Teaching the Arthurian Tradition
Title: Teaching the Arthurian Tradition
Co-Editor: Dorsey Armstrong
Publisher: Modern Language Association (MLA)
Publication Date: May 2026
About the Book: From medieval romance to modern cinematic adaptations, King Arthur and the Round Table remain some of the most enduring figures in world literature. Teaching the Arthurian Tradition provides instructors with versatile, innovative strategies for introducing Arthurian legends across diverse academic disciplines and course levels. The volume explores methods for addressing key medieval texts — such as Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur — alongside topics of gender, national identity, geography, and print culture. Offering pedagogical tools, context-building exercises, and interdisciplinary approaches, this guide helps educators bring Arthurian literature to life for contemporary students and readers.
About the Author: Dorsey Armstrong is a professor of English and medieval literature at Purdue University, where she also serves as editor-in-chief of the academic journal Arthuriana and series editor for Palgrave Macmillan’s Arthurian and Courtly Cultures and New Middle Ages book series. She received her Ph.D. from Duke University and specializes in Middle English literature, the Arthurian legend, and medieval women’s writing and gender studies. Armstrong is the author of Gender and the Chivalric Community in Malory’s Morte d'Arthur (2003), translator of Malory's Morte Darthur: A New Modern English Translation (2009), co-author (with Kenneth Hodges) of Mapping Malory: Regional Identities and National Geographies in Le Norte Darthur (2014) and host of several popular Great Courses lecture series on medieval history and literature.
Her co-editor of the MLA volume, Arielle McKee, is visiting assistant professor of Literature at Wake Forest University and completed her Ph.D. at Purdue University in 2019 under Professor Armstrong’s direction.