Overview
Ryanne Berry is a second-year Ph.D. student in Medieval Studies with a minor in Religious Studies. She earned her B.A. in English and Religion from Oberlin College, where her senior thesis investigated the role of the body in the Beguine writings of Hadewijch of Antwerp, Margaret Ebner, and Mechthild of Magdeburg. In 2023, Ryanne earned an M.A. in Medieval and Renaissance Studies from Columbia University. Her master’s thesis argued that Julian of Norwich’s negative grammar and apophatic theology constitute a “negative poetics,” which inscribes the soul’s preparation for the afterlife in the writing process. As a Ph.D. student, Ryanne continues to explore how medieval practices of writing and reading serve as modes of devotion.
Research Focus
As a literary scholar, her research explores the confluence of the devotional and the literary in late medieval English and French texts. She is particularly interested in vernacular visionary writings, devotional material culture, and mystical theology.
In Fall 2024 and Spring 2025, she is teaching the first-year writing seminar, “Heaven and Hell.”