Aidan Holtan
Purdue University .
500 Oval Drive
West Lafayette, IN 47907
EDUCATION
Aug. 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. 2020–Present Purdue University, Limited Term Lecturer
Aug. 2014–Aug. 2020 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. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3328020.3353930.
“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. Forthcoming.
Holtan 2
“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
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
Viator.
“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: A year-long
dissertation completion fellowship granted by Purdue University
• $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
Holtan 3
Nottingham
• £1,000
2012 Friends of the University of Nottingham: America Scholarship
• $6,000
CONFERENCES
May 2021 Under consideration. “The Room Where It Happened: Feasting
Spaces in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” International Congress
on Medieval Studies. Kalamazoo, MI.
Nov. 2019 “Þæt wæs tācen sweotol: Dismemberment and Display in Beowulf
and Grettis saga.” LTC Forum Series. West Lafayette, IN.
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.
Apr. 2019 “Eating Your Words: Feasting as Discourse in the Íslendingasögur.”
Comitatus Symposium. West Lafayette, IN.
Apr. 2019 Moderator for “Undergraduate Tolkien Roundtable.” Comitatus
Symposium. West Lafayette, IN.
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.
Holtan 4
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
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
Writing Courses
Introductory Composition—ENGL 106 (Instructor of Record): Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Spring
2016, Fall 2016 (two sections), Summer 2020, Fall 2020 (three sections)
First-year composition course focused on establishing rhetorical awareness and research
skills.
Modes taught:
• Hybrid (Synchronous class meetings, asynchronous recorded lectures)
• Distance (Asynchronous course, conducted through Brightspace)
• Face-to-face
Syllabus Approaches/Course Themes Taught:
• Rhetorics of Data Science
• Digital Rhetorics
• Writing your way into Purdue
Introductory Composition—ENGL 106E (Instructor of Record): Fall 2015, Fall 2017, Spring
2018
Holtan 5
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.
Literature Courses
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.
ACADEMIC SERVICE
Sept. 2020-Present Introductory Writing Committee
Aug. 2020-Present Social Justice/Diversity Initiatives Committee, Purdue
English Department
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)
2016 Mentor for the Medieval Academy of America Graduate
Student Committee's undergraduate mentorship program for
the International Congress on Medieval Studies at
Kalamazoo.
2014-2017 Marketing Assistant for the academic journal Arthuriana
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”
Holtan 6
Syllabus Approach.
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
Medieval Academy of America (MAA)
International Arthurian Society, North American Branch
Hagiography Society
Modern Language Association (MLA)
REFERENCES
Available upon request
