Editor of Speculum
The Medieval Academy is thrilled to announce that Barbara Newman has been appointed the next editor of Speculum, beginning 1 July 2025.
Newman is a renowned scholar of medieval literature, religion, and gender. During her term as Editor of Speculum she will continue as Professor of English and John Evans Professor of Latin at Northwestern University, where she also holds courtesy appointments in the departments of History, Religion, and Classics and has directed the graduate Medieval Studies Cluster since its inception in 2003. She received her PhD in Medieval Studies from Yale University, is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society and has received awards and fellowships from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the ACLS. Newman has written or edited more than a dozen books, covering an impressive range of disciplines and language traditions. Her 2013 monograph, Medieval Crossover: Reading the Secular against the Sacred, won an Outstanding Academic Title Award from Choice, and in 2009 God and the Goddesses: Vision, Poetry, and Belief in the Middle Ages was awarded the Charles Homer Haskins Medal by the Medieval Academy.
The search committee was deeply impressed both by Newman’s long record of exemplary and cutting-edge scholarship and by her vision for moving Speculum forward. It is clear that Speculum’s mission to advance our field and its status as the flagship journal for top-quality scholarship in the multiple disciplines of medieval studies will thrive under her leadership.
During Newman’s tenure as Editor, Northwestern University will house the editorial offices of Speculum on its campus. A process for sending books for review directly to the reviewers has been instituted. Katherine Jansen, the current editor, continues in her role until 30 June 2025 and will handle the production of issues that are already in process.
The Medieval Academy warmly welcomes Barbara, and thanks Kate Jansen for her wise, capable, and visionary guidance of Speculum since 2019, the Catholic University of America for its support of Speculum throughout Jansen’s term as editor, Northwestern University for its support of Newman as she undertakes the role, and the search committee (consisting of Cecilia Gaposchkin, Aden Kumler, Sara Lipton, Peggy McCracken, and Cord Whitaker) for its hard work.
