Dr. Jolly received her B.A. in English (1978), an Interdisciplinary M.A. in English, History, and Religious Studies (1981), and a Ph.D. in medieval History (1987), all from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Her research began with popular religion in medical remedies and extends into interdisciplinary approaches to magic, science, and religion.  She has a keen interest in manuscript studies, liturgical rituals, and bilinguality.  Her cultural study of a viking-era religious community, The Community of St. Cuthbert in the Late Tenth Century: The Chester-le-Street Additions to Durham Cathedral Library A.IV.19 is the basis for an ongoing historical fiction project:  Revealing Words uses historical imagination to recreate the life and landscape of 10th-century scribe Aldred, his family, community, and travels. 

         In 2022-24 Dr. Jolly served as the inaugural Jerry H. Bentley Distinguished Professor of World History with the project “Medieval Worlds: Muddling through the Middle Ages.” The project included a creative revamping of World History to 1500, which won a University of Hawaiʻi Innovation and Impact Showcase Award in 2023-24 for “Storytelling: An Immersive and Interactive Learning Journey.” Her most recent book, The Ethics of Teaching Medieval Worlds: Student Engagement and Decentred Perspectives on History chronicles her intellectual mo‘okū‘auhau and pedagogical huaka‘i.

         As a kamaʻāina settler scholar, Dr. Jolly is actively seeking to develop aloha ʻāina in her research, teaching, and community activities in this Native Hawaiian place of learning. Dr. Jolly offers undergraduate courses on world history to 1500, medieval Europe, the global Middle Ages, and historiography, as well as graduate seminars in world history and medieval studies.

Curriculum Vitae