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Robert Sturges

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English
Professor
Faculty, TEMPE Campus, Mailcode 1401
Biography

Robert Sturges is a professor of English at ASU. He has taught at M.I.T., Wesleyan University, and the University of New Orleans. His doctorate in comparative literature is from Brown University.

Sturges' teaching and research interests include medieval literature (especially Chaucer), the Bible as literature, critical theory, gender studies, lesbian/gay/queer studies, and opera. He has published six books: "Medieval Interpretation: Models of Reading in Literary Narratve, 1100-1500" (1991), an investigation of how late medieval hermeneutics are manifested in literary texts; "Chaucer's Pardoner and Gender Theory: Bodies of Discourse" (2000), which examines the Pardoner in light of contemporary theory; "Dialogue and Deviance: Male-Male Desire in the Dialogue Genre (Plato to Aelred, Plato to Sade, Plato to the Postmodern)"  (2005), whose lengthy title is self-explanatory; "Law and Sovereignty in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance" (2011), an edited collection of essays; "Aucassin and Nicolette" (2015), a facing-page edition and translation of the 13th-century French romance; and "The Circulation of Power in Medieval Biblical Drama: Theaters of Authority" (2015), an investigation of the ways in which resistance to various modes of power is depicted in medieval drama. Along with his collaborator in the UK, Elizabeth Urquhart, he is also working on an edition of a Middle English devotional work, the "Middle English Pseudo-Augustinian Soliloquies," a text he was the first to identify correctly.

Sturges' most recent essays are "Race, Sex, Slavery: reading Fanon with Aucassin et Nicolette," postmedieval 6.1 (2015), 12-22; "Medievalisms in Contemporary Opera," in Medieval Afterlives in Contemporary Culture, ed. Gail Ashton (London: Bloomsbury, 2015), 22-31; and "The Guise and the Two Jerusalems: Joinville's Vie de saint Louis and an Early Modern Family's Medievalism," in Aspiration, Representation, and Memory: The Guise in Europe, 1506-1688, ed. Jessica Munns, Penny Richards, and Jonathan Spangler (Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2015), 25-46. He has essays forthcoming on Merlin and on Aucassin and Nicolette. 

Fax
480-965-3451
Education
  • Seminar on Scholarly Editing, Rare Book School, Columbia University 1987
  • Seminar on Vernacular Paleography, Harvard University/Medieval Academy 1980
  • Ph.D. Comparative Literature, Brown University 1979. Dissertation: “Interpretation as Action: The Reader in Late Medieval Narrative.”  Director: Elizabeth D. Kirk
  • Institut d’Études françaises, Avignon 1976
  • M.A. Comparative Literature, Brown University 1976
  • B.A. English and French (Summa Cum Laude), University of Bridgeport 1974
Research Interests

Medieval literature (especially Chaucer) and medievalism, the Bible as literature, critical theory, gender studies, lesbian/gay/queer studies, opera

Publications
  • Sturges, Robert S. "Desire and Devotion, Vision and Touch in the Vita nuova." In Desire in Dante and the Middle Ages (2012)
  • Sturges, Robert S. The Circulation of Power in Medieval Biblical Drama: Theaters of Authority (2015)
  • Sturges, Robert S., ed. and trans. Aucassin and Nicolette: A Facing-Page Edition and Translation (2015)
  • Sturges, Robert S. "Race, Sex, Slavery: Reading Fanon with Aucassin et Nicolette." postmedieval 6.1 (2015)
  • Sturges, Robert S. "Medievalisms in Contemporary Opera." In Medieval Afterlives in Contemporary Culture (2015)
  • Sturges, Robert S. "The Guise and the Two Jerusalems: Joinville's Vie de saint Louis and an Early Modern Family's Medievalism." In Aspiration, Representation and Memory: The Guise in Europe, 1506-1688 (2015)
  • Sturges, Robert S. "The Raw and the Cooked in the Roman de Silence: Merlin at the Limit of the Human." In L’Humain et l’Animal dans la France médiévale (XIIe-XVe s.): Human and Animal in Medieval France (12th-15th c.) (2014).
  • Sturges, Robert S. "Pseudo-Augustinian Writings."In The Oxford Guide to the Historical Reception of Augustine (2013).
  • Sturges, Robert S. "Medievalism and Periodization in Frozen River and The Second Shepherds’ Play: Environment, Class, Miracle."In Medieval Afterlives in Popular Culture: Fascinations and Fantasies (2012).
  •  
  • Robert S. Sturges, ed. Law and Sovereignty in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (2011)
  • Robert S. Sturges. "Introduction: Laws and Sovereignties in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance." In Law and Sovereignty in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (2011)
  • Sturges, Robert S. "Asses, Feast of". In The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages (2010)
  • Sturges, Robert S. "Bestiary". In The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages (2010)
  • Sturges, Robert S. "Boy Bishop". In The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages (2010)
  • Sturges, Robert S. "Fools, Feast of". In The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages (2010)
  • Sturges, Robert S. "John of Mirecourt". In The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages (2010)
  • Sturges, Robert S. "Peter of Vaux-de-Cernay". In The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages (2010)
  • Robert S. Sturges. "Visual Pleasure and La Vita nuova: Lacan, Mulvey, and Dante". The Senses and Society 5.1 (2010)
  • Sturges, Robert S. "‘Nerehand nothyng to pay or to take’: Poverty, Labor, and Ideology in Four Towneley Plays". In Trading Values: Money, Morality, and Culture in Early Modern Europe (2010).
  • Robert S. Sturges. "The State of Exception and Sovereign Masculinity in Chaucer's Troilus". In Men and Masculinities in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde (2008)
  • Robert Sturges. "The Pardoner in Canterbury: Class, Gender, and Urban Space in the Prologue to the Tale of Beryn". College Literature 33.3 (2006).
  • Sturges, Robert S. "‘Wols-hede and outhorne’: The Ban, Bare Life, and Power in the Passion Plays". In Mindful Spirit in Late Medieval Literature: Essays in Honor of Elizabeth Kirk (2006).
  • Sturges, Robert S. Dialogue and Deviance: Male-Male Desire in the Dialogue Genre (Plato to Aelred, Plato to Sade, Plato to the Postmodern). (2005).
  • Surges, Robert S. "Purgatory in the Marriage Bed: Conjugal Sodomy in The Gast of Gy". In Framing the Family: Narrative and Representation in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods (2005).
Research Activity

