Martha Rampton, PhD

Martha Rampton published on a variety of topics, from holy women in both the Christian and Islamic traditions, to the significance of the feasting imagery in the Bayeaux Tapestry. Her most recent work concentrated on magic, women and ritual in the early Middle Ages. Her monograph entitled Magic, Women and Ritual Power through the First Millennium is forthcoming. Her newest research project engages the growing interest in the history of emotions. She is currently writing a book on the role of emotion in a celebrated 9th century divorce case. Her teaching fields are as broad as her research interests.

At Pacific, she offered courses on the ancient and medieval worlds, and the medieval Middle East. One of the most popular courses Rampton taught dealt with the history of magic and witchcraft from the Roman period to the Enlightenment. She has traveled widely in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and India. She is the founder and served as director of the Pacific University Center for Gender Equity (CGE). In her capacity as CGE director, she regularly lead student and community groups to southern India to study gender and society at Lady Doak College. In 2010, she received the “She Flies with her Own Wings” award from the Oregon Women in Higher Education for work with CGE. In addition, she founded the annual Medieval Faire called “Faire in the Grove,” which is a collaboration between the university and the local community. This activity attracts several thousand participants each year.

Areas of Research & Specialization

Martha Rampton interest is in medievalism. She concentrates on the early medieval period with an emphasis on social history and the activities and roles of women.

Education

PhD in medieval history with a minor of history of the Middle East, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va., in 1998

Research on contemporary Egyptian women, American University, Cairo, Egypt in the Summer of 1989

Master of arts in medieval history, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah in 1988

Bachelor of arts in theater and history with teaching certificate, in 1979

Personal Affiliations

Co-coordinator, Student Travel to Austria for Feminist Studies Program

May-June 2005 | Coordinator, Student Travel to India for the Center for Women and Gender Equity

January 2005 | Chair of Board of Directors of Women’s Center for Applied Leadership (WCAL) Portland, Ore.

2003-present | Oregon Women in Higher Education Organization Committee for Annual Conference

2001-2003 | Founder, Chair of the Board, and Director, Center for Women and Gender Equity

2001-Present | Committee for Conference on Female Spirituality, March 2002 Chair 2001-2002
Co-Presented with students a workshop titled “The Feminist Classroom” Oregon State University Conference on Gender and Culture

March 2001 | Western Regional Honors Council’s Annual Conference, April 2001

Published Works

“Magic, Ritual Power and Women from Late Antiquity through the First Millennium”, forthcoming

“Eve,” and “Mary Magdalene.” Both in Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. In press with Oxford University Press

“Judith of Bavaria.” In International Encyclopaedia for the Middle Ages-Online. Supplement to the Lexikon des Mittelalters. UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and Brepols Publishers, 2006

“Burchard of Worms and Female Magical Ritual.” In Medieval and Early Modern Ritual: Formalized Behavior in Europe, China and Japan. Edited by Joelle Rollo-Koster. Leiden: Brill, 2002, pp. 7-34

“Up from the Dead: Magic and Miracle.” In Death in the Middle Ages. Edited by Edelgard E. DuBruck and Barbara Gusick. New York: Peter Lang, 1999, pp. 275-91

“Judith, Slayer of Holofernes,” “Marie de France,” “Fatima,” “The Virgin Mary,” “The Queen of Sheba,” “Rabia,” “Mary Magdalene,” “Ruth," “Rachel and Leah” All in Women in World History. Waterford Connecticut: Yorkin Publications

“Frankish Holy Women as Makers of Miracles,” Sewanee Medieval Studies: Love Sacred and Secular in Medieval Culture 8 (1996): 243-68

“The Significance of the Banquet Scene in the Bayeux Tapestry,” Medievalia et Humanistica 21 (1994): 33-53

“The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 and the Written Word,” Comitatus 24 (1993): 45-60

Work with Women's Groups

May-June 2005 | Co-coordinator, Student Travel to Austria for Feminist Studies Program 

January 2005 | Coordinator, Student Travel to India for the Center for Women and Gender Equity 

2003-present | Chair of Board of Directors of Women’s Center for Applied Leadership (WCAL) Portland, Ore. 

2001-2003 | Oregon Women in Higher Education Organization Committee for Annual Conference 

2001-Present | Founder, Chair of the Board, and Director, Center for Women and Gender Equity 

2001-2002 | Chair, Committee for Conference on Female Spirituality, March 2002 

March 2001 | Co-Presented with students a workshop titled “The Feminist Classroom” Oregon State University Conference on Gender and Culture

April 2001 | Western Regional Honors Council’s Annual Conference

Honor & Awards

2005-2006 | Campus Compact Service Learning Grant

2004 | Faculty Achievement Award, Pacific University

June 2002 | I was invited to lecture at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands in Department of History’s Medieval Lecture Series. My paper was titled “Early Medieval Magic and Ritual”

1999 | John R. Meyer’s Grant for Professional Development
Hewlett Foundation Grant for Curriculum Development to design an inter-disciplinary course on the multicultural History of Medicine

1996 | Visiting Fellow, Summer Research Institute, Manchester College, Oxford University

1994 | Graduate Student Fellowship, Western Association of Women Historians

1993 | Bernadotte E. Schmitt Grant for Research in the History of Europe, Africa, and Asia - American Historical Association
Conference Group on Women’s History/Berkshire Conference of Women Historians’ Graduate Student Award - Runner Up

1991-1992 | University of Virginia - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences dupont Fellowship

1989 | Fulbright Seminars Abroad Fellowship/Egypt, Research on various aspects of Egyptian society, historical and contemporary culture U.S. Department of Education commission: preparation of video essay about contemporary Egyptian women

1988 | National Endowment for the Humanities Seminar/Assisi and Sienna, Italy Research on St. Francis of Assisi