Degrees earned:

Ph.D. (ABD), York University
M.A., York University
(Hons.) B.A., University of Toronto

Maybelle Leung (she/her) is interested in the connections between medieval and modern thought. Her research is on late medieval English and French literature, the history and theory of subjectivity, and literary medievalisms.

Maybelle’s SSHRC-funded dissertation argues for a return to the psychoanalytic criticism that interested medieval scholars in the 1990s to early 2000s. Turning to the French allegorical poem Le Roman de la Rose and works of Geoffrey Chaucer, she argues that a concept of “non-separation” constructed out of separation, which psychoanalysis broadly defines as the gap between self and l’Autre [Other], shaped the contours of subjective knowledge in these texts—subjective knowledge of bodies, of language, and of enjoyment. Her work is published in Magistra: A Journal of Women’s Spirituality in History (2019) and Palimpsestes: Revue de traduction (2022); she has also contributed to Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies (2025). Currently, Maybelle is working with Deanne Williams on a project titled Shakespeare and the Global Middle Ages.

Maybelle’s teaching efforts secured the English Department’s Teaching Assistant’s Award for Excellence from 2021-2022. Her pedagogy is rooted in the conviction that the humanities are essential—for personal and communal flourishing, and for finding the “simply marvelous” (to use L.O. Aranye Fradenburg’s term) in everyday life. Maybelle first taught at University of Toronto Mississauga before joining York University. Drawing from experience in various fields, from music instruction to technical copywriting, she brings an artistic touch and community focus to literary study.

Maybelle’s updated CV can be found on this website.