Margaret Slaughter graduated with Ph.D. in Religious Studies and a minor in Art History with a dissertation on religious art in medieval Ireland. “Clefts in the Rock: Sheela-na-gigs in Medieval Ireland” examines an enigmatic group of carvings found over church doorways from the thirteenth into the sixteenth centuries. Utilizing works of medieval theology including Irish devotional poetry, hagiography, and religious art & architecture, she argues that the Sheela-na-gig should be reconsidered as a Christian image rather than an exhibitionist grotesque inclusion.
As the former Public Editor at the Center for Religion & the Human, Slaughter also facilitated its “Noli Me Tangere” workshop series. From 2021-2023, she worked as Ethnographic Collections Curatorial Assistant at the IU Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology until she received the Dissertation Completion Fellowship from the College of Arts and Sciences. She plans to work in cultural heritage and museum collection management.
The College of Arts