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Jun.-Prof. Dr. Kerstin Majewski

Before I was appointed junior professor of English Medieval Studies at Ruhr-University Bochum in 2023, I had obtained a PhD from Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich in 2021. My doctoral thesis was on the 8th-century Ruthwell Cross (published 2022, De Gruyter), for which I specialised in Old English and runology. I am not only interested in historical runes but also in modern adaptations of the runic script and its contexts (Medievalisms).

My research and teaching encompass Old and Middle English language, literature, and culture in general.

Room: GB / 6 / 37
E-mail: Kerstin.majewski@rub.de
Tel.: +49 234 - 32 - 28518
Office Hours: Tuesday, 16:30–17:30h


© RUB, Marquard

Research interests
  • Old and Middle English literature
  • history of the English language
  • Old English runes, runology, and modern adaptations of the runic script
  • Medieval Animal Studies
Prizes
  • 2024 winner of the Beatrice White Prize for The Ruthwell Cross and its Texts: A New Reconstruction and an Edition of The Ruthwell Crucifixion Poem (De Gruyter, 2022)
Current activities and memberships
Academic CV
  • 2021–2023  Post-Doc, Assistant to the chair of Prof. Dr. Ursula Lenker, LMU Munich
  • 2016–2021  PhD in English Linguistics and Medieval English Literature as well as Spanish Philology, LMU Munich
  • 2015–2016  Master of Arts in Literary Translation (Spanish/German), LMU Munich
  • 2007–2015  First State Exam (Lehramt an Gymnasien) for the subjects English and Spanish, LMU Munich
  • 2007–2015  Magister Artium in English Linguistics and Medieval English Literature as well as Spanish Philology, LMU Munich
  • 2012‒2013  Assistant Teacher at the City of London School, London, UK
  • 2010‒2011  ERASMUS, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
Conference organisation
Conference contributions
  • 29.06.-02.07.2026: “Gower and the Blue Humanities: The Mediterranean Sea in the ‘Tale of Apollonius of Tyre’”
    VI International Congress of the John Gower Society 2026: “Gower Sea to Sea: Atlantic to Mediterranean”, University of Alicante, Spain
  • 03.-05.12.2025: “Runes as Ideograms? A Historical-Critical Approach to Modern Magic-Esotericist Receptions of Runes”
    Interdisciplinary Workshop “The Modern Reception of Runes: 19th-21st Century”, co-organised by Verena Höfig (LMU Munich) & Kerstin Majewski (RUB)
  • 19.-21.11.2025: “Tierisch epochal? Perspektiven der anglistisch-mediävistischen Animal Studies”
    Interidsciplinary conference “Epochal entgrenzt?! Geschichtswissenschaftliches Forschen und Lehren und die Zäsur um 1500”, Fraueninsel Chiemsee / LMU (Projekt “Beyond Borders – Perspektiven für eine epochenübergreifende Lehre in der Geschichtswissenschaft”)
  • 06.-07.11.2025: “Who’s Afraid of the Fuþorc? The Challenge the Old English Runes Pose to Present-Day Conceptions of Nordic Paganism”
    International Conference of the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” and the Institute for Scandinavian Studies: “Imagining Nordic Paganism”, University of Münster
  • 14.-15.10.2025: “Fantastische Schriften: Runen und die Funktionen von Schriftdarstellung in Fantasy-Filmen”
    Workshop zum Themenheft 1/2026 von Das Mittelalter: “Mittelalterentwürfe in moderner Fantasy”, Universität Siegen
  • 02.-04.07.2025: “What even is runology? An introduction”, with Lilla Kopár
    Co-organisation of two sessions on Old English runes: “2c: Runes 1: Past, present, and future of runology” and “3c: Runes 2: Runic Communities”
    22nd ISSEME Conference, HHU Düsseldorf
  • 06.-08.02.2025: “Runes: There and back again”
    Interdisciplinary workshop & lecture series “Really Dead Languages and their Epigraphy II”, The Catholic University of America, USA
  • 23.–25.10.2024: Keynote “Helden, Krieger, Könige: Wie die Angelsachsen Niederlagen erzählen”
    Studierendentagung “Narrating Truth: Vermittlung und Aushandlung von Wahrheit in Medien der Vormoderne”, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
  • 22.-23.08.2024: “Runic Revivals: Why We Should Care about Rune Magic and Rune Yoga”
