Thomas S Willard

Interests

Teaching

Biblical and Classical literature; medieval and Renaissance English literature; Shakespeare and dramatic literature; literary history, theory, and research; literary symbolism; literary modernism; comparative literature

Research

Ideas in literature, including esoteric ideas (alchemy and occult sciences; radical religious movements; language study).

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Chapters

• Willard, T. S. (2018). Travels with Johann Reuchlin: Linguist, Lawyer and Christian Cabalist. In Time, Space, and Travel in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Time(pp 525-541). Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter.
  More info

  The greatest Christian Hebraist of his time, Johann Reuchlin (1455–1522) traveled extensively in courtly, scholarly, and religious circles. When a first editionof his most famous book, De Arte Cabalistica (1517), went on sale (for US$15,000), the booksellers’ notice stated, “He used his extensive travels to makecontacts with other humanists and other [sic: read “with”] Jews and to acquiremanuscripts and printed books for his library, one of the most substantial ofits time.”1 Reuchlin held teaching positions at several universities, but neverstayed long because an invitation or the need to travel always took precedence.
• Willard, T. S. (2019). Goddess and Guide or Treasury and Machine?: Seventeenth-Century Debate about the Role of Nature. In Paradigm Shifts During the Global Middle Ages and Renaissance(pp 356-382). Tempe and Turnhout Belgium: ACMRS Press and Brepols Publishing.
• Willard, T. S. (2017). Dream and Symbol in "The Chemical Wedding". In Lux in Tenebris: The Visual and the Symbolic in Western Esotericism(pp 130-51). Leiden and Boston: Brill.
• Willard, T. S. (2017). Testing the Waters: Early Modern Studies. In Bodily and Spiritual Hygiene in Medieval and Early Modern Literature(pp 568-598). Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter.
• Willard, T. S. (2016). Hard Places: Paracelsian Neologisms and Early Modern Guides. In Multilingualism in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period,. Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter.
• Willard, T. S. (2016). Kamel Daoud, "The Mersault Investigations". In Essay-Reviews of 150 Outstanding Books Published in the United States during 2015(pp 326-66). Boston: Salem Press/EBSCO.
• Willard, T. S. (2016). Kazuo Ishiguro, "The Buried Giant: A Novel". In Essay-Reviews of 150 Outstanding Books Published in the United States during 2015(pp 92-95). Boston: Salem Press/EBSCO.
• Willard, T. S. (2016). Patti Smith, "M Train". In Essay-Reviews of 150 Outstanding Books Published in the United States during 2015(pp 337-40). Boston: Salem Press/EBSCO.
• Willard, T. S. (2016). Pimping for the Fairy Queen: Some Cozeners in Shakespeare's England. In Crime and Punishment in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Time(pp 491-506). Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter.
• Willard, T. S. (2016). Salman Rushdie, "Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Days: A Novel". In Essay-Reviews of 150 Outstanding Books Published in the United States during 2015(pp 581-84). Boston: Salem Press/EBSCO.
• Willard, T. S. (2016). Testing the Waters: Early Modern Perspectives. In Hygiene, Medicine, and Well Being in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter.
• Willard, T. S. (2015). Alchemy, Astrology, and Other Occult Sciences. In Handbook of Medieval Culture(pp 102-119). Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter.
• Willard, T. S. (2015). Frye’s Principles of Literary Symbolism: From the Classroom to the Critical Classics. In Educating the Imagination: Northrop Frye, Past, Present, and Future(pp 132-147 + 239-241). Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
• Willard, T. S. (2016). How Magical Was Renaissance Magic?. In Magic and the Magician in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times. Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter.
• Willard, T. S. (2014). Paracelsus on Mental Health. In Mental Health, Spirituality, and Religion in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age(pp 524-56). Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter.
• Willard, T. S. (2014). Review of Joan Silber, Fools: Stories. In Magill’s Literary Annual, 2014:: Essay-Reviews of 200 Outstanding Books Published in the United States During 2013(pp 225-28). Boston: EBSCO.

