A few words of introduction…

I’m an assistant professor in the Department of English and American Studies at Palacky University in the beautiful city of Olomouc, in the Czech Republic. I’m happily occupying a little corner of the American Literature section of our department, where I teach courses on American and British history, comic book studies, and late 19th or early 20th century American literature. 

You can check out what projects I’m working on, publications, and image/text explorations on (Th)inking . 

Medieval history

My primary interest is the establishment and function of female monastic communities in the 12th and 13th centuries, especially around Central Europe. However, I am a history omnivore, and I’ll happily cut my teeth on a range of related topics, including the politics of sainthood or storytelling, like fables. One long-term side project is the creation of medieval Latin comics at Picta Manent. 

Comics studies

As much as I love reading comics, I love translating my thoughts into sequential art, and it is my great pleasure to be able to feature comics and graphic novels as a main part of my research. Incidently, there’s no shortage of medievalisms to investigate in popular contemporary comics, so I’m occupied with female religious figures in medievalist comics and graphic novels.

Professional summary

With a background in both Medieval Studies and Literature, E. Allyn Woock is an assistant professor at Palacky University, in Olomouc, Czech Republic in the American literature section of the Department of British and American Studies. Her research is primarily concerned with medieval monasticism, as well as medievalism in modern day comic books. She is currently the vice-chairwoman of the senate of the Faculty of Arts and a member of the faculty Research Ethics Committee.

Education

2016-2020 Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic– PhD, English and American Studies (Dissertation: Seeing the Middle Ages Through Transnational Lenses in American Comics and Graphic Novels)

2013-2021, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic– PhD, History (Medieval), ABD

2013, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic – Mgr., History (Medieval), Classical Philology (Latin), (Thesis: Reactions to the Establishment of Mendicant Orders in Central Europe During the 13th Century)

2008, Smith College, Northampton MA, USA – BA, Medieval Studies (Religion and Art History)

2003, Denver School of the Arts, Denver CO, USA – Honors in Visual Arts, Music

Employment

2019–present     Assistant Professor, Department of English and American Studies

Teaching bachelor level courses on British and American history, Modern American Society, and American literature 1880-1945. Research topics include: comics and graphic novels, medievalism, religion, medieval history.

 

2016–present     Proofreading, copyediting, translating (academic texts in the humanities)

Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic

Working with specialist texts in the fields of history, literature, Classical languages and literature.

 

2016–2019          English as a Second Language Instructor

Center for Language Education, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic

 

2015      Course design and instruction: historical comic books

Erasmus Mundus Masters of Arts, IP 2015, Olomouc, Czech Republic

Designer and co-instructor of the Comics Workshop for the “Uses and Abuses of the Past” themed summer intensive course for Masters level students.

 

2010–2013          Project assistant

Lakota Language Consortium, Bloomington, IL, USA

Layout designer and co-author of pedagogical material for the Lakhotiya Woglaka Po! series student textbooks and teacher guides. Data entry and management for the New Lakota Dictionary.

 

2008–2019          Freelance proofreader

Editing and proofreading texts including: websites, academic writing, advertisement copy, journalistic writing, through private clients.

 

Publication Activity

Woock, E.A. “Nuns in Action: A Graphic Investigation into a Graphic Issue.” The Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship, Vol. 10, No.1, 2020, p.10.

Woock, E.A. “Permission for Brutality.” antae, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2020, 56–71.

Elbel, M. Beyond the Wall: Franciscan Friary in Early Modern Olomouc. Černínová E., Woock E.A. (Eds.), 2019.

Woock, E.A. “Antimendicancy in Central Europe and bishop Robert of Olomouc in Historiography.” Mediaevalia Historica Bohemica, Vol. 18, No. 7, 2015, 69–93.

Woock, E.A. “Nuns Having Fun: Popular Graphic Representations of a Historical Issue.” Where Is History Today? New Ways of Representing the Past. Arbeit M., Christie I. (Eds.), 2015, 159–170.

Conference Papers

What Hides Behind Authenticity in Medievalist Comics. International Graphic Novel and Comics Conference. 2022.

Fabricated Historicity in Graphic Appropriations of Edgar Allan Poe’s Classics. 53rd Northeast Modern Language Association Convention. 2022.

Medievalist Built Spaces in Sequential Art. Medievalism Today: 36th Annual Conference on Medievalism. 2021.

Race War and Weapons of Mass Destruction: How Monstress Imagines a Post-apocalyptic Dark Ages. Conference of the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association. 2021.

The Graphic ‘I’ in Academic Comics. ComFor Annual Conference 2021, Coherence in Comics. 2021.

The Visual Language and Narrative Grammar of ‘Miracle’ Superpowers in Comics. In/Outside the Frame Conference. 2020.

Nuns, Witches, Wenches and the Medievalist World. Joint International Conference of Graphic Novels, Comics and Bande Dessineés. 2019. 

Propaganda repeats itself: Medievalism in Alt-right comics. European Association of Popular Culture Annual EUPOP Conference. 2019. 

History As The Cloak Of Subversion – A Transnational, Transgenerational Conversation. International Graphic Novel and Comics Conference. 2018. 

Medievalism Made Me Do It: The Feedback Loop of Brutality in Comics. European Association of Popular Culture Annual EUPOP Conference. 2018. 

Temporal and Geographic Distance: Medievalism in American Comics and Graphic Novels. International Colloquium of American Studies. 2017. 

The Transmission of Medievalism in American and Czech Underground Comics. Annual Conference on American Literature. 2017. 

Conference, Workshop and Grant Organization

Erasmus+ KA2-BIP, History in Comics, grant project and accompanying conference 2021-2023.

Peprník M., Woock E.A. Biennial Conference of the Czech and Slovak Assciation for American Studies. 2021. 

Peprník M., Woock E.A. Biennial Conference of the Czech and Slovak Association for American Studies, 2019.

Sio J.U., Woock E.A., Livingstone D. The English Drama Group, 2019

Other Publications

Öbrink, M. Speak Up!, Woock, E.A. (Ill.), 2018.

Urbanec, J. Z pírka bázní: Sureální st(r)av(a), Woock, E.A. (Ill.), 2016.