Dr Stephen Penn

Lecturer

English Studies Room A17 Pathfoot Building University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA

Dr Stephen Penn

Contact details

About me

BA (Birmingham), MPhil (Cambridge), DPhil (York)

I came to Stirling from the University of York, where I completed my DPhil on John Wyclif under the supervision of Prof. Alastair Minnis. My main research interests lie in Wyclif's Latin works, especially as they pertain to biblical exegesis and theology, and in scholastic and earlier medieval theological writing more generally. I have recently developed an interest in medieval sacramental theology and its patristic foundations, and am currently working on a monograph on Wyclif's hermeneutic theory. I also love working with ancient languages, and much of my research is informed by a curiosity about their history, reception and academic study throughout the medieval period.

I have just finished translating a selection of Wyclif's Latin works for Manchester University Press, which appeared in the autumn of 2019. This is the first collection of its kind, and the majority of texts included within it have not previously been translated into English. Find out about it here: https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719067648/.

At Stirling I teach mainly in the areas of Old and Middle English language and literature, and linguistics (especially historical linguistics and the history of the English language). I also teach Latin to postgraduate students.

I would be interested in supervising doctoral research on any medieval literary topic, but especially areas relating to Chaucer, Langland and their contemporaries, and to medieval mysticism. I would also welcome research proposals dealing with literature and theology, philosophy and biblical hermeneutics. I am also interested in supervising research into any aspect of medieval Latin literature, and especially literature of the high and late medieval periods.