Dr Janina Ramirez
Cultural historian, broadcaster and author
Dr Janina Ramirez is a cultural historian, broadcaster and best-selling author.
She is a Visiting Professor at the University of Lincoln, Honorary Visiting Fellow at the Department of History of Art, University of York and a Research Fellow in the History of Art at Harris Manchester College, Oxford.
Janina specialises in interpreting symbols, medieval art, and examining visual culture in an interdisciplinary manner. Following a degree in English Language and Literature at St Anne’s College, Oxford, Nina completed her Masters and PhD at the Centre for Medieval Studies in York on the Symbolic Life of Birds in Anglo-Saxon England.
She has taught at York, Warwick and Winchester Universities, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and was Course Director for the Undergraduate Certificate and Diploma in History of Art at the Department for Continuing Education, Oxford University.
She has published extensively, including monographs on The Private Lives of Saints, Julian of Norwich and Beowulf. She has also written a series of children's novels and non-fiction, including Goddesses in collaboration with the British Museum.
Her book, Femina: A New History of Middle Ages Through the Women Written Out of It was an instant bestseller and one of the most celebrated history books of 2023.
She has worked on a number of documentaries for the BBC, including the acclaimed 'Raiders of the Lost Past' series, ‘Saints & Sinners: Britain’s Millennium of Monasteries’, ‘Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings’ and ‘Chivalry & Betrayal: The Hundred Years War’. She is consultant on the York University/St Paul's Cathedral three-year AHRC-funded Pantheons project, is a patron of many organisations, and currently serves as President of Gloucester History Festival.
Website: Dr Janina Ramirez