Ambler, Ben, and Robert S. Sturges. “Aelred of Rievaulx’s Queer Time and Space.” In preparation.

Sturges, Robert S., and Elizabeth Urquhart, eds. The Middle English Pseudo-Augustinian Soliloquies and its Anti-Lollard Commentary. In preparation.

Sturges, Robert S. “‘Edele Herzen’ and Identity Categories in Gottfried von Strassburg’s Tristan.” In preparation.

Sturges, Robert S. “Toward a Queer Chaucer Edition.” In preparation.

Sturges, Robert S. “Oscar Wilde’s Last Gasp: Echo de Paris.” In preparation.

Sturges, Robert S. “Vision and Touch: Plato, Aristotle, Dante, Chaucer.” In Chaucer and the Italian Renaissance, ed. Helen Fulton. In preparation. Book proposal under review at Boydell and Brewer.

Sturges, Robert S. “Beaucaire, ‘Cartage,’ Torelore: The Imaginary Mediterranean’s Queer Carnival in Aucassin et Nicolette.” In Queering the Mediterranean, ed. Felipe Rojas and Peter Thompson. Leiden: Brill, forthcoming. Essay completed and accepted. 5,528 words.

Sturges, Robert S. “Animal/Merlin/Demon.” In Beasts, Humans, and Transhumans in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, ed. Eugene Clay. Turnhout: Brepols, forthcoming. Essay completed and accepted. 8,704 words.

Spring 2020
Course NumberCourse Title
ENG 401Topics in Critical Theory
ENG 632Adv Studies Med/Ren Lit/Cultur
Fall 2019
Course NumberCourse Title
ENG 356The Bible as Literature
ENG 400History of Literary Criticism
Spring 2019
Course NumberCourse Title
ENG 356The Bible as Literature
Fall 2018
Course NumberCourse Title
ENG 356The Bible as Literature
ENG 400History of Literary Criticism
Spring 2018
Course NumberCourse Title
ENG 320Medievalism in Modern Culture
ENG 400History of Literary Criticism
Fall 2017
Course NumberCourse Title
ENG 401Topics in Critical Theory
ENG 602Adv Studies Theory/Criticism
Spring 2017
Course NumberCourse Title
ENG 356The Bible as Literature
Fall 2016
Course NumberCourse Title
ENG 356The Bible as Literature
Summer 2016
Course NumberCourse Title
ENG 356The Bible as Literature
Spring 2016
Course NumberCourse Title
ENG 632Adv Studies Med/Ren Lit/Cultur
Fall 2015
Course NumberCourse Title
ENG 315Medieval Lit in Translation
ENG 401Topics in Critical Theory
Summer 2015
Course NumberCourse Title
ENG 356The Bible as Literature
Presentations

Plenary sessions:

“Pieces of Gower: University Pedagogy and the Middle Ages.” International Gower Society conference. Queen Mary University, London, England. July, 2008.

 

 “Sodomy and Sense: Bodily (In)Visibility in The Gast of Gy.” “Seeing Gender” conference. King’s College, London, England. January, 2002.

Invited lectures and seminars:

  • Robert S. Sturges. The Circulation of Power in Medieval Drama. Invited lecture and seminar. Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. March, 2014.

