John F. Romano, Ph.D., L.M.S.
www.medievalliturgy.com
johnfromano@gmail.com
jromano@benedictine.edu
Department of History
Benedictine College
1020 North Second Street
Atchison, Kansas 66002-1499
Education
Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 9/08-7/09.
Licence in Mediaeval Studies (L.M.S.) (postdoctoral degree), 10/09.
Produced a thesis entitled Joy in Waiting? The History of Gaudete Sunday.
Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Department of History, 9/00-6/07.
Ph.D. in History, 6/07.
Produced a dissertation entitled Ritual and Society in Early Medieval Rome.
Committee: Profs. Michael McCormick, Angeliki E. Laiou, and John F. Baldovin (Weston Jesuit School of Theology).
Dissertation in PDF Format
Abstract of Dissertation
A. M. in History, 6/02.
General Examination passed in four fields on 5/21/02:
- Imperial Rome with Christopher Jones
- Late Antiquity - Early Middle Ages with Michael McCormick
- Late Middle Ages with Thomas N. Bisson
- Modern Germany with David Blackbourn
Archaeological excavations:
- Palatine Hill in Rome, Italy, under Clementina Panella, 6/06.
- Tenth-century cathedral in Magdeburg, Germany under Thomas Weber and Rainer Kuhn, 7/02-8/02.
Brown University (Providence, Rhode Island), 9/94-5/98.
A. B. magna cum laude in Medieval Studies (with Honors) and Religious Studies, 5/98.
Universität-Humboldt in Berlin, Germany, study abroad, 9/96-7/97.
Honors and Awards
- Mellon Fellowship at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (Toronto, Canada), 9/08-7/09.
- Graduate Society Dissertation Writing Fellowship, 9/06-6/07
- Fulbright IIE Grant in Graduate Study Category for study in Rome, Italy, 10/05-7/06.
- Bok Center Awards for outstanding teaching, in “Charlemagne and Medieval Civilization” (9/05) and “The World of Late Antiquity” (9/03).
- Dumbarton Oaks Exchange Program Fellow, 4/04. Delivered a paper entitled “How Manifold Are Your Works, O Lord: Diversity in Early
Medieval Liturgy.”
- Department of History Fellowship for study of ancient Greek at Columbia University, 7/03-8/03.
- Graduate Society Summer Fellowship for study of Latin, 6/01-8/01.
- Brown University Allison Goddard Elliott Prize (for composition on a medieval topic), 5/98.
- Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society, 5/98.
Publications
- Liturgy and Society in Early Medieval Rome (book under contract with Ashgate).
- “Priesthood and the Eucharist,” in Priesthood and Holy Orders in the Middle Ages, ed. Greg Peters (Brill) (under preparation).
- “The Ordo missae of the Roman Rite: Historical Background,” with co-author Joanne Pierce in A Commentary on the Order of Mass of the
Roman Missal, ed. Edward Foley (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2011), pp. 3-33.
- “Joy in Waiting? The History of Gaudete Sunday.” Mediaeval Studies 72 (2010): 75-124. Ordering information.
- “The Ceremonies of the Roman Pontiff: Rereading Benedict’s Twelfth-Century Liturgical Script.” Viator 41 (2010): 133-49. Abstract and
ordering information.
- “Announcing the Station in Early-Medieval Rome.” Archiv für Liturgiewissenschaft 51 (2009): 345-51. Information on note.
- "The Catholic Liturgy." Letter to the Editor in The New York Times published on December 6, 2009. Link to letter.
- “Ite potus est: Liturgical Parody and Views of Late-medieval Worship.” Sacris erudiri 48 (2009): 275-309. Link to abstract and ordering
information.
- “Liturgy and Pilgrimage,” “Rome,” and “Rome Sites: St. John Lateran.” Entries in Encyclopedia of Medieval Pilgrimage, ed. Larissa Taylor
(Leiden: Brill, 2009).
- “The Fates of Liturgies: Towards a History of the First Roman Ordo.” Antiphon 11 (2007): 43-77.
- “Julian of Vézelay, a Twelfth-Century Critic of his Monastery’s Worldly Success.” Medieval Sermon Studies 50 (2006): 51-69. Abstract and
ordering information.
- Editor of website medievalliturgy.com: Resources for the Study of the Public Worship of the Latin West in the Middle Ages (ca. 500 – ca.
1500).
Conferences and Lectures
- Medieval Academy of America in St. Louis, Missouri. “‘The Rite is the Same’: Liturgical Tolerance and the Late-Medieval Roman Clergy,”
3/22-24/12.
- Faculty colloquium at Benedictine College. “Liturgy and Society in Early Medieval Rome,” 10/26/11.
- American Historical Association in Boston, Massachusetts. “Ordering a Disordered World: Ritual and Society in Early Medieval Rome,”
poster session on 1/6/11.
- International Congress of Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo, Michigan. “Prayer: A Reflection of Historical Realities?” 5/13/10. Organizer of
this session, entitled “Reading the Sources of Medieval Liturgy.”
- Keynote speaker at The Advent Project, Ten Years on: Early Medieval Ritual and Chant in Rome in Dublin, Ireland. “Gaudete Sunday: A
Forgotten Aspect of the Advent Project,” 2/19/10.
