Introducing Rhinehart Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Anna Field

Dr. Anna Field is the 2019–2020 Rhinehart Postdoctoral Fellow in British History. She will spend the academic year at Appalachian State University researching and writing about the materials in the Rhinehart Collection in Special Collections. She will be studying intimacy and crime in 17th and 18th century England, specifically the role of male and female friendship in manslaughter and witchcraft cases, murders committed by extended relatives or adults against their parents and siblings, and communal emotional reactions to violence against children and servants in cases of rape, infanticide, or concealment.

In her studies of public discourses on crime, gender, and urban life in early modern England and Wales, she will be focusing on three key themes — family, friendship, and community.

Dr. Field is from Malvern in Worcestershire, England. She attended school in Wales from 2010 to 2018. She received her undergraduate, masters, and Ph.D. degrees from Cardiff University. Before she came to Appalachian State University she taught as a Lecturer in early modern British and European history at King’s College London from 2018 to 2019.

The specific materials from the Rhinehart collection that she will be using in her research are the English translation of Michel de Montaigne’s Essais, as well as Henry Peacham’s The Compleat Gentleman. These books contain discussions on ideal masculine behavior, such as how best to approach friendship and friendly relations, that are essential for her book chapters relating to men’s relationships.

You can reach Anna Field by email fieldal@appstate.edu or stop by her office in Belk Library and Information Commons, Room 434.