Michael Johnston

Promoted to Full Professor
Department of English
mjohnst@purdue.edu

Michael Johnston received his master’s in Medieval English at the University of St. Andrews, his Ph.D. at Ohio State University, and his bachelor’s in English at John Carroll University.

His first book, Romance and the Gentry in Late Medieval England, was published by Oxford University Press in 2014. He has also edited three collections of essays: a special volume on teaching the history of the book for Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching; with Susanna Fein, Robert Thornton and His Books: Essays on the Lincoln and London Thornton Manuscripts (York Medieval Press, 2014); and with Michael Van Dussen, The Medieval Manuscript Book: Cultural Approaches (Cambridge University Press, 2015). His most recent book publication, The Middle English Book: Scribes and Readers, 1350–1500 (Oxford University Press, 2023), looks at patterns in the production and dissemination of Middle English literature. His second monograph was completed thanks in part to his prestigious 2020-2021 residential fellowship at the National Humanities Center.

Johnston has published another five peer-reviewed articles and three additional book chapters, with another four articles and a co-edited volume forthcoming as well.

He has also excelled in the classroom and was recognized with a 2022-2023 College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher award.