Martha G. Newman
Ph.D., 1988, Stanford University
Associate Professor in the Departments of History and Religious Studies

Contact
- E-mail: newman@austin.utexas.edu
- Phone: (512) 232-2264
- Office: GAR 3.408
- Office Hours: Fall 2016 by appointment
- Campus Mail Code: A3700 / B7000
Interests
Medieval Christian monasticism | monastic miracle collections | monastic attitudes toward women & the poor
Biography
Martha Newman is Associate Professor of History and Religious Studies. She served as the founding Chair of the Department of Religious Studies from 2007 to 2016. Dr. Newman received her Ph.D. in Medieval History from Stanford University and her B.A. in History from Harvard University. Her research focuses primarily on medieval Christian monasticism, especially monastic miracle collections, monastic attitudes toward women and the poor, and religious conceptions of labor. She is the author of The Boundaries of Charity: Cistercian Culture and Ecclesiastical Reform, 1098-1180, as well as a number book chapters and articles dealing with medieval Christianity. Her current book-project, entitled The Sacramental Imagination of Engelhard of Langheim: Cistercian monks and nuns around the year 1200, explores a collection of miracles stories written for religious women.
Dr. Newman has served in numerous service positions during her tenure at UT-Austin, including Associate Chair of the History Department, Associate Director of the Plan II Honors Program, and Director of the History Honors Program. Her classes include “Judaism, Christianity, and Islam,” "Western Civilization in Medieval Times," “The Twelfth-Century Renaissance," and "Heresy and the Inquisition.”
Courses
R S 356F • 12th-Cen Renais: 1050-1200-Wb
43250 • Spring 2021
Meets MW 10:00AM-11:30AM
Internet; Synchronous
GCWr
(also listed as AHC 330, EUS 346, HIS 344G)
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
R S 390T • Monasticism/Monastic Sourcs
42005 • Fall 2020
Meets W 3:00PM-6:00PM PMA 5.116
Hybrid/Blended
(also listed as HIS 397L)
R S 375S • The Crusades
42185 • Fall 2019
Meets MW 10:00AM-11:30AM GAR 0.128
GCIIWr
(also listed as AHC 330, HIS 344S)
UGS 303 • Religions In Practice
61900-61915 • Spring 2019
Meets MW 10:00AM-11:00AM SZB 370
Wr
ID
R S 357 • Twelfth-Cent Renais: 1050-1200
43292 • Fall 2018
Meets MW 10:00AM-11:30AM CBA 4.344
GCWr
(also listed as AHC 330, EUS 346, HIS 344G)
R S 384D • Doctrl Smnr In Religious Stds
43380 • Fall 2018
Meets T 2:00PM-5:00PM GAR 2.124
R S 375S • The Crusades
43292 • Spring 2018
Meets M 3:00PM-6:00PM CLA 1.108
IIWr
(also listed as AHC 330, EUS 346, HIS 350L)
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
R S 357 • 12th-Century Renais: 1050-1200
42860 • Spring 2016
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM GAR 0.132
GCWr
(also listed as AHC 330, HIS 344G)
R S 388E • Core Readings In Relig In Eur
42910 • Fall 2015
Meets W 2:00PM-5:00PM PAR 305
(also listed as HIS 383C, MDV 392M)
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
R S 304 • Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
44480 • Spring 2014
Meets MWF 10:00AM-11:00AM CLA 0.112
CDE
(also listed as CTI 304, HIS 304R, ISL 311, J S 311)
R S 304 • Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
43815 • Spring 2013
Meets MWF 10:00AM-11:00AM BUR 216
CDE
(also listed as CTI 304, HIS 304R, ISL 311, J S 311)
R S 375S • Myst/Visn/Heretic In Medvl Eur
43805 • Fall 2012
Meets TTH 2:00PM-3:30PM GAR 2.128
IIWr
(also listed as AHC 330, HIS 350L)
R S 375S • Myst/Visn/Heretic In Medvl Eur
44370 • Spring 2011
Meets TTH 9:30AM-11:00AM GAR 0.132
Wr
(also listed as HIS 350L)
R S 304 • Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
43520 • Fall 2010
Meets MWF 10:00AM-11:00AM UTC 3.110
CD
(also listed as CTI 304, HIS 304R, ISL 311, J S 311)
R S 357 • 12th-Century Renais: 1050-1200
44502 • Spring 2010
Meets TTH 9:30AM-11:00AM MEZ 2.124
R S 304 • Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
44490 • Fall 2009
Meets MWF 11:00AM-12:00PM UTC 3.104
CD
(also listed as ISL 311, J S 311)
HIS 397L • Medvl Miracles/Dreams/Visions
40560 • Spring 2008
Meets T 2:00PM-5:00PM GAR 0.120
R S 304 • Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
45480 • Fall 2007
Meets MWF 11:00AM-12:00PM GEA 105
(also listed as ISL 311, J S 311)
R S 304 • Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
43410 • Fall 2005
Meets MWF 10:00AM-11:00AM UTC 3.122
(also listed as ISL 311, J S 311)
R S 304 • Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
42970 • Fall 2004
Meets MWF 11:00AM-12:00PM UTC 3.102
(also listed as ISL 311, J S 311)
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).