Martha G. Newman
Associate Professor — Ph.D., 1988, Stanford University
Associate Professor, Department of History and Department of Religious Studies

Contact
- E-mail: newman@austin.utexas.edu
Interests
medieval Christian monasticism, especially monastic miracle collections, monastic attitudes toward women and the poor, and religious conceptions of labor
Courses
AHC 330 • 12th-C Renais: 1050-1200-Wb
33820 • Spring 2021
Meets MW 10:00AM-11:30AM
Internet; Synchronous
GCWr
(also listed as EUS 346, HIS 344G, R S 356F)
AHC 310 • Medieval Millennium Eur
32740 • Fall 2020
Meets MW 10:00AM-11:00AM WEL 3.502
Hybrid/Blended
GC
AHC 310 • Medieval Millennium Eur-Wb
32744 • Fall 2020
Meets F 10:00AM-11:00AM
Internet; Synchronous
GC
HIS 397L • Monasticism/Monastic Srcs
38430 • Fall 2020
Meets W 3:00PM-6:00PM PMA 5.116
Hybrid/Blended
(also listed as R S 390T)
AHC 330 • The Crusades
32825 • Fall 2019
Meets MW 10:00AM-11:30AM GAR 0.128
GCIIWr
(also listed as HIS 344S, R S 375S)
UGS 303 • Religions In Practice
61900-61915 • Spring 2019
Meets MW 10:00AM-11:00AM SZB 370
Wr
ID
AHC 330 • Twelfth-Cent Renais: 1050-1200
33475 • Fall 2018
Meets MW 10:00AM-11:30AM CBA 4.344
GCWr
(also listed as EUS 346, HIS 344G, R S 357)
R S 384D • Doctrl Smnr In Religious Stds
43380 • Fall 2018
Meets T 2:00PM-5:00PM GAR 2.124
AHC 330 • The Crusades
32369 • Spring 2018
Meets M 3:00PM-6:00PM CLA 1.108
IIWr
(also listed as EUS 346, HIS 350L, R S 375S)
UGS 303 • Religions In Practice
62261-62705 • Spring 2018
Meets MW 10:00AM-11:00AM SZB 370
Wr
ID
HIS 309K • West Civ In Medvl Times-Pl II
39200 • Spring 2017
Meets TTH 12:30PM-2:00PM GAR 0.128
GC
UGS 303 • Religions In Practice
63140-63145 • Spring 2017
Meets TTH 3:30PM-5:00PM GAR 2.112
Wr
ID
AHC 330 • 12th-Century Renais: 1050-1200
32064 • Spring 2016
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM GAR 0.132
GCWr
(also listed as HIS 344G, R S 357)
MDV 392M • Core Readings In Relig In Eur
40240 • Fall 2015
Meets W 2:00PM-5:00PM PAR 305
(also listed as HIS 383C, R S 388E)
UGS 303 • Religions In Practice
63045-63060 • Spring 2015
Meets MW 10:00AM-11:00AM PAR 203
Wr
HIS 344G • 12th-Century Renais: 1050-1200
39570 • Fall 2014
Meets TTH 9:30AM-11:00AM GAR 0.132
GCWr
CTI 304 • Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
34510 • Spring 2014
Meets MWF 10:00AM-11:00AM CLA 0.112
CDE
(also listed as HIS 304R, ISL 311, J S 311, R S 304)
CTI 304 • Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
34060 • Spring 2013
Meets MWF 10:00AM-11:00AM BUR 216
CDE
(also listed as HIS 304R, ISL 311, J S 311, R S 304)
AHC 330 • Myst/Visn/Heretic In Medvl Eur
32933 • Fall 2012
Meets TTH 2:00PM-3:30PM GAR 2.128
IIWr
(also listed as HIS 350L, R S 375S)
HIS 350L • Myst/Visn/Heretic In Medvl Eur
39660 • Spring 2011
Meets TTH 9:30AM-11:00AM GAR 0.132
Wr
C2
(also listed as R S 375S)
CTI 304 • Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
33097 • Fall 2010
Meets MWF 10:00AM-11:00AM UTC 3.110
(also listed as HIS 304R, ISL 311, J S 311, R S 304)
R S 357 • 12th-Century Renais: 1050-1200
44502 • Spring 2010
Meets TTH 9:30AM-11:00AM MEZ 2.124
ISL 311 • Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
42275 • Fall 2009
Meets MWF 11:00AM-12:00PM UTC 3.104
CD
(also listed as J S 311, R S 304)
HIS 397L • Medvl Miracles/Dreams/Visions
40560 • Spring 2008
Meets T 2:00PM-5:00PM GAR 0.120
