1. Mikki Brock Named to the Shortlist for Research Book of the Year in Scotland

By Lily Caldwell
November 3, 2025

Mikki Brock, professor of history at Washington and Lee University, was recently named to the shortlist for Scotland's research book of the year for her book "Plagues of the heart: Crisis and covenanting in a seventeenth-century Scottish town."

The annual national book awards are chosen by the Saltire Society, an independent supporter of the arts and culture of Scotland. The aim of the awards is to raise awareness of Scottish literary talent and to champion new ideas to help bring them to fruition. The winner from the shortlist will be announced at a ceremony in Edinburgh on Nov. 19.

Brock's book, published last November by Manchester University Press, explores Scottish protestant identity during the 17th century. Using the southwestern port city of Ayr as a case study, the book examines how Scottish communities navigated church discipline, worship, and religious belonging during a period of overlapping crises. In the ceremony announcing the shortlist, the judges noted that the book's "wide-ranging and formidable research" painted a "revealing and original portrait of the past."

Brock, who also serves as a core faculty member in W&L's Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program and as an affiliate faculty member in the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program, has taught at W&L since 2014. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in humanities and western civilization from the University of Kansas, as well as a Master of Arts and Ph.D. in history from the University of Texas at Austin.

If you know a W&L faculty member who has done great, accolade-worthy things, tell us about them! Nominate them for an accolade.