SunHee Kim Gertz, Ph.D.

Professor Emerita of English and Senior Research Scholar

Department of English
Clark University
Worcester, MA 01610-1477

phone: 508-793-7152
email: sgertz@clarku.edu

 

Education

B.A. Carnegie Mellon University, 1973
M.A. State University of New York-Binghamton, 1977
Ph.D. University of Chicago, 1983

Research and Teaching

Professor SunHee Kim Gertz’s research and publications treat western European literature of the late middle ages (12th to 14th centuries). In particular, she works with Old French, Middle High German, Latin, Middle English, and Italian literature, using literary, semiotic, and rhetorical theory (classical, medieval, and modern). Having worked on the structures of history, memory, semiotic theory, and contemplative practice, she has more recently added the narrative structures of power, both medieval and contemporary, to her research interests. Although retired since June 2017, Professor Gertz continues to mentor students informally, from undergraduates to alums. Her mentoring activities are still guided by two inter-related concepts, the need for real conversations and the importance of citizenship. For example, recent political misuses of power, having propelled her current areas of research and action, have engendered conversations and projects that include students on the presentation of fame both in processions and political campaigns. Beyond four monographs, 24 articles, shorter pieces, and editorial scholarship, she co-edited a collection of essays, Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education and Societal Contexts: International and Interdisciplinary Approaches, for which she recruited scholars internationally from universities, the art world, the government, professional organizations, and, of particular importance to her, three women Ph.D. students, who are citizens of the U.S., Turkey, and Germany. As part of the same trajectory, her work-in-progress includes a chapter, “Politics, Leadership, and Power,” for the medieval volume of the forthcomings 6-volume series A Cultural History of Fame.