Ballot Archive

29 Aug 2024

Candidate Details

Candidate Name

Brandon Alakas

Academic degrees, honours etc.

Ph.D Queen’s University, Kingston, ON 2009 M.A. University of Toronto, 2003 B.A. Queen’s University, Kingston, ON 2002

Profession or occupation

Professor, University of Alberta, and Director, Syon Abbey Society

Grounds for election

An expert on late medieval devotional culture, Professor Alakas's academic career has balanced rigorous investigation of under-researched texts with efforts to make this knowledge more broadly available. His scholarly focus is the Birgittine community at Syon Abbey. In the last decade, he has written extensively on the texts produced by the priest brothers in the early decades of the sixteenth century; and in 2020 he published a scholarly edition of a 1541 spiritual guide by Richard Whitford, Syon Abbey’s most prolific author, with Liverpool University Press. His second book, an edition of Whitford’s most important publication on religious life, is currently under peer review. His role as associate dean of academic programs at the Augustana Faculty of the University of Alberta evidences his administrative capabilities; and as Director of the Syon Abbey Society he is proactively fostering and growing public engagement with this leading and often overlooked royal monastic foundation.

Signatories

The following Fellows have signed this Blue Paper