Journals/Publications

• Willard, T. S. (2018). Review of " Northrop Frye's Lectures: Student Notes from His Courses, 1947–1955," edited by Robert D. Denham". University of Toronto Quarterly, 83(3), 459-460.
• Willard, T. S. (2016). Beya and Gabricus: Erotic Imagery in German Alchemy. Mediaevistik, 29.
• Willard, T. S. (2016). Beya and Gabricus: Eroticism in German Alchemy. Mediaevistik, 28, 269-81.
• Willard, T. S. (2016). Review of Robert D. Denham, Northrop Frye and Others: Twelve Writers Who Helped Shape his Thinking. University of Toronto Quarterly, 96(4).
• Willard, T. S. (2017). Robert D. Denham, "Northrop Frye's Collected Prose". University of Toronto Quarterly.
• Willard, T. S. (2014). Alexander Fidora, ed., Die mantischen Künste und die Epistemologie prognostischer Wissenschaften im Mittelalter.. Mediaevistik, 27, 162-64.
• Willard, T. S. (2014). Anne Lawrence-Mathers and Carolina Escobar-Vargas, Magic in Medieval Society. Mediaevistik, 27, 224-25.
• Willard, T. S. (2014). De furore Britannico: The Rosicrucian Manifestos in Britain. ARIES: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism, 14(1), 32-61.
  More info

  Invited contribution on the 400th anniversary of the publication of the first Rosicrucian manifesto.
• Willard, T. S. (2014). Making It New: Frye and Modernism. Hamilton Arts and Letters, 7(2), electronic journal, unpaginated.
  More info

  Invited article on "The Modern Century" by Northrop Frye from a twenty-first-century perspective.
• Willard, T. S. (2014). Robert Easting and Richard Sharpe, Peter of Cornwall’s Book of Revelations. Mediaevistik, 27, 382-84.
• Willard, T. S. (2014). Susanna Fein and Michael Johnston, ed., Robert Thornton and His Books: Essays on the Lincoln and London Thornton.. Manuscripts, 27, 455-56.

Presentations

• Willard, T. S. (2018, July). Paracelsus and English Paracelsians on Intoxication. Invited lecture. University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England: Department of History and "Intoxicants and Early Modernity" research grant.
• Willard, T. S. (2018, May). Alchemy and Mythology: Eroticism and Esotericism in Michael Maier’s Atalanta. 2018 Conference of the Association for the Study of Esotericism. Rice University, Houston, TX: Association for the Study of Esotericism.
• Willard, T. S. (2016, April). How Magical Was Renaissance Magic?. International Symposium on Magic and the Magician. Tucson,. University of Arizona: University of Arizona Medieval and Renaissance Committee.
• Willard, T. S. (2016, February). The First English Enthusiasts. 22nd Annual ACMRS Conference. Scottsdale, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.
• Willard, T. S. (2016, June). Early Modern Writers on the Magical Soul. Sixth International Conference of the Association for the Study of Esotericism. University of California at Davis: Association for the Study of Esotericism.
• Willard, T. S. (2015, October). Northrop Frye and the Art of Reading. Opening of the Northrop Frye Centre,. Victoria College in the University of toronto: Victoria College in the University of toronto.
• Willard, T. S. (2014, February). The Apocalyptic Myth of Elias Artista. 20th Annual Conference of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies: Catastrophes and the Apocalyptic in Medieval and Renaissance. Scottsdale, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.
• Willard, T. S. (2014, June). Northrop Frye: Reading as Spiritual Practice.. Fifth International Conference of the Association for the Study of Esotericism: Esoteric Pracitces: Theories, Representations, and Methods. Hamilton, NY: Association for the Study of Esotericism:.
• Willard, T. S. (2014, November). W. B. Yeats and the Order of the Alchemical Rose. Conference of the American Academy of Religion. San Diego: Association for the Study of Western Esotericism.