HIS 310 • HIS 385 • HIS 438 / WMS 388 • HIS 444 / 644 • HIS 445 / 645 and WMS 382 • HIS 546 • HIS 594 • Links

Debra A. Meyers is a graduate of Nazareth College (B.A., 1991), and the University of Rochester (Ph.D., 1997).

Professor Meyers is a specialist in early American history and her research interests encompass early modern religion, social, cultural, women's, and family history. Her book, Common Whores, Vertuous Women, and Loveing Wives (Indiana University Press, 2003) is a revisionist approach to the study of women and religion in early Maryland that has large implications for our understanding of the social and cultural importance of religion in early America. By closely examining thousands of wills and other personal documents, in addition to early Maryland’s material culture, this transatlantic study depicts women’s place in society and the ways in which religious values and social arrangements shaped their lives. Additionally, she has coedited Women and Religion in Old and New Worlds (Routledge, 2001) and Mujeres y Religion en el Viejo y el Nuevo Mundo, en la Edad Moderna (Narcea, 2002) which include her essay, "Gender and Religion in England’s Catholic Province." Professor Meyers has also recently published articles entitled "Private Lives" and "The Civil Lives of White Women in Seventeenth-Century Maryland," in the Maryland Historical Magazine and "Frank Lloyd Wright: The Architect as Preacher," in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies as well as entries in The Family in America (ABC CLIO Press, 2002), The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery (ABC CLIO Press, 1997), the American National Biography , (Oxford University Press, 1997) and The Chronology of Women’s History (Gale Research, 1996).

Currently, she is working on an anthology entitled Colonial Chesapeake: New Perspectives that examines topics in the Chesapeake region from multiple methodological perspectives, including historical, archaeological, and literary. It seeks to represent the array of experiences in the region, encompassing the race, class, ethnic, and gender diversity that characterized life in early Maryland and Virginia. Professor Meyers also gave papers at Cambridge University, London University, and the Institute for Historical Research in England (May 2000). More recently she presented papers on women and religion in Middelburg at the Netherlands American Studies Association Conference (June 2001) and at the Berkshire Women’s History Conference (June 2002).

Professor Meyers may be reached at 859-572-1327 or by e-mail at meyersde@nku.edu.