2005_vprdoc PSpreads2.qxp - University of Akron

If you aren’t impressed by the work of Dr.
Constance Brittain Bouchard , she might just “get medieval” on
you. She feels that strongly about her field of study. For more
than a quarter of a century Bouchard, distinguished professor of
history and recently appointed department chair, has immersed
herself in the study of medieval Europe, even spending time in
archives throughout Europe, thus becoming a leading,
internationally renowned scholar of medieval history. For 15
years she has imparted that knowledge to students at The
University of Akron.
In her office, she pulls out a copy of an ancient parchment and
glows when talking about it. “You hold 12th century documents in
your hand ... just look at that,” she says enthusiastically. “Doesn’t
that make you want to be a medievalist This is something that
was written by somebody 850 years ago. You can hold it in your
hand! They want somebody to hear them and you hear them.
They’re dead; they can’t speak for themselves, you have to speak
for them. They have thousands of things that they want to say.
You’re the only one who can give them voice. You figure out
what they were trying to say and you put it in ways that people
now can understand.”
She is proud of her subject and of her department. Prior to
becoming the chair, Bouchard was the director of the graduate
program. “I had a chance to move on. I turned it down because
this is such a good department,” she says. “We can attract good
students. Our Ph.D.s since I’ve been graduate director have all
gotten honest-to-goodness real jobs in the field. So, they’re doing
better than I was doing when I was their age.”
Previous department chair, Dr. Stephen Harp, returns the good
will. ”Each year, Dr. Bouchard teaches an array of classes, from
advanced graduate to undergraduate general education courses,
bringing her unbridled enthusiasm for medieval history to UA
students at all levels,” Harp says.
Bouchard has been enamored with medieval history since she
followed her father on sabbatical to Europe during her senior
year of high school. “Just looking at the castles and the history,
I said, ‘This would be a good thing to be interested in,’”
Bouchard recalls. “I was a history major as an under-graduate.
I went to graduate school and now I can’t imagine not doing
medieval history.”
Upon graduating from the University of Chicago, where she
earned a master’s and a Ph.D. degree, Bouchard spent 14 years
bouncing through adjunct teaching jobs. By the time she joined
the University, she had already completed five books and was
promoted to full professor a mere six weeks later. Since coming
to Akron, her book output continues to increase, with an 11th
on the way.
Her current project involves tracking memory between the sixth
and ninth centuries and then illustrating how people in those
times remember and reshaped their own pasts. “The past
doesn’t stay there,” Bouchard says. “You keep re-imagining the
past to create the present day. It’s about the construction of the
useful past. It’s the sixth century re-imagining the fourth.”
The new book will add to a lengthy list of accomplishments for
Bouchard that includes being named a Fellow in the Medieval
Academy of America — a distinction shared by only 2 percent of
medievalists in North America — and being the first female
distinguished professor at The University of Akron. Bouchard is
also a Guggenheim Fellow and held a year-long membership at
the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J.
But among all the honors and accolades, there’s something else
that stands out in Bouchard’s mind when it comes to her career.
“I’m most proud of the fact that I didn’t give
up in the 14 years that I didn’t have a real
job,” she says. “I didn’t give up and go to law
school or get a job in insurance. I love
medieval history. And I’ll keep doing medieval
history ‘til I keel over.”
Bouchard
Constance Brittain
Bouchard
—medieval memories
While Dr. Constance Bouchard may hold
medieval history in as high a regard as one
might imagine, her students appear to hold
her in even higher regard.
Patricia Turning is one of her
former students. Currently a
26
doctoral student completing her dissertation
at the University of California, Davis,
Turning feels Bouchard’s impact most
strongly as she considers her own level of
preparedness and compares herself with
the students around her who did not have
the benefit of learning under Bouchard.
“I feel as though I was substantially more
prepared for my graduate experience at
Davis than all of my colleagues because of