boards of local charities. As a councillor, she was junior political lead for children and young people’s services, with responsibilities ranging from tackling child poverty to safeguarding and young people’s mental health. She also worked as an organiser in national and local political campaigns, and founded the Friends of the Durham Women’s Gala, a not-for-profit celebrating women’s political heritage across the North East. After several years in politics, Maura took the opportunity to serve her region in a different way, researching its earliest history as a scholar of the Venerable Bede.
As an interdisciplinary medieval scholar, Maura’s interests span the literature, language, history and culture of Britain and Ireland from the sixth to the twelfth centuries. Maura’s work is generously funded by the Oxford-Bede Jarrett scholarship at Blackfriars Hall, where she is an active member of the graduate community.
Educational Background:
MA in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, Homerton College, Cambridge. MSt in Medieval Studies, Exeter College, Oxford.
Research Interests:
Bede, Anglo-Latin literature, Hiberno-Latin literature, the history of Britain and Ireland before the Norman Conquest, Old English literature, palaeography, textual criticism, medieval theology.
