Aidan Holtan

EDUCATION
May 2020 Ph.D., English, Purdue University

Dissertation: “Reading the Body: Dismemberment of Saints and Monsters in

Medieval Literature”

Committee: Shaun Hughes (Director), Dorsey Armstrong, Robyn Malo and Jeffrey
Turco

Dec. 2013 M.A., Viking and Anglo-Saxon Studies, University of Nottingham

Graduated with Distinction

Thesis: “Reading the Body: Physical Manifestations of Virtue in Anglo-Saxon

Literature”

Chair: Paul Cavill

May 2011 B.A., English, Colorado State University

Graduated magna cum laude

EMPLOYMENT
Aug. 2014–May 2019 Purdue University, Graduate Teaching Assistant

July 2017–Aug. 2019 Arthuriana, Editorial Assistant

PUBLICATIONS
Baniya, S., N. Mentzer, D. Laux, A. Holtan, S. Farrington, C. Eden, D. Sherman, L. Zhang.
“Creating Interdisciplinary Collaborative Teaching/learning Praxis with Design Thinking,
Communication, and Composition.” Proceedings of ACM SIGDOC Conference, Oregon,
Portland, USA, Oct 2019 USA. Forthcoming.
“Writing Sanctity Upon the Body: The Scarification of Incorrupt Saints in Anglo-Saxon
Hagiography.” Disability and the Medieval Cults of Saints: Interdisciplinary and
Intersectional Approaches, edited by Stephanie Grace-Petinos, Leah Pope Parker, and
Alicia Spencer-Hall. Accepted.
“Bodies on the Border: Liminal Postmortem Displays in Beowulf.” More Fuss about the Body: New
Medievalists’ Perspectives, edited by Stephanie Grace-Petinos and Leah Pope Parker.
Forthcoming.
Chesley, A., Parupudi, T., Baniya, S., Shawn Farrington, Aidan Holtan, Christy Eden, Dawn
Laux, Nathan Mentzer. “Interdisciplinary Pedagogy, Integrated Curriculum, and
 Holtan 2
Professional Development.” American Society for Engineering Education: IL/IN Regional
Conference Proceedings, 2018.

Work in Progress
“A Stranger in the Soundscape: Embodying Sound in The Prioress’s Tale.” For submission to
Comitatus.
“Reading Dismemberment in the Monstrous and Hagiographic Bodies of Old English Literature.”
For submission to Preternature.

GRANTS AND SELECT AWARDS

2019–2020 Purdue Research Foundation Dissertation Grant
 $20,000

2017–2018 The Thomas Ohlgren Award for Best Graduate Student Essay for
“Reading Dismemberment in the Monstrous and Hagiographic
Bodies of Old English Literature,” granted by Purdue Medieval and
Renaissance Studies (MARS).

2015–2018 Purdue University English Department Quintillian Award: for

excellence in student evaluation scores.
 Received Spring 2015, Fall 2016, Spring 2018

2018 Purdue University English Department Excellence in Teaching

Awards, Honorable Mention, Spring 2018.

2017 Purdue Graduate School Summer PRF Research Grant

 $3,332

2017 Promoting Research Opportunities to Maximize Innovation and

Scholarly Excellence (PROMISE) Award
 Tier 2 (International Travel): $1,500

2016 Promoting Research Opportunities to Maximize Innovation and

Scholarly Excellence (PROMISE) Award
 Tier 2 (International Travel): $1,500

2016 Purdue Graduate Student Government Travel Grant

 Tier 3: $250

2012 Christine Fell Award for medieval postgraduates at the University of

Nottingham
 £1,000

2012 Friends of the University of Nottingham: America Scholarship

 $6,000
 Holtan 3
CONFERENCES
Oct. 2019 “Creating Interdisciplinary Collaborative Teaching/learning Praxis
with Design Thinking, Communication, and Composition.” Co-
authored with Sweta Baniya, Christi Eden, Shawn Farrington, Derek
Sherman, Liwei Zhang, Nathan Mentzer and Dawn Laux. SIGDOC
Conference. Portland, OR.

May 2019 “Bodies on the Border: Liminal Postmortem Displays in Beowulf.”

International Congress on Medieval Studies. Kalamazoo, MI.

Oct. 2018 “Þæt was tacen sweotol : Displaying Dismemberment in Beowulf.”

Medieval Association of the Midwest Conference. West Lafayette,
IN.

