Kortney Stern

Most of the experiences that have had the greatest impact on my life have happened quite by accident. I never intended to go to college. I didn’t discover the field of medieval studies until my junior year of college. I had never even heard of Goshen, Indiana until the summer of 2023. And yet, each of these unexpected turns has shaped me in profound ways—helping to form the reader, writer, thinker, and person I am today.

As a first-generation college graduate, I’m a strong advocate for all forms of learning—whether that takes place through trade work, travel, or the traditional classroom. As an academic, I study late medieval English literature through feminist, queer, and sonic frameworks. And as an English professor at Goshen College, I strive to create collaborative classroom spaces where I learn as much from my students as they do from me.

Each of these threads—personal, academic, professional—is deeply woven into who I am, both inside and outside the classroom.

Ph.D. in English, Concentration in Literature, Ph.D. Minor in Medieval Studies, Indiana University, August 2024

M.A. in English Language and Literature, Mills College, May 2016

B.A. in English, Concentration in Literature, San Francisco State University, May 2014

Graduate Area Certificate in Medieval Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, May 2019

An Echoed Response: Silence, Merlin and Their Sonic Resistance in Le Roman de Silence.”
Arthuriana (forthcoming)

“Dying, Death and the Afterlife: Non-Gendered Teachings from Beyond the Grave.” Essays in
Medieval Studies 35 (2021): 59-78.

“Becoming Jane Somers: Constructing Authorship, Genre and Age in The Diary of a Good
Neighbour.” Doris Lessing Studies 34 (2016): 27-31.