Maggie Kelly
Assistant Professor of English
Department: English
Office and address:
Whitley, Office 306
2338 Campus Box
Elon, NC 27244
Email: mkelly60@elon.edu
Phone number: (336) 278-6966
Professional Expertise
The health humanities; blood symbolism; rhetorics of embodiment and marginalization; medieval and early modern literature
Education
PhD, English, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
MA, English, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
BA, English Education, North Carolina State University
Research
My research centers on the medical/health humanities, with a particular focus on gender and race. I am especially interested in the cultural and historical significance of blood, particularly as it manifests within the medieval and early modern periods.Through the theoretical framework of embodiment, I examine how blood functions rhetorically to marginalize certain social groups and shape their lived experiences. In addition to this work on blood, my research also engages more broadly with the history of gynecology, examining its development and sociocultural implications over time.
Current Projects
- "A Wound that Heals: Cultural and Theological Implications of Christ's Blood in Piers Plowman"
- "Bloody Wombs, Bloody Tombs: Female Sexuality and the Male Gaze." Droplets of Blood: Transculturation of Early Modern and Medieval Medicine, edited by Leslie Malland and Nichole Rougeau-Vanderford. Published by Vernon Press (forthcoming, 2025).