May 2018 “Reading Dismemberment in the Monstrous and Hagiographic

Bodies of Old English Literature.” International Congress on
Medieval Studies. Kalamazoo, MI.

Apr. 2018 “Interdisciplinary Pedagogy, Integrated Curriculum, and Professional

Development.” Co-Authored with Amelia Chesley, Tejasvi Parupudi,
Shawn Farrington, Christi Eden, Sweta Baniya Nathan Mentzer, and
Dawn Laux. American Society for Engineering Education, 2018
Illinois-Indiana Section Conference. West Lafayette, IN.

Jan. 2018 “No Ifs, Ands, or Butts About It: the Decapitation of Glámr in Grettis
Saga.” 2018 Newberry Center for Renaissance Studies Graduate
Student Conference. Chicago, IL.

July 2017 “Talking Heads: Monstrous and Hagiographic Decapitation in Old

English Literature.” International Medieval Congress. Leeds, UK.

May 2017 Organizer for “Shifting Shape and Changing Form I and II.” Panels
sponsored by the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program,
Purdue University. International Congress on Medieval Studies.
Kalamazoo, MI.

July 2016 “Hostess or Huntress? Women and Agency in the Feasting Spaces of
the Íslendingasögur." International Medieval Congress. Leeds, UK.

Mar. 2016 “The Educational Body in The Shewings of Julian of Norwich.”

Indiana Medieval Graduate Consortium. West Lafayette, IN.

Oct. 2015 “Geis and the Rise and Fall of Kingship in Beowulf.” Southeastern
Medieval Association. Little Rock, AR.

Mar. 2015 “Dead Men Do Tell Tales: Posthumous Messengers in Wace’s Roman
 Holtan 4
de Brut.” Indiana Medieval Graduate Consortium. Bloomington, IN.
Apr. 2013 “Body and Soul in Old English Poetry.” Anglo-Saxons on the Mind
Symposium. Nottingham, UK.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Figures of Myths and Legends II: Heroes and Villains. Also titled: King Arthur: Medieval
to Modern—ENGL 218 (Teaching Assistant): Spring 2019
Introductory survey course that is part of the English Department’s “Myths and Legends”
sequence. Covers the Arthurian legend from the medieval chronicles to modern novel and film
adaptations.

Figures of Myth and Legends III: Magic and Marvels. Also titled: Tolkien on Page and
Screen—ENGL 219 (Teaching Assistant): Fall 2018
Introductory survey course that is part of the English Department’s “Myths and Legends”
sequence. Covers Tolkien’s Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as
their film adaptations.

Introductory Composition—ENGL 106E (Instructor of Record): Fall 2015, Fall 2017, Spring
2018
First-year composition course focused on establishing rhetorical awareness and research skills.
This section is integrated with the “Design Thinking in Technology” course from the Purdue
Polytechnic Institute and “Fundamentals of Speech Communication” from the Communication
Department.

Introductory Composition—ENGL 106 (Instructor of Record): Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Spring
2016, Fall 2016 (two sections)
First-year composition course focused on establishing rhetorical awareness and research skills. I
used the “Writing your Way into Purdue” syllabus approach for all four semesters, which
encouraged student connection to campus and writing for their disciplines.

ACADEMIC SERVICE
Jan.–Apr. 2019 Committee Member for the Ad Hoc Committee on the Senate of
the College of Liberal Arts’ By-Laws

2017–2018 Co-Chair of the Professional Development Committee for the

Purdue Graduate Student English Association (GradSEA)

2016–2018 Officer for Comitatus, Purdue’s Medieval Studies Organization

 President (2017–2018)
 Secretary (2016–2017)
2014–2016 Representative for Introductory Composition at Purdue (ICaP)
Pedagogical Initiatives Committee, Purdue University.

2014–2016 Syllabus Leader for ICaP’s “Writing Your Way Into Purdue”
Syllabus Approach.
 Holtan 5

2013 Committee Member for the Annual Institute for Medieval

Research Postgraduate Conference: “Reception and Transmission
of Viking Age.”

2010–2011 Colorado State University. Undergraduate Representative for the

Undergraduate English Curriculum Committee.

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCIES
Old English (reading, translation)
Middle English (reading, translation)
Old Norse (reading, translation)
Latin (translation)

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
International Society of Anglo-Saxonists (ISAS)
Medieval Academy of America (MAA)
International Arthurian Society, North American Branch
Hagiography Society
Modern Language Association (MLA)

REFERENCES
Available Upon Request