Our Lady of the Angels—and Demons!

An exclusive interview with Professor Rachel Fulton Brown as you have never seen her—in conversation with one of her students from the University of Chicago. THIS is our brand. Phoenix rising!

In [this] interview, I met with Rachel Fulton Brown, associate professor of History at the University of Chicago, regarding her 2017 book Mary and the Art of Prayer: The Hours of the Virgin in Medieval Christian Life and Thought. 

Over the course of the interview, we talked about the ancient Temple Tradition and its connection with the Virgin Mary and Christ. We also discussed J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, the psychology of devotion, the problem of portraying sin, the reality of the spiritual, and the re-enchantment of the world (made most obvious in the rhetoric surrounding January 6th). 

It is discussions like this that make UChicago so unique. My peers and I are able to interact with the leading minds in the world on almost every subject imaginable. COVID, though, has severely impeded these interactions, cutting students off from the natural times for discussion before and after class. 

Please enjoy our delightful romp into what is (in my opinion) an under-appreciated topic in academic circles. 

—Matthew Heck, Senior Editor, The Chicago Thinker

References

Mary and the Art of Prayer: The Hours of the Virgin in Medieval Christian Life and Thought (New York: Columbia University Press, 2017). Read Chapter 2: “Ave Maria” online!

“Anselm and Praying with the Saints,” in Experiments in Empathy: The Middle Ages, ed. Karl Morrison and Rudolph M. Bell (Turnholt: Brepols, 2013): 115-38.

On January 6th: Battery Life, The Sacredest Place, Tyrian Purple 

Syllabi for courses taught at the University of Chicago that Matthew has taken with me: Medieval England, Tolkien: Medieval and Modern, The Arts of Language in the Middle Ages: The Trivium, and Writing Christian Poetry

For a complete list of my video, podcast, and radio appearances, visit Bear On Air. For more syllabi and further publications, see my academic homepage.