Elizabeth Scala writes and teaches about Chaucer, the history of Chaucer studies, and the textual environments of medieval literature. She regularly publishes essays on the topics of Chaucer, the Canterbury Tales, and its various imprints. She is one of the editors of the journal Exemplaria: Medieval / Early Modern / Theory
Scala's most recent book is "Disire in the Canterbury Tales" (Ohio State, 2015). She is currently working on a book, forthcoming from Oxford University Press and titled "Shakespeare and the Renaissance Chaucer Book." The book project was supported by the Humanities Research Award from the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts.
In Fall 2022, she taught the first university course on the literary significance of Taylor Swifts songwriting as a version of E314. The Taylor Swift Songbook met with International media attention, which still continues as Swift wraps up the first North American leg of the Eras Tour and continues releasing new versions of her first six albums. You can follow the progress of that course and its spinoffs on Instagram @swiftieprof.
Ph.D.
in English and American Literature and Language, Harvard University, 1994
M.A.
in English and American Literature and Language, Harvard University, 1990
B.A.
in English and Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Wellesley College, 1988
Chaucer; the history of Chaucer studies; the textual environments of medieval literature; Medieval Literature; Medieval Romance; Bibliography and Textual Studies; Literary Theory; Women, Gender, and Literature; Food Writing; Taylor Swift
Chair,
Liberal Arts Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship program (2007 - Present)
Chair,
Liberal Arts Undergraduate Research Committee (2006 - Present)
Executive Committee,
Division on Chaucer, Modern Language Association (2004 - 2009)
Program Committee,
New Chaucer Society, Glasgow (2004)
Editorial Board,
Texas Studies in Literature and Language (2002 - 2007)
Executive Committee,
Arthurian Literature, Modern Language Association (2001 - 2006)
Program Committee,
Medieval Academy of America (1999 - 2000)
Director,
Medieval Studies Program (1999 - 2002)
Tenure Review,
University of Dallas, Northwestern University
Editor,
Exemplaria: Medieval/Early Modern/Theory
"Editing Chaucer," Chaucer: An Oxford Guide (2005); "Absent Narratives, Manuscript Textuality, and Literary Structure in Late Medieval England" (2002)
Humanities Research Award
- The College of Liberal Arts, UT Austin (2014)
Course Development Award for the course "Matters of Taste: Literature, Culture, Environment"
- Office of Sustainability and the Mitchell Society
