The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has named Claire Sponsler as the M. F. Carpenter Professor in English.

Sponsler’s work centers on medieval literature, with a special interest in the overlapping areas of book history, performance, and cultural studies. Her books include The Queen’s Dumbshows: John Lydgate and the Making of Early Theater (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014); John Lydgate: Mummings and Entertainments (Middle English Texts Series, 2010); Ritual Imports: Performing Medieval Drama in America (Cornell University Press, 2004), which won the Barnard Hewitt prize from the American Society for Theatre Research; East of West: Crosscultural Performance and the Staging of Difference (Palgrave Macmillan, 2000; co-edited with Xiaomei Chen); and Drama and Resistance (Minnesota University Press, 1997). She has also written numerous articles and reviews.

Sponsler’s research has been supported by an NEH Fellowship and other grants and awards, including a 2013-14 National Humanities Center Fellowship. She has taught at the George Washington University and the Bread Loaf School of English. See the full story on the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences website.