meet Claire

I am a medieval historian (PhD, Cambridge) focusing on women’s religious history of medieval England. I am also retraining as a religious studies scholar with a focus on philosophy of religion, Buddhist-Christian studies, and comparative monasticism. My current major project is a comparative religion and philosophy book for the general public (Human Believing – see Projects page). I am also preparing my medieval history work for academic publication. (See CV below)

Medieval History and Digital Humanities

My love of the medieval world began in high school when I did a reproduction of an illuminated manuscript for an art project. The process of calligraphy and detailed painting tapped into a calm feeling that I yearned for, and returned to again and again. At first I did so through more painted reproductions. Then, after I gained skills in computer graphics as a hobby, I became the assistant to an art history professor who was designing a digital recreation of a lost medieval mural. That project, the Mystic Ark, has been published in print and online, and can be seen here: https://mysticark.ucr.edu/

After finishing the bulk of that digital recreation, I moved to the UK for graduate school, with a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. I earned my MPhil in Medieval History and then my PhD in History, both at the University of Cambridge. My doctoral dissertation was a study of the economic, social, and lived religious life of the nuns and brethren of medieval London-area Syon Abbey. This monastery was a very wealthy and influential foundation with both men and women. It was founded in 1415 by King Henry V, and was a major center of resistance to Henry VIII’s Reformation break from Rome before the abbey’s suppression in 1539. See this page for link to my dissertation: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/269847

During a detour into geography and urban planning, I then did a study using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to investigate the pilgrimage destinations of medieval English women and men. I wrote a thesis which combined this analysis with discussion of women’s mobility in medieval England. That thesis can be found here: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/367/

I also taught medieval history to undergraduates at Virginia Commonwealth University, and used GIS to work on digital humanities projects at the University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab. My primary project, the georectification of Charles Paullin’s Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States, can be found here: https://dsl.richmond.edu/historicalatlas/

Since 2016, I have worked various day jobs while battling family and personal health issues, recovering, researching and planning a comparative religion and philosophy book and preparing my Syon Abbey research for academic publication. See the ‘Projects’ page for further information. I currently live in Southern Oregon with my husband, our six cats, and my ever-expanding rose and lavender garden.

CV – Claire K. Clement

EDUCATION

2016  Ph.D. History, University of Cambridge

Dissertation: “Processing Piety and the Materiality of Spiritual Mission at Syon Abbey, 1415-1539” (Viva: June 22, 2015)

2012  M.U.R.P. (Master of Urban and Regional Planning),Virginia Commonwealth University

Thesis: “Mapping Women’s Movement in Medieval England: A GIS Study from Latin Pilgrimage Sources”

2005  M.Phil. Medieval History, University of Cambridge

Thesis: “Male and Female Monastic Economy in Late Medieval Lincolnshire: a Quantitative Assessment”

2003  B.A. History, University of California, Riverside

1999  B.A. Sociology, University of California, Santa Cruz

Study Abroad: University of Delhi, India, 1997-1998

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2013  Adjunct Instructor – Department of History, Virginia Commonwealth University (Spring 2013 and Fall 2013)

COURSES TAUGHT AS INSTRUCTOR OF RECORD

Survey of European History I – to 1550

The High Middle Ages – 1000-1500 (cross-listed with Religious Studies)

Topics: The Rise of Cities in Medieval Europe

The Art of Historical Detection: Medieval to Modern (2 sections)

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

“Eyeglasses and Sight at Syon Abbey: Medieval Nuns and Their Visual World,” Journal of Medieval Monastic Studies, 13 (2024) (forthcoming)

WORKS IN PROGRESS

“Food at Syon Abbey” – (article)

“Pilgrimage at Syon Abbey” – (article)

Processing Piety: Gender, Work, and Material Culture at Syon Abbey, 1415-1539 – (monograph)

Human Believing: God, Philosophy, and Science Across Cultures – (book for public)

“Mapping Medieval Pilgrimage: Using GIS and Miracle Stories to Examine Personal Travel in Medieval England” – (article)

