From the Newsletter of the Durham University’s Centre for Catholic Studies CCS (Issue 52: Michaelmas 2025).
The CCS is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Alexandra Verini as the FCJ Postdoctoral Research Associate in the History of Catholicism. This post is funded by a donation from the Faithful Companions of Jesus and will investigate the history of the FCJs in the UK from 1830 to the present day. Alexandra completed her PhD at the University of California, Los Angeles, where her research focused on utopian thought in medieval and early modern English women’s convent writings. This research laid the foundation for her monograph, English Women’s Spiritual Utopias, 1400–1700. She has recently served as Associate Professor at Ashoka University (Delhi, India), where her research has explored comparative mysticism and nineteenth- and early twentieth-century women religious and colonialism, specifically at the Loreto Institute.
Alexandra said: “I am thrilled to be joining the Centre for Catholic Studies as FCJ Postdoctoral Research Associate in the History of Catholicism. This exciting project has the potential to open new perspectives on the study of women religious in the UK and on histories of social activism and gender. It will be a great honour to work under the direction of Professor James Kelly in learning more about the history of the Faithful Companions of Jesus and sharing findings with audiences in and outside of academia.“
Dr Alexandra Verini is in the process of writing the history of the FCJ Society in Britain, 1830 to the present. You can read her article How Radical Victorian Nuns Pioneered Education for Poor Girls in The Conversation.