    Symposium: “The Middle Ages in the 20th and 21st Centuries: Relevance, Reimagination, Inspiration”; University of Stavanger, Norway
  • 26.–28.06.2024: “Sensing the Bewcastle Cross” (Carving Collective Practice), together with Lilla Kopár and Beth Ooi
    IONA (Islands of the North Atlantic) Conference 2024, King’s College London, UK
  • 07.–10.07.2023: “Word-Formation in the Confessio Amantis”
    V International Congress of the John Gower Society 2023: “Gower in Contexts: His Word, His Books, His Heritage”, University of St. Andrews, Scotland, UK
  • 09.09.2022: “Translating Old English Elegies: Modern Anglo-Saxonist Versions of The Wanderer and The Seafarer”
    Symposium: “Old Sources – New Creations: Modern Takes on Past Language Stages”, University of Stavanger, Norway
  • 01.–05.08.2022: “Geritzt, gemeißelt und gestempelt – Runeninschriften vom 2. bis ins 16. Jahrhundert”
    Interdisziplinäre Sommerakademie des Zentrums für Mittelalter- und Renaissancestudien 2022, LMU Munich, Germany
  • 14.–19.06.2022: “The Ruthwell Crucifixion Poem and its Formulae within the Corpus of Old English Runic Metrical Inscriptions”
    Ninth International Symposium on Runes and Runic Inscriptions (ISRRI 9), Akademie Sankelmark, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
  • 14.05.2022: “Formulas in Old English Epigraphic Texts: A Case Study”
    57th International Congress on Medieval Studies (online), Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, USA
  • 24.–26.09.2021: “Vom Fuþorc zu Cirth: Runische Schriftsysteme im Hobbit und Herr der Ringe”
    Oberlecher Tolkien-Tage, Austria
  • 20.–24.09.2021: “Tier-Mensch-Beziehungen in den Rätseln des Exeter Book”
    Interdisziplinäre Sommerakademie des Zentrums für Mittelalter- und Renaissance-studien 2021 (online), LMU Munich, Germany
  • 15.–19.09.2021: “The Runic Crucifixion Poem on the Ruthwell Cross”
    First International Workshop on Medieval Epigraphy, Roda de Isábena, Spain
  • 13.05.2021: “On the Meaning of strēlum in the Runic Crucifixion Poem on the Ruthwell Cross”
    30th International Conference on British and American Studies (B.A.S.; online), University of Timișoara, Rumania
  • 12.05.2021: “Northumbria, ca. 750: Looking Westwards at The Ruthwell Crucifixion Poem”
    56th International Congress on Medieval Studies (online), Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, USA
  • 01.07.2019: “Materiality and Runes: The Importance of Considering Material Aspects for the Reconstruction of The Ruthwell Crucifixion Poem”
    International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, UK
  • 17.03.2017: “The Ruthwell Cross: Discussing the Gaps in the Runic Text”
    19. Studientag zum englischen Mittelalter, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
Guest lectures
  • 11.06.2026: “Runic Medievalisms: From Viking Aesthetics to Guido von List”, with Verena Höfig (LMU Munich)
    Interdisciplinary Seminar on Medievalism, Institute of Historical Research (University of London's School of Advanced Study)
  • 11.06.2025: “Englische Runen”
    Vorlesung “Einführung in die Runenkunde”, Prof. Dr. Verena Höfig, LMU München, Institut für Nordische Philologie
  • 23.01.2025: “Runic Writing in Early Medieval England: An Introduction to Old English Runes and Runology”
    Vorlesung “History of the English Language”, Dr. Thomas Hall, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Englisches Seminar
  • 09.10.2024: “The Ruthwell Cross’s Runic Poem as an Example of Early English”
    English Department, University of Zurich, Switzerland
  • 02.11.2021: “An Introduction to The Ruthwell Crucifixion Poem” (online)
    Colloquium on Early English Language, Literature, and Inscription, Center for Medieval & Byzantine Studies, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., USA
  • 17.06.2021: “The Ruthwell Crucifixion Poem: ein linguistisches und literarisches Denkmal” (online)
    Institut für Nordische Philologie, LMU Munich, Germany
  • 18.11.2017: “The RuneS Project & The Reconstruction of the Runes on the Ruthwell Cross”
    Digital Humanities and the Study of the Past, Medieval Social Conflicts & Contrasts Guest Lecture Series 4, Charles-University Prague, Czech Republic