MAJOR AWARDS, GRANTS, AND SCHOLARSHIPS

2023  The Huntington Library, Travel Grant for Study Abroad

2004-07  Gates Cambridge Scholarship, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Gates Cambridge Trust – full cost award, University of Cambridge

2004-07  Overseas Research Scholarship, Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme, Universities UK,  University of Cambridge

UNIVERSITY GRANTS AND PRIZES

2009-11  Graduate Teaching Assistantship, Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University

2007-09  Prince Consort and Thirlwall Studentship, University of Cambridge

2007-09  Ellen McArthur Studentship for Economic History, University of Cambridge

1999  Phi Beta Kappa – Membership

PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS

2013    “Portable Privacy and the Justification of Female Mobility: Mapping Women’s Movement in Medieval England” Medieval Academy of America Annual Meeting. Knoxville, Tenn., April 4-6, 2013.

2012    “The Cloistered Theater and Spiritual Service Production: Performing, Processing, and Distributing Piety at Syon Abbey, 1415-1539” North American Conference on British Studies Annual Meeting. Montreal, Canada, November 8-10, 2012.

2011    “Authority, Agency and Institutional Organization in a Double Monastery: Gendered Power at Syon Abbey, 1415-1539” International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Mich., May 12-15, 2011.

2008    “Women in Power: administrative structure and financial change at Syon Abbey 1440-1539” Economic History Society Annual Conference. University of Nottingham, March 28-30, 2008.

2007    “Syon Abbey: the Cellaress Accounts” Medieval Economic and Social History Seminar, University of Cambridge. March, 2007.

DIGITAL HUMANITIES RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

2023  Scale AI. Artificial Intelligence Large Language Model Subject Expert Trainer, History.

2011-13  University of Richmond, Digital Scholarship Lab. Historical GIS Analyst. October 2011 – July 2013 (part-time). Used geographic information systems (GIS) to analyze spatially organized historical statistical information, and to prepare maps from Paullin’s U.S. historical atlas for display and interactive use on the Internet. Published online as “Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States.”

Home Page: https://dsl.richmond.edu/historicalatlas/

2002-07  University of California, Riverside, Art History Department. Mystic Ark Graphic Design Research Assistant. February 2002-2007 (part time freelance/ contract). Used graphic design software to recreate a lost medieval mural from digitized images of medieval manuscripts, based on the description of the original mural written by a twelfth-century monk. Involved substantial manipulation of medieval manuscript images, some original image drawing, and the creation of a working computer font based on the calligraphic hand of a particular medieval scribe. The resulting images are published in several books by Conrad Rudolph, and online as “The Mystic Ark.” https://mysticark.ucr.edu/

ADDITIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE

Aug 2018-Present        Freelance Editor and Writer. Self-employed.

May 2023-Aug 2023     AI Trainer, Subject Expert in History. Scale AI.

Sep 2019-Aug 2023      Project Manager/Management Consultant. Clayton Limited Editions.

Nov 2018-Apr 2019      Investigative Data Researcher and Editor. Legistorm. Washington, D.C.

Apr 2015-Aug 2018      Cancer Registrar, Certified Tumor Registrar. Asante Medical System.

Jan 2013-Dec 2013       Adjunct Instructor, History, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Oct 2011-Jul 2013        Historical GIS Analyst, Digital Scholarship Lab, University of Richmond.

Aug 2009-May 2011     Graduate Teaching Assistant, Government, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Feb 2002-Aug 2007      Research Assistant/Graphics Specialist, Art History Department, UC Riverside.

Mar 2000-Feb 2001      Administrative Assistant, Educational Partnership Center, UC Santa Cruz.

Sept 1994-Sept 1995     Wilderness Ranger, Sedona Ranger District, Coconino National Forest, AZ.

LANGUAGES, AND TECHNICAL SKILLS

Languages: Latin, German, Hindi, Middle English.

Technical Skills: Adobe Creative Suite, Macromedia Fontographer, ESRI ArcGIS, SketchUp.