David Roland Aers (born 3 October 1946) is a James B. Duke Professor of English, historical

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. He has published widely on

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, sacramental culture and ideology in

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

England. After attending

Tonbridge School Tonbridge School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for boys aged 13–18) in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde (sometimes spelt Judd). It is a member of the Eton Group and has clo ...

he went up to

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

, where he played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

as a left-arm spin bowler for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

from 1966 to 1968. He earned his doctorate at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

. He is a former editor of the '' Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies''. His most influential work traces the influence of the

Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical peri ...

in late medieval and early modern

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

and culture to work out questions of politics, gender, and social

ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

. Aers taught at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

before going to Duke in the mid-1990s. In 1998 he was awarded the Trinity College Distinguished Teaching Award. In an interview that shortly followed the award, he is quoted as saying, "My work moves between literature, theology, politics and history. The academic parceling up of these subjects can become an impediment to studying what I want to study, so that's the motive for interdisciplinarity. When I think about ethics, I can't help but think about politics. When I think about my Christianity, I'm also thinking about social justice. The questions I'm asking go directly across what have grown up as disciplinary boundaries within the modern academy."

Selected publications

* ''Salvation and Sin: Augustine, Langland, and Fourteenth-Century Theology'' (

University of Notre Dame Press The University of Notre Dame Press is a university press that is part of the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. The press was founded in 1949, and claims to be the largest Catholic university press in the world. The ...

, 2009) * ''Sanctifying Signs: Making Christian Tradition in Late Medieval England'' (Notre Dame University Press, 2004) * "New Historicism and the Eucharist", ''Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies'' 33 (2): 241-259, 2003 * "Chaucer's Tale of Melibee: Whose Virtues?" in ''Medieval Literature and Historical Inquiry: Essays in Honor of Derek Pearsall'', Ed. David Aers (Brewer, 2000) * ''Faith, Ethics and Church: Writing in England, 1360-1490'' (Brewer, 2000) * ''Powers of the Holy: Religion, Politics, and Gender in Late Medieval English Culture'', David Aers and Lynn Staley (

Penn State University Press The Penn State University Press, also known as The Pennsylvania State University Press, is a non-profit publisher of scholarly books and journals. Established in 1956, it is the independent publishing branch of the Pennsylvania State University ...

, 1996) * ''Community, Gender and Individual Identity in English Writing: 1360-1430'' (

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, 1988) * ''Chaucer'' (Harvester, 1986) * ''Chaucer, Langland, and the Creative Imagination'' (

Routledge & Kegan Paul Routledge ( ) is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, a ...

, 1980) * ''Piers Plowman and Christian Allegory'' (

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...

, 1975)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aers, David 1946 births Living people People educated at Tonbridge School Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of York Cambridge University cricketers English cricketers Cricketers from Yorkshire British expatriate academics in the United States British medievalists Duke University faculty Academics of the University of East Anglia British Christian theologians British literary theorists 20th-century English sportsmen