  • Robert S. Sturges. Merlin: the Limits of the Human.” Simpson lecture. University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, Virginia. April, 2011.

  • Robert S. Sturges. The Guise and the Two Jerusalems. Symposium on The Guise Century (Nov 2010).

  • Robert S. Sturges. History is Queerer Than That. Disciplinary Faultlines symposium on "The Queer," Institute for Humanities Research (Nov 2010).
  • Robert S. Sturges. Between Heresy and Authority: St. Augustine, the Bible, and the Lollards in the Middle English Soliloquies. ACMRS invited lecture (Sep 2010).
  • Robert S. Sturges. Visual and Tactile Pleasures: The Idolatrous Gaze in Troilus and Criseyde. New Chaucer Society conference (Jul 2010).
  • Robert S. Sturges. The Raw and the Cooked in the Roman de Silence. Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies conference (Feb 2010).
  • Robert S. Sturges. Gender and Visual Pleasure in Dante's La vita nuova. Symposium on the Five Senses in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Mar 2009).
  • Conference presentations:

  • “Error, Queer Manuscripts, and Straight Editing: The Case of the Pardoner.” New Chaucer Society conference. London. July, 2016.

    “Aelred of Rievaulx’s Queer Time and Space.” With Ben Ambler. “New Approaches to the Histories of Christianity and Same-Sex Desire” conference. Birkbeck College, University of London. September, 2015.

    “Queer Time and Resistant Spirituality: From the Planctus Mariae to the NAMES Project.” “The Coming of Age of LGBTQ Studies: Past, Present, and Future Directions” conference. San Diego State University. April, 2015.

    “Things Getting Things Done in Medieval Biblical Drama.” Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies conference. Scottsdale, Arizona. February, 2015.

    “Toward a Queer Chaucer Edition.” New Chaucer Society conference. Reykjavik, Iceland. July, 2014.

    “Animal/Merlin/Demon.” Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies conference. Phoenix, AZ. February, 2013.

    “Vision and Touch in Plato, Aristotle, Dante, and Chaucer.” New Chaucer Society conference. Portland, OR. July, 2012.

    “Le Roman de Silence: Merlin at the Limit of the Human.” Humain/Animal: La Société internationale des médiévistes conference. Paris. June, 2012.

    “Ethnicity, Slavery, and the Erotic in Two Thirteenth-Century Romances.” Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies conference. Tempe, AZ. February, 2012.

    “Frozen River and The Second Shepherds’ Play: Landscape, Class, Miracle.” International Conference on Medievalism, University of New Mexico. October, 2011.

     “Desire and Devotion, Vision and Touch in Dante’s Vita nuova.” Medieval Academy of America meeting. Tempe, AZ. April, 2011.

    “Visual and Tactile Pleasures: The Idolatrous Gaze in Troilus and Criseyde.” New Chaucer Society conference. Siena, Italy. July, 2010.

     “The Raw and the Cooked in the Roman de Silence.” Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies conference. Tempe, AZ. February, 2010. 

Service
  • Discipuli Juncti conference, session chair (2010 - Present)
  • Speculum, manuscript referee (2010 - Present)
  • English Department, Director of Graduate Studies (2010 - Present)
  • English Department ad hoc committee on the writing program, committee member (2010 - Present)
  • English Department new student orientation, facilitator (2010 - Present)
  • BABEL working group, member (2010 - Present)
  • postmedieval, advisory board member (2010 - Present)
  • ACMRS conference, session chair (2010 - Present)
  • English Department Budget and Personnel Committee, committee member (2007 - Present)
  • Arthuriana, Advisory Board member (1994 - Present)
  • Modern Language Association, Committee member (2006 - 2011)
  • Third-year review committee for Prof. Karen Bollermann (Polytechnic), committee member (2009 - 2010)
  • English Department Chaucer celebration, Performer, The Second Shepherds' Play (2010 - 2010)
  • Third-year review committee for Prof. Karen Bollermann (Polytechnic), committee member (2009 - 2009)
  • ACMRS conference, session chair (2009 - 2009)
  • Arizona Library Association, invited speaker (2009 - 2009)
  • Discipuli Juncti conference, session chair (2009 - 2009)
  • English Department Budget and Personnel Committee, mamber/chair (2009 - 2009)
  • English Department Literature Committee, chair (2009 - 2009)
  • Modern Language Association, Session chair (2009 - 2009)
  • Modern Language Association Executive Committee, Division on Middle English Literature, Excluding C, Committee chair (2009 - 2009)
  • Tulane University, program reviewer (2009 - 2009)
  • Exemplaria, Advisory Board member (2000 - 2009)
  • Arthuriana, Advisory Board member (1994 - 2009)
Expertise Areas
Biblical Studies
Medieval Literature
Comparative Literature
Gender and Sexuality
Textual Criticism/Textual Editing
British Literature