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Kathryn Rudy
Professor at University of St Andrews
Kathryn Margaret Rudy (born February 25, 1969) is a manuscript historian and professor in the School of Art History at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.16 She is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.13 In 2019, she received the Sir Walter Scott Medal.3
Rudy is known for her forensic approach to medieval books, and has pioneered the use of the densitometer to measure the grime that original readers left in their books.13 Her research focuses on the medieval reception of manuscripts, how they were handled, and how book-making skills were lost with the advent of the printing industry.1 She is an advocate for digital-born humanities scholarship and open access publishing.1
Rudy's education and career include:
- Education Rudy earned a B.A. in English and History of Art from Cornell University in 1992.15 She received a Ph.D. in art history from Columbia University in 2001 and a licentiate in mediaeval studies from St. Michael’s College, Toronto in 2002.13 She also attended Rare Book School at the University of Virginia from 1995 to 2001.1
- Career Prior to joining the School of Art History at the University of St Andrews in January 2011, Rudy held research, teaching, and curatorial positions in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, The Netherlands, Poland, and Belgium.23 Before St. Andrews, she was curator of illuminated manuscripts at the National Library of The Netherlands (The Hague) from 2006 to 2009.14 She was also a visiting research fellow at the Trinity Long Room Hub at Trinity College Dublin (August 2010 - December 2010) and Caroline Villers Associate Fellow at the Courtauld Institute of Art.12 She was named professor in August 2017 and Bishop Wardlaw Professor in 2019.1
Rudy has held fellowships from the British Academy, the Bodleian Library, Oxford, the Getty Research Institute, the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art (2017–18), and the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in Amsterdam (2018–19).1 From 2019–2022, she held a Leverhulme Major Research Grant to explore what the pollen and stains found in medieval manuscripts can reveal about their readers and how they were used.1
Highlights
Come join me in Edinburgh for a celebration of the fuzzy. If you wear clean socks, you can take a spin on the world’s first 100% cashmere Twister board. And you can rake Japanese gardens made of mulberry silk and construct the face of an enormous Wooly Willy.
Call for papers: Moving Pictures, Living Objects ICMA(International Center for Medieval Art)-sponsored session at CAA (College Art Association) New York City, 12-15 February 2025 Travel expenses will be reimbursed Organisers: · Prof. Heather Pulliam, University of Edinburgh · Prof. Kathryn Rudy, University of St. Andrews Many premodern objects require human interaction to animate them and reveal their contents: turning the pages of manuscripts, moving the hinged limbs of figurative sculpture, unrolling scrolls, or opening screens. Others involve the dynamic effects of natural light. Like films or music, many medieval works invite sequential viewing that incorporates repetition and revelation. In art historical research, images do not merely illustrate arguments, they evidence them as much as written text does. Art historians abandoned their slide projectors long ago and have recently embraced e-publishing, but static imagery remains the dominant format for illustrating conference talks and academic publications. However, static images fail to capture aspects of performance essential to the function and meaning of many medieval objects. This session proposes to experiment with a shift in format, one that uses videos or the many tools now available for the analysis of artworks: rotational 3D scans, IIIF, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and 3D reconstructions. The session will be the first on premodern art to be exclusively illustrated with moving pictures, testing the boundaries of performativity and reception and questioning how we analyse, discuss, illustrate, and display artworks. This conversation is timely, as we move away from art histories that prioritised European fine art—traditionally static and displayed in galleries—to a more inclusive and diverse definition of art. We are planning a special-issue journal on this theme, illustrated by moving images. The 90-minute session will consist of an introduction by the session organizers; 5 speakers each presenting a 5-minute video and a 7-minute analysis/discussion; and a Q&A. To apply to be one of the speakers, please send a 250-word abstract to Heather Pulliam [email protected] and Kathryn Rudy [email protected] with ‘ICMA-CAA Abstract’ in the subject line. Deadline: 22 April at 17:00 GMT. In your abstract, be sure to tell us why the academic argument you are making can only be illustrated by moving images. The ICMA through the Kress Foundation is able to offer reimbursements for domestic travel to New York for up to $600; overseas travel for up to $1200. For the full description of qualified travel expenses, please check the full Kress Travel Grant site: https://lnkd.in/eh5YGPAD.