ISL 311 • Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
42900 • Fall 2007
Meets MWF 11:00AM-12:00PM GEA 105
(also listed as J S 311, R S 304)
ISL 311 • Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
40670 • Fall 2005
Meets MWF 10:00AM-11:00AM UTC 3.122
(also listed as J S 311, R S 304)
ISL 311 • Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
40360 • Fall 2004
Meets MWF 11:00AM-12:00PM UTC 3.102
(also listed as J S 311, R S 304)
HIS 397L • Saints/Miracles/Sacred Spaces
36105 • Spring 2003
Meets T 9:30AM-12:30PM GAR 205
HIS 397L • Relign & Socty In Medvl Europe
37065 • Fall 2001
Meets T 2:00PM-5:00PM GAR 205
HIS 397L • Research Seminar: Monasticism
35865 • Spring 2001
Meets M 2:00PM-5:00PM GAR 107
Publications
Books & Articles
- The Boundaries of Charity: Cistercian Culture and Ecclesiastical Reform, 1098-1180. Stanford University Press, 1996
-
"Labor: Discourses on Work and Power in the Middle Ages." Cultural History of Western Empires (Middle Ages 800-1450), ed. Matthew Gabriele. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019, pp. 93-114.
-
"Marriage, Maternity, and Labor in the Cistercian Exempla of Engelhard of Langheim," in Marriage Symbolism. Cognition and Society in the Premodern Christian West, edited by Line Cecilie Engh. Knowledge Communities. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2019, pp. 203-228.
- Foundation and Twelfth-Century,” in Cambridge Companion to the Cistercian Order, ed. Mette Braun. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012, pp. 25-37
- “Labor: Insights from a Medieval Monastery,” in Why the Middle Ages Matter: Medieval Light on Modern Injustice, ed. Celia Chazelle, Felice Lifshitz, Simon Doubleday, Abington: Routledge Press, 2011, pp. 106-120
- “Making Cistercian Exempla or, the Problem of the Monk Who Wouldn’t Talk.” Cistercian Studies Quarterly 46.1 (2011): 45-66.
- “Considerations on Life and Death: Medieval Asceticism and the Dissolution of the Self,” Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 21.2 (2009): 177-196
- "Disciplining the Body, Disciplining the Will: Hypocrisy and Asceticism in Cistercian Monasticism." In Asceticism and Its Critics: Historical Accounts and Comparative Perspectives, edited by Oliver Freiberger. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
- “Contemplative Virtues and the Active Life of Prelates.” In Bernard of Clairvaux: On Baptism and the Office of Bishops. Cistercian Publications, 2005.
- "Text and Authority in the Formation of the Cistercian Order: The Early Cistercians Read Gregory the Great." In Reforming the Church before Modernity: Patterns, Problems and Approaches, edited by Louis Hamilton and Christopher Belitto. Ashgate Press, 2005.
- "Crucified by the Virtues: Laybrothers and Women in Thirteenth-century Cistercian Saints' Lives." In Gender and Difference in the Middle Ages, edited by S. Farmer and C. Pasternack. University of Minnesota Press, 2003.
- "Real Men and Imaginary Women: Engelhard of Langheim Considers a Woman in Disguise." Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies 78 (2003).
- "Stephen Harding and the Creation of the Cistercian Community." Revue Bénédictine 107 (1997).
- "Prayer, Protection, and Politics: The Cistercian Order and its Bishops." Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Western Society for French History 18 (1991).