- Interdisciplinary Research Seminar at Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in Toronto. “Joy in Waiting? The History of Gaudete Sunday”
(parts 1 and 2), 11/6/08 and 2/5/09.
- International Medieval Conference in Leeds, England. “The Mass of the Drunkards: Liturgy and the Natural Order,” 7/07/08.
- Colorado College History Department Faculty Seminar. “Unity through Liturgy,” 10/23/07.
- International Medieval Conference in Leeds, England. “Gifts and Community in the Roman Liturgy of the Middle Ages,” 7/12/07.
- International Congress of Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo, Michigan. “The Fates of Liturgies: Towards a History of the First Roman Ordo,”
5/10/07.
- International Medieval Conference in Leeds, England. “Unity through Gesture: Liturgy in Early Medieval Rome,” 7/11/06.
- International Congress of Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo, Michigan. “Constructing the Christian Life: Benedict’s Rule and the First Roman
Ordo,” 5/7/05.
- Medieval Academy of America in Seattle, Washington and German Historical Institute in Washington, D.C., “How to Read a Martyrology:
Ado of Vienne’s Venerabile et perantiquum martyrologium,” 4/2/04 and 10/24/03.
- Vagantes Interdisciplinary Conference at the University of Toronto, Canada, “Disturbing the Peace of the Sacred Monastery: The Battle for
Twelfth-Century Vézelay,” 3/21/03.
Teaching Experience at the College Level
Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Benedictine College, 8/10-present, teaching:
Syllabi for selected courses can be found by clicking on the names of the courses.
Visiting Assistant Professor in History Department at Moravian College, 9/09-5/10, teaching:
Syllabi can be found by clicking on the names of the courses.
Visiting Assistant Professor in History Department at Colorado College, 9/07-5/08, teaching:
Syllabi can be found by clicking on the names of the courses or browsing at the History Department at Colorado College under “Sites & Syllabi.”
Teaching Fellow at Harvard University, 9/02-5/05, teaching:
- Charlemagne and Medieval Civilization with Michael McCormick, 1/05-5/05.
- New York Times and the World, 1941 with Michael McCormick, 9/04-1/05
- Western Societies, Politics, and Cultures from Antiquity to 1650 (Western history survey) with Christopher Jones, Angeliki Laiou, and Steven
Ozment, 9/04-1/05.
- The Hero of Irish Myth and Saga with Tomás Ó Cathasaigh, 1/04-5/04.
- The Crusades with Angeliki Laiou, 9/03-1/04 (head teaching fellow) and 9/02-1/03.
- Rome of Augustus with Richard J. Tarrant, 9/03-1/04 and 1/03-5/03.
- The World of Late Antiquity with Michael McCormick, 1/03-5/03.
- The Christian Revolution with Christopher Jones, 9/02-1/03.
College Service
- Faculty adviser to the History Club at Benedictine College, 8/10-present.
- Faculty adviser to Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society at Benedictine College, 8/10-present.
- Faculty adviser to “Discovery Day” projects (involving making, illuminating, and binding parchment; and making and illuminating papyrus) at
Benedictine College, 10/10-present.
- Undergraduate student adviser at Benedictine College, 8/11-present.
- Presenter for “Great Books” program, 11/11/10.
Other Teaching Experience
- Teacher of Language Arts (Fifth and sixth graders) at Rabbi Harry Halpern Day School (Brooklyn, NY), 9/99-6/00.
- Teacher of English and French at Xaverian High School and The Genesis Program (Middle school for academically gifted children)
(Brooklyn, NY), 9/98-6/99.
- Teacher of French in Summer School at Xaverian High School (Brooklyn, NY), 6/98-8/98.
- Teaching Assistant in German Course at Brown University (Providence, RI), 1/98-5/98.
- Teachers' Assistant at J.H.S. 47: School for the Deaf (Manhattan, NY), 2/94-6/94.
Other Work Experience
- Editorial assistance for Joachim Henning, ed., Post-Roman Towns, Trade and Settlement in Europe and Byzantium (Berlin: Walter de
Gruyter, 2006).
- Research Assistant for Profs. Michael McCormick (9/03-12/03) and Thomas Head (1/00-5/00).
- Track Coach at Xaverian High School (Brooklyn, NY), 9/98-6/99.
- Intern at Fuji Capital Markets at the World Trade Center (NY), 1/96, 6/96-9/96, 12/97-1/98.
- Editorial and entertainment writer for the Brown Daily Herald, 9/95-5/98.
- Administrative Assistant for Department of Neurology at New York Hospital - Cornell Medical Center (Manhattan, NY), 6/94-9/94, 6/95-9/95.
- Participant in Visions (Junior Peace Corps), program in the Dominican Republic, 7/92-8/92.
Professional Organizations
- Medieval Academy of America
- American Historical Association
Languages
- Fluency in reading and speaking in German and Italian.
- Excellent reading knowledge of and proficiency in speaking Spanish and French.
- Excellent reading knowledge of Latin, Ancient Greek, Portuguese, and Biblical Hebrew.