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David Aers, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of English

David Aers

David Aers is James B. Duke Professor of English and Historical Theology, with appointments in both the English Department and the Divinity School. His work on medieval and early modern literature, theology, and political culture ranges across disciplinary and temporal boundaries, with a deep interest in tracing the nuances and complexities of Christian tradition and its relations to culture, politics, and ethics across the medieval/early modern divide. His most recent publications include Versions of Election: From Langland and Aquinas to Calvin and Milton (Notre Dame UP, 2020), which explores concepts of Predestination and Reprobation in Christian tradition from the Middle Ages through the Reformation; and (with co-editor Sarah Beckwith) a special issue of the Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies on “Imagining the Virtues: Medieval and Early Modern Histories” (July 2022), devoted to examining the aftermaths of the Reformation on habits, practices, and conceptualizations of virtue and virtue ethics. Currently, Aers is working on a broad-ranging exploration of how the Reformation transformed understandings of God and humanity in relation to medieval Christian teachings. A forthcoming essay related to this project, “The Letter Kills but the Spirit Gives Life (2 Corinthians 3:6): Or, What Happened to Enemy Love?,” will appear in a volume honouring Prof. James Simpson in 2024.

David Aers continues as co-editor of the Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. He was also co-editor, with Sarah Beckwith (Duke) and James Simpson (Harvard), of the Notre Dame University Press series entitled ReFormations, devoted to work that bridges the institutionalized division between medieval and early modern studies. David Aers is currently Director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Duke.

Contact Info:
Office Location:  402 Allen Bldg, Durham, NC 27708
Email Address: send me a message
Web Page:  http://www.duke.edu/religion/~aers
Division:  Graduate, Undergraduate

Teaching (Spring 2024):

  • ENGLISH 338S.01, MILTON Synopsis
    Allen 318, TuTh 10:05 AM-11:20 AM
    (also cross-listed as MEDREN 337S.01)
  • XTIANTHE 890.01, THEOLOGICAL TOPICS Synopsis
    Langford 060, Th 03:05 PM-05:35 PM
  • ENGLISH 890S.04, SPECIAL TOPICS SEMINAR Synopsis
    Divinity TBA, Th 03:05 PM-05:35 PM
Office Hours:

Spring 2024 Semester:

Thursdays 1:00-2:30 PM (402 Allen)
Education:

Ph.D.University of York (United Kingdom)1971
Doctor of PhilosophyUniversity of York1971
BA (included MA)Cambridge University1968
B.A.University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)1968
Specialties:

Medieval Literature
Renaissance/Early Modern Literature
Research Interests: Medieval and Reformation Literature and Theology

Current projects: The consolations and disconsolations of theology and poetry from Langland, Chaucer and Julian of Norwich into the Reformation .

David Aers works especially on medieval and early modern literature, theology, ecclesiology and politics in England. His publications range from studies of Augustine to studies of early 19th century writing and culture. Publications include: Piers Plowman and Christian Allegory (Arnold 1975); Chaucer, Langland and the Creative Imagination (Routledge, 1980); Literature, Language and Society in England, 1580-1680, written with Bob Hodge and Gunther Kress (Barnes and Noble, 1980); Chaucer (Harvester, 1983); Community, Gender and Individual Identity, 1360-1430 (Routledge, 1988); Powers of the Holy, written with Lynn Staley (Penn State, 1996); a two edited volumes: Medieval Literature: Criticism, Ideology, History (Harvester, 1986) and Culture and History, 1350-1600 (Wayne State, 1992). In 2000 he published Faith, Ethics, and Church: Writing in England 1360-1410 (Brewer) and also a collection of essays entitled Medieval Literature and Historical Inquiry: Essays in Honor of Derek Pearsall (Brewer). In 2004 he published Sanctifying Signs: Making Christian Tradition in Late Medieval England (Notre Dame). In 2009 he published a work that moved from Augustine to Langland and Julian of Norwich: Salvation and Sin: Augustine, Langland and Fourteenth-Century Theology (University of Notre Dame Press, 2009) . He has just (2015) published a book for the University of Notre Dame Press entitled: Beyond Reformation? An Essay on William Langland's Piers Plowman and the End of Constantinian Christianity. This work continues to develop his interests in Christian traditions, theology and political culture while also engaging with some issues raised by current grand narratives of modernity. Centered on Langland's Piers Plowman, a story is told that runs from Ockham to Milton and, very tentatively, Milton's ecclesiology here called "congregationalism." Since completing Beyond Reformation? in 2015, he has continued to work across the great divide between the medieval and the early modern still institutionalized in most English Departments in contemporary Universities. This work includes an essay on philosophy and theology in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde and an essay on the Calvinist Arthur Dent (Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven, 1601). Current project develops lines of inquiry initiated in the book just completed (Beyond Reformation?) This involves concentrating particularly on conflicts and transformations in the later Middle Ages , with particular attention to Ockham , Marsilius of Padua , Langland , Chaucer and Wyclif . David Aers continues as co-editor of the Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. He has edited a number of special issues of JMEMS, most recently one with Nigel Smith on the English Reformations:currently he is preparing a special issue, with Russ Leo (Princeton)on Brad Gregory's work exploring the "unintended" Reformation. He is co-editor, with Sarah Beckwith (Duke) and James Simpson (Harvard) of the Notre Dame University Press series entitled REFORMATIONS. He is also currently working with Sarah Beckwith on a special issue of JMEMS on "Conversion: medieval and early modern." David Aers is the James B. Duke Professor of English and Historical Theology with appointments in both the English Department and in the Divinity School.

Areas of Interest:

British Literature
Literature
Medieval and Early Modern Literature/ Theology

Keywords:

Sermons

Current Ph.D. Students   (Former Students)

  • William Revere  
  • Hannah VanderHart  
  • Grace Hamman  
  • Matthew Whelan  
  • Jessica N. Hines  
  • Jack Bell  
  • William Revere  
  • William Revere  
Representative Publications   (More Publications)

  1. Aers, D, Langland on the church and the end of the cardinal virtues, Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, vol. 42 no. 1 (December, 2012), pp. 59-81, Duke University Press, ISSN 1082-9636 [Gateway.cgi], [doi]  [abs]
  2. Aers, D, Salvation and Sin: Augustine, Langland, and Fourteenth-Century Theology (April, 2009), pp. 1-284, notre dame university press
  3. Aers, D, Sanctifying Signs: Making Christian Tradition in Late Medieval England (2004), pp. 284 pages, notre dame university press


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