Claire McGann

Email: c.mcgann1@lancaster.ac.uk

Twitter: @claire2706

Previous Education

University of Bristol: English (BA)
University of Oxford: English 1550-1700 (MSt)
UCL: Digital Humanities (PGDip).

Thesis Title

Women’s religious prophecies in print: 1640-1660

Supervisors

Professor Hilary Hinds & Dr. Jo Carruthers (Lancaster University)

Research Summary

My thesis will examine the genre of prophecy as a medium for women in the mid-seventeenth century. I am specifically interested in prophecy as print publication: exploring the production and form of these material texts, and the relationship established with a reading audience (as opposed to / in addition to a listening one). Figures I hope to consider in my study include, Mary Cary, Eleanor Davies, Sarah Wight (and Henry Jessey), and Anna Trapnel.

Research Interests

I am interested in early modern women’s writing, and, in particular, female engagement with print culture during this era. Another major aspect of my research is religion, and an exploration of the genres in which religious thought is expressed (e.g. sermons, advice books, and—most particularly for my current work— prophecies).

Before rejoining academia, I worked in digital publishing. I enjoyed working on archive digitisation projects as an editor at Adam Matthew, and at Gale (Cengage). As a result, issues surrounding the theory and practice of document digitisation, metadata creation, and digital curation also fascinate me.

Conference Papers

‘Recording women’s responses to the Reformation: Henry Jessey as “relator” of Sarah Wight’s religious prophecy in The Exceeding Riches of Grace (1647)’, Women’s Responses to the Reformation Workshop, University of Oxford, June 2016.