Laurie Finke's intellectual reach extends from King Arthur to Whale Rider. Literature and film, medieval and modern, history and myth-Finke is at home in all of these realms. And all of them contribute to her role as the director of Kenyon's interdisciplinary program in women's and gender studies.

Finke, who teaches courses ranging from "Feminist Theory," to "Gender and Film," to a senior seminar designed annually in collaboration with students, works hard to ensure that the program embraces a wide range of fields. Professors in anthropology, art history, biology, classics, English, German, history, psychology, religious studies, Spanish, and sociology regularly offer courses that earn credit in women's and gender studies. Students interested in gender issues and feminist studies, meanwhile, know that they'll find an inspiring teacher and research mentor in Finke.

Finke's background is in medieval literature. "I was a born medievalist," she jokes. "I was the kid reading Tolkien in grammar school. I didn't know you could actually make a career out of it." Finke's career has been quite a distinguished one. She is a prolific scholar whose output includes dozens of published papers and numerous invited lectures at professional conferences as well as five books, most recently King Arthur and the Myth of History. She was also chosen to be one of the editors of the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Her latest project: a book called The Middle Ages at the Movies.

Research takes her to Europe almost every summer-a perk that goes along with scholarship in medieval literature. But, even as she loves travel, she values the close-knit character and small community afforded by Kenyon. "At a larger school, you may have a student in your classroom just once," she observes. By contrast, at Kenyon she can get to know her students, both as individuals and as intellects, watching them develop, and helping them along their way.