Olivia Remie Constable, director of the Medieval Institute at Notre Dame since 2009 and professor of history, died of cancer Wednesday in her home, according to a University press release.
Constable joined the Notre Dame faculty in 1995 after teaching history at Columbia University for six years. She graduated from Yale University in 1983 and earned a doctoral degree in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton in 1989, the press release stated.
“Remie Constable was a brilliant historian, a generous colleague and a very dear friend,” associate professor of history Margaret Meserve said in the press release. “Her contributions to medieval studies at Notre Dame were countless, but I will remember her best for her love of her students, her wonderful wit and her extraordinary hospitality. She will be greatly missed.”
Constable’s focus for classes and research included “interactions between medieval Christians, Muslims and Jews; the Mediterranean world; economic and social history; the history of medieval cities and urban life; medieval Spain and perceptions of the middle ages in modern novels and film,” the press release stated.
Constable received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies and the Guggenheim foundation, according to the press release. She was also a member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and a fellow of the Medieval Academy of America.
Funeral services will be private and a public memorial service will be announced soon, the press release stated.
