Rate My Professor Maura Lafferty

Maura Lafferty served as Associate Professor and Associate Head of the Department of Classics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, until her retirement in summer 2022. A specialist in Medieval Latin Language and Literature and Latin Paleography, she enriched the academic community through her dedicated teaching, research, and service. Her scholarly output appeared in esteemed journals such as the Journal of Medieval Latin, Sacris erudiri, and Speculum, reflecting her deep engagement with medieval texts and philology.

Lafferty's publications demonstrate her expertise in hagiography, classical reception, and manuscript studies. Notable articles include “Non scholastico stilo: Education and Irish Identity in the Dublin Collection of Irish Saints’ Lives” (2008), “Educating a Virgin: A Proposed Emendation of Conchubranus, Vita S. Monennae 1.3” (2005), “Voces Mediolatinae” (2005), “Translating Faith from Greek to Latin: Romanitas and Christianitas in Late Fourth-Century Rome and Milan” (2003), and “Walter of Chatillon’s Alexandreis: Epic and the Problem of Historical Understanding” (1998). She contributed perceptive reviews to the field, covering works like Roberto Gamberini’s edition of Ruodlieb (2010), Louis Faivre d’Arcier’s study of Dares Phrygian’s De excidio Troiae (2010), Christopher Baswell’s Virgil in Medieval England (1997), and P.D.A. Harvey’s Medieval Maps (1995). Additionally, “Mapping Human Limitations: The Tomb Ecphrases in Walter of Châtillon’s Alexandreis” (1994) and “The Passion of St. Lawrence, Epigrams and Marginal Poems” (1995) highlight her analytical prowess. Lafferty co-organized the Marco Manuscript Workshops with Roy M. Liuzza, fostering manuscript scholarship at the Marco Institute. She held an M.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1987), with a thesis on amicitia in Tacitus’ Annals. Her retirement was celebrated by colleagues, underscoring her lasting impact on Classics and medieval studies.