Dr Debra Parish

Debra's area of research is women’s religiosity and witchcraft in seventeenth-century England. I am interested in women’s religious and prophetic actions and writings. I am also researching witchcraft in this period, and the role of witchcraft discourse within the political and religious conflicts of the English Revolutionary period. My current research examines women in the religious sects, and women who were revered as prophets but who were also accused of witchcraft by their religious enemies. I am particularly interested in female religious power and agency, and the various constructions of the ‘prophet’ and ‘witch’ categories, within the wider political and religious power contests of this period. I am currently researching seventeenth-century conduct books for women, exploring the feminine ideals of silence, civility and modesty, and how these prescriptive texts and models of behaviour connected to early seventeenth-century politico-religious conflict and debate.​

Qualifications:

• PhD, The University of Queensland

•  BA (Hons), MA, La Trobe University, Melbourne