Joan Kelly

Background

Kelly was born in Brooklyn in 1928 to George V. and Ruth (Jacobsen) Kelly.

Education

She received a Bachelor from Street John's University in 1953 and then went on to earn a Doctor of Philosophy in history from Columbia University in 1963, where she was supervised by Garret Mattingley.

Career

Among her best known works is the article " which was published in 1977. The article challenged the contemporary historiography of the Renaissance, arguing that women"s power and agency declined during the early modern period. While still a graduate student at Columbia, Kelly was employed as a lecturer for City College from 1956 onwards.

Once she received her doctorate in 1963, she was promoted to assistant professor, and again promoted to associate professor in 1972.

Kelly was appointed a full professor in 1972. Her growing political involvement in the 1960s, particularly with Marxist theory and the civil rights movement, led to Kelly becoming more interested in women"s history.

Together with Gerda Lerner, Kelly founded the first master"s program in women"s history at Sarah Lawrence College. She was also the chair of the American Historical Association"s Committee on Women Historians, 1975-1977.

In the highly influential essay “”, Kelly explored women"s roles in Renaissance society.

She challenged traditional periodization, saying that women"s historical experience was different to that of men"s, and that while men"s options may have expanded during the Renaissance period that the opposite was true for women. Drawing on contemporary literature, Kelly argued that concepts of courtly love led to an increased emphasis on women"s passivity and virginity. Kelly"s argument broke with traditional historiography and encouraged other historians of women and gender to reassess historical periodization through the lens of women"s experiences.

The Joan Kelly Memorial Prize, founded in 1984, is awarded annually by the American Historical Association "for the book in women's history and/or feminist theory that best reflects the high intellectual and scholarly ideals exemplified by the life and work of Joan Kelly.".

Achievements

• She received a number of awards, including a Woodrow Wilson fellowship, 1953-1954 and a junior fellowship from the National Foundation for the Arts and Humanities, 1967-1968.

Works

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  • Women, History, and Theory: The Essays of Joan Kelly (Women in Culture and Society)

    ( These posthumous essays by Joan Kelly, a founder of wom...)

  • Women, History, and Theory: The Essays of Joan Kelly (Women in Culture and Society) by Joan Kelly (1986-04-15)

    (Brand New. In Stock. Will be shipped from US. Excellent C...)

  • Women, History & Theory
  • (Women, History and Theory: Essays of Joan Kelly) Author: Joan Kelly published on (April, 1986)