Anne E. Lester, (Ph.D. Princeton University, 2003; Assistant Professor) Anne Lester studies the social and religious history of Europe during the High Middle Ages (1000-1400). She became interested in medieval history while working on an archeological excavation of a medieval French abbey as an undergraduate. She completed her A.B. at Brown University (1996) during which time she also studied at Oxford University. She is currently completing a book that examines the social and religious roles of Cistercian convents in the context of new religious movements in thirteenth-century northern France. Lester teaches courses on the medieval church, legal history, colonization and the crusades, and women in the pre-modern world. Her research interests also include the history of foundling homes and hospitals, the institutionalization of charity as well as the development and definition of urban centers during the Middle Ages. During the 2004/5 academic year Professor Lester was a Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Medieval Institute at University of Notre Dame.
I have no quarrel with the student of history who brings to his work a touchingly childish, innocent faith in the power of our minds and our methods to order reality; but first and foremost he must respect the incomprehensible truth, reality and uniqueness of events. Studying history, my friend, is no joke and no irresponsible game. To study history one must know in advance that one is attempting something fundamentally impossible, yet necessary and highly important. To study history means submitting to chaos and nevertheless retaining faith in order and meaning. It is a very serious task, young man, and possibly a tragic one. --Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game