PhD Candidate Carter Travels to U.K. for Dissertation Research on St. Albans Abbey

Interior of St. Albans Abbey, photo by Deirdre Carter

With the generous support of the Paula Gerson Doctoral Research Grant, Art History PhD candidate Deirdre Carter recently traveled to the United Kingdom to conduct research for her dissertation, entitled “Art, History, and the Creation of Monastic Identity at Late Medieval St. Albans Abbey.” This project, developed under the direction of Professors Richard Emmerson and Lynn Jones, examines a wide range of artworks and other materials from late medieval St. Albans, focusing on the way in which the abbey’s artistic production both reflected and shaped the monastery’s communal identity.

During her travels, Carter studied and photographed the medieval architecture and artworks at English churches such as St. Albans Cathedral and Canterbury Cathedral. She also examined materials at a number of archives and libraries, including the British Library, Oxford’s Bodleian Library, the UK National Archives, the St. Albans Muniment Room, the Carlisle Archive Centre, and the National Library of Scotland. At these institutions, Carter consulted dozens of medieval manuscripts, charters, early printed books, and other archival documents, which have yielded new insights into the late medieval abbey and its use of artworks and other objects as a means of expressing monastic identity.