Katherine Elliot van Liere, 
Professor, History
(616)526-6817
kvliere@calvin.edu
Office: Hiemenga Hall 485
Weekly Schedule
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Educational background
B.A., History of Ideas, Williams College
M.A., History, Cambridge University
Ph.D., European History, Princeton University
Research and professional interests
Prof. van Liere's interests include early modern European cultural and religious history; Renaissance humanism; history of scholarship; historiography; and the history of Spain. Her current research focuses on the writing of national history and “sacred history” (stories of saints, miracles, and other religious phenomena) in sixteenth and seventeenth-century Spain.
Recent activities
Prof. Van Liere has recently edited Sacred History: Uses of the Christian Past in the Renaissance World, a multi-authored anthology that will be published by Oxford University Press in 2012. She hosted two CCCS-sponsored international colloquia in conjunction with this book: "Historia Sacra: Visions of Christian Origins in the Renaissance World", held at the Notre Dame London Centre (10-12 June 2010); and “Renaissance Visions of Christian Origins, c. 1450-1650,” held at the Prince Conference Center (16-18 October 2008).
She directed the off-campus program in York, England with her husband, Prof. Frans van Liere, in the spring of 2009. She is currently preparing to teach History 268 (Women in Europe) in the spring of 2012.
Life outside of Calvin College
"I keep quite busy combining teaching with raising our two sons and keeping our house in shape. But when I have time, I love to hike, bicycle, backpack, swim, sail, and kayak. I also enjoy music, cooking, corresponding with old friends, practicing foreign languages (especially Spanish and Dutch), and reading."
Other information
Prof. van Liere also teaches Spanish 308 at Calvin College.
She is the Honors Program liaison for the History department.
See a partial list of Kate van Liere's publications.
