Elizabeth Marvel

Areas of Specialization 

Education

Ph.D., Baylor University
M.A., Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary
B.A., Sweet Briar College

Academic Interests & Research Narrative

My research is focused on women in vocational ministry and their pastoral care, specifically in medieval England. I use sources such as visitation records, sermons, and episcopal commissions to examine how ecclesiastical officers cared for (or sometimes failed to care for) the women who served the church. By examining both pastoral literature and bishops’ visitation records, my aim is to understand not only what was expected of late medieval nuns, but also the ways in which church leaders supported, or inhibited, their spiritual and material well-being.  By considering bishops’ registers as a source for pastoral care, this work takes a new approach to the subject by considering the specific needs of religious women in a period with few extant sources.

Selected Activities

Awards

• Division of Christian Thought Award for Excellence in Church History, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, 2015
• Anne Gray Pannell Taylor Award in History, Sweet Briar College, 2005

Fellowships

• Graduate School Fellowship, Baylor University, 2017-2018
• Phi Beta Kappa, Sweet Briar College, 2005

Grants/Scholarships

• Doctoral Research Grant, Baylor University, 2019
• Magna Carta Dames and Barons Graduate Scholarship, 2019
• Trustee Scholarship, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, 2013
• Graham Scholarship, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, 2011-2012
• Anne Gray Pannell Taylor Award in History, Sweet Briar College, 2005
• Betty Bean Black Scholarship, Sweet Briar College, 2001-2005

Courses Taught at Baylor

HIS 1305 | World History to 1500

HIS 4328 | Medieval Britain

HIS 4334 |  European Women to 1200

HIS 4335 |  European Women since 1200

THEO 7634 | Women in the History of Christianity

Other Information

In addition to teaching at Baylor, I work as the Academic Director of Global Action, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing robust theological training to pastors and leaders serving the church around the world.  I both teach and develop curriculum for Global Action courses in theology and history. When I'm not teaching, writing, or reading, I am at the horse barn riding with my daughter or on a boat watching my son and husband fishing.