I came to Brown in 1967, having been hired to teach graduate courses in Slavic linguistics. In the 1980s I switched my teaching and research to Medieval Studies, and I offered courses on methods of work with Medieval manuscripts and the earliest printed books. In the 1990s a number of scholars at various universities created a new academic field about the history of magic, occultism and esoteric movements. Before my retirement I offered three courses in that field: Magic in the Middle Ages; Women, Magic and Power, 1800-1960; and Esoteric Russia. I was a founding member of the first North American professional society for that academic field, the Societas Magica. I retired in the summer of 2005.
