About

Erin Rowe is a professor in the Department of History at Johns Hopkins University, with research interests centered on the religious culture of the early modern Iberian world. Her work emphasizes theology, race, gender, and visual culture, exploring how these elements intersected within the context of global Christianity, the Atlantic slave trade, and the veneration of saints. Her 2019 monograph, Black Saints in Early Modern Global Catholicism, investigates the role of black saints and the slaves who venerated them, highlighting how these figures and communities challenged and reshaped notions of race, holiness, and cultural authority during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. Her scholarly contributions include examining previously unstudied sculptures and paintings of black saints, analyzing controversies within the church regarding race and salvation, and providing new perspectives on blackness and sanctity in early modern history. Rowe has also co-edited volumes on the early modern Hispanic world, focusing on transnational and interdisciplinary approaches to understanding identity, community, and cultural exchange. Her earlier work, Saint and Nation, explores the symbolic role of sanctity in the national identity of early modern Spain, particularly through the case of St. Teresa of Avila. Rowe's research has been recognized with awards such as the Roland H. Bainton Prize and the Albert C. Outler Prize, and she acts as an editor for the series Iberian Encounter and Exchange at Penn State University Press.

Research topics

• History
• Art
• Art history
• Classics
• Religious studies

Selected publications

• Race, Law, and Culture in Early Mexico

  Global Black Thought · 2025-09-01

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• European History Quarterly Roundtable: Histories of Race in Europe and Questions of Knowledge Production

  European History Quarterly · 2025-04-01

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• Black Saints

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2025-12-12

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• 104. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Mental Health Co-Morbidities in Adolescents

  Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology · 2024-04-01

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• The Association of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and Adnexal Pathologies in Adolescents

  Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada · 2024-08-13

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• From India to Brazil: The Pacific Journeys of the Martyr Saint Gonçalo Garcia

  Studien zur aussereuropäischen Christentumsgeschichte · 2024-01-01

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• 15. The Association of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and Adnexal Pathologies in Adolescents

  Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology · 2023-03-10

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• A 1-Tesla MRI system for dedicated brain imaging in the neonatal intensive care unit

  Frontiers in Neuroscience · 2023-02-10 · 9 citations

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  Objective To assess the feasibility of a point-of-care 1-Tesla MRI for identification of intracranial pathologies within neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Methods Clinical findings and point-of-care 1-Tesla MRI imaging findings of NICU patients (1/2021 to 6/2022) were evaluated and compared with other imaging modalities when available. Results A total of 60 infants had point-of-care 1-Tesla MRI; one scan was incompletely terminated due to motion. The average gestational age at scan time was 38.5 ± 2.3 weeks. Transcranial ultrasound ( n = 46), 3-Tesla MRI ( n = 3), or both ( n = 4) were available for comparison in 53 (88%) infants. The most common indications for point-of-care 1-Tesla MRI were term corrected age scan for extremely preterm neonates (born at greater than 28 weeks gestation age, 42%), intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) follow-up (33%), and suspected hypoxic injury (18%). The point-of-care 1-Tesla scan could identify ischemic lesions in two infants with suspected hypoxic injury, confirmed by follow-up 3-Tesla MRI. Using 3-Tesla MRI, two lesions were identified that were not visualized on point-of-care 1-Tesla scan: (1) punctate parenchymal injury versus microhemorrhage; and (2) small layering IVH in an incomplete point-of-care 1-Tesla MRI with only DWI/ADC series, but detectable on the follow-up 3-Tesla ADC series. However, point-of-care 1-Tesla MRI could identify parenchymal microhemorrhages, which were not visualized on ultrasound. Conclusion Although limited by field strength, pulse sequences, and patient weight (4.5 kg)/head circumference (38 cm) restrictions, the Embrace ® point-of-care 1-Tesla MRI can identify clinically relevant intracranial pathologies in infants within a NICU setting.

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• Enslaved and Free Black Africans in Early Modern Spain

  2022-03-11 · 1 citations

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  This chapter provides an overview of slavery, the slave trade, and representations of black Africans in early modern Spain. The widespread presence of enslaved and free black Africans in Spain, particularly southern Spain, was an important feature of early modern society. Afro-Spaniards acted as tradesmen, servants, musicians, and dancers, among other activities. This article highlights these activities while focusing on artistic and literary sources that portrayed Afro-Spaniards in a variety of contexts—as enslaved and holy, exceptional, and disparaged—as a way of discussing the complexity of the representations of Afro-Spaniards. Afro-Spaniards themselves acted as authors and artists, demonstrating their roles as fellow Christians and members of Spanish society. Their status as baptized Christians was a frequent theme in works that sought to promote the dignity of black Africans (or the dignity of a particular African). This chapter argues for the necessity of seeing the full range of creative possibilities for Afro-Iberians alongside the racist limitations imposed on them.

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• : <i>La Iglesia en Palacio: Los eclesiásticos en las cortes hispánicas (siglos XVI–XVII)</i>

  Renaissance Quarterly · 2022-09-01

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  An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

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Frequent coauthors

• Mark Zamani

  3 shared

• Alla Vash‐Margita

  Yale University

  3 shared

• Anna Lynn

  3 shared

• Anne Sailer

  Yale University

  2 shared

• Nadia Solomon

  Yale University

  2 shared

• Alexander M Kuehne

  Yale University

  2 shared

• Christina Lepore

  Yale University

  2 shared

• Kimberly Lynn

  1 shared

Awards & honors

• Roland H. Bainton Prize by Sixteenth Century Studies (2020)
• Albert C. Outler Prize by the American Society of Church His…