Sarah Jane Murray, Assistant Professor, Great Texts Program

Sarah Jane Murray's job doesn't feel like work -- she's been having too much fun as a medieval literature and French professor in the Honors College to call it that. And after three years at Baylor, her students, colleagues and research continually renew her insight and spirit.
"I taught a course on King Arthur this past fall for the freshman seminars, and there's nothing like watching people show up for the first time in college," Murray says. "They're so excited about it and want to learn so much. It's a really great experience."
Her rich accent reveals an Irish heritage. Born in Coleraine, Ireland, she came to the United States in 1992. She received bachelor's degrees in French and philosophy and a doctorate in Romance languages and literature from Princeton University in 1998. There she discovered her love for medieval studies.
"It didn't take long to convince me that this was the period in which I was going to work," she says. "With everything we read in that course, I had to ask myself, 'Wait a minute. This could be my job, to read these kinds of things?' They were the kinds of things I would enjoy ... as bedside reading."
Murray is finishing her own book, tentatively titled From Plato to Lancelot: A Preface to Chrétien de Troyes. She describes the works of the writer, who penned the first Arthurian romances, as interdisciplinary in nature -- a term she also uses to talk about her Great Texts courses.
"While he is crafting this literary masterpiece ... he raises a lot of theological and philosophical issues that we often forget," she says. "There really isn't a divide for the medieval between these disciplines and literature."
In addition to freshman seminars and sophomore Great Texts classes, Murray also teaches upper-level French courses and supervised the writing of three honors theses this spring.
She also is currently researching a book she wants to write about the legends of the Apostle James the Greater and their influence on Celtic society.
Amid the challenges of adjusting to a new job and environment, she is especially grateful for her colleagues' support.
"I never imagined, when I was in graduate school, that I would find a group of colleagues as supportive as my colleagues are," she says. "It's a really dynamic, supportive environment in which to work."