Advisor of the Year
George Greenia "Academic advising should be a new student's first friendship with a faculty member - a mentor when choices are confusing, an advocate when the system seems daunting, and someone you can trust with your dreams about what you can learn in college. I have rarely felt so useful as when I've spoken to a student needing a hand in navigating academic crosscurrents and making the College their home." George D. Greenia
Greenia on the Roof of a Cathedral in Spain "My advisor is an extremely caring man who really seemed to want to get to know me and make sure that my college experience here was the best I could have. He was so interested my experience, encouraging me to try out new things, and making sure that I felt like I was in an environment where I could grow and learn."
George Greenia, Professor of Spanish in the Dept. of Modern Languages at the College of William & Mary, was co-founder of that institution’s interdisciplinary Program in Medieval & Renaissance Studies and served as its Director for 11 years. Also for the past 11 years he has held the position of Editor-in-Chief of La corónica, an award-winning international research journal on the literature, language and cultures of medieval Spain. He is co-Editor for a three-volume encyclopedia on Castilian Writers of the Middle Ages, a project embracing almost a hundred participating authors and nearly a million words. He is the author of numerous studies on medieval Spanish literary history and cultural studies, manuscript illumination, historical linguistics, the history of the book, foreign language pedagogy, and computers in the humanities. His Spanish language textbook Generaciones has been used at universities throughout the United States. He has taught as Visiting Professor of Medieval Studies at St. John's University and the Universities of Illinois, Virginia and Michigan. He is the founder and national president of Alpha Delta Gamma, the undergraduate Honorary Society for Medieval & Renaissance Studies with chapters across the US.
His teaching portfolio includes courses such as “The Medieval Book”, “Love & Prostitution in Medieval Spain”, “The Book of Revelation: from Rome to Waco”, “The Song of Songs”, “Inquisition”, “Furta sacra: The Theft of Relics in the Middle Ages”, “The Abandonment of Children in the Middle Ages”, “Women on the Frontiers of Medieval Spain (and America)”, “Women & Mysticism: Teresa of Ávila”, and “Incest in Medieval Literature and Culture”.
“George Greenia was engaging and was always helpful. He encouraged me to get involved with all that the College offers, and his love for the school is always apparent. In April, he even came to one of my a cappella concerts and was one of the only adults in attendence. I always feel comfortable asking him for academic as well as general advice about the College.”
Not content to be an armchair medievalist, George has bicycled over 2,000 miles and walked over 1,500 more to follow the pilgrimage routes of medieval Europe along the Camino de Santiago to the shrine of St. James the Apostle in Santiago de Compostela in Spain. He is founding editor of the magazine of public scholarship, American Pilgrim, dedicated to those in the western hemisphere interested in travel and the sacred throughout world culture.
In recognition of his scholarship and service, in 2007 King Juan Carlos I of Spain knighted George Greenia and bestowed on him the Cross of the Order of Isabel the Catholic, Spain’s highest honor for those who interpret and promote the culture of that country.
