JOINED THE DEPARTMENT

1989

Amy Nelson Burnett is a specialist in early modern European history. Her research focuses on the early modern Protestant clergy and the early Reformed tradition more generally. Her book Debating the Reformation: Print and Authority in the Early Reformation (2019) examines the division of the evangelical movement over the issues of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and it shows how reformers used the new medium of print to influence readers and attack opponents. She is the co-editor, with Emidio Campi, of The Companion to the Swiss Reformation (2016), published in German as Die Schweizerische Reformation. Ein Handbuch (2017). Burnett is also the author of Karlstadt and the Origins of the Eucharistic Controversy: A Study in the Circulation of Ideas (2011), as well as translator and editor of The Eucharistic Pamphlets of Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt (2011) and editor of John Calvin, Myth and Reality: Images and Impact of Geneva's Reformer, Papers of the 2009 Calvin Studies Society Colloquium (2011). Her book Teaching the Reformation: Ministers and their Message in Basel, 1529-1629 (2006) was awarded the Gerald Strauss Prize of the Sixteenth Century Society and Conference, and The Yoke of Christ: Martin Bucer and Christian Discipline (1996) won the Brewer Prize of the American Society of Church History. She has published numerous essays and articles on the Protestant Reformation in southern Germany and Switzerland. She was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ (2009) and received fellowships from the American Philosophical society (2010) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2001, 2004). In 2012, Professor Burnett was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the Leibniz-Institute für Europäische Geschichte in Mainz, Germany.

From 2001-2009 Professor Burnett was one of three faculty coordinators of the Peer Review of Teaching Project, which supports faculty in assessing and documenting their teaching and the student learning that results. Together with Daniel Bernstein, Amy Goodburn, and Paul Savory, she is co-author of Making Teaching and Learning Visible: Course Portfolios and the Peer Review of Teaching, and, with Drs. Savory and Goodburn, of Inquiry into the College Classroom: A Journey Toward Scholarly Teaching. She received a College Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1999 and was inducted into UNL's Academy of Distinguished Teachers in 2007.

CV

BOOKS

• Debating the Sacraments: Print and Authority in the Early Reformation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.
• Amy Nelson Burnett and Emidio Campi, eds. Companion to the Swiss Reformation. Leiden: Brill, 2016.
• Amy Nelson Burnett, Kathleen Comerford, and Karin Maag, eds.Politics, Gender, and Belief: The Long-Term Impact of the Reformation. Essays in Memory of Robert M. Kingdon. Geneva: Droz, 2014.
• Karlstadt and the Origins of the Eucharistic Controversy: A Study in the Circulation of Ideas. Oxford Studies in Historical Theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
• The Eucharistic Pamphlets of Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt. Translation and edition. Early Modern Studies 6. Kirksville, Mo: Truman State University Press, 2011.
• John Calvin, Myth and Reality: Image and Impact of Geneva’s Reformer. Papers of the 2009 Calvin Studies Society Colloquium. Edited volume. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2011.
• Savory, Paul, Amy Nelson Burnett, and Amy Goodburn. Inquiry into the College Classroom: A Journey Towards Scholarly Teaching. Bolton, Mass: Anker Publishing, 2007.
• Bernstein, Daniel, Amy Nelson Burnett, Amy Goodburn, and Paul Savory. Making Teaching and Learning Visible: Course Portfolios and the Peer Review of Teaching. Bolton, Mass: Anker Publishing, 2006.
• Teaching the Reformation: Ministers and their Message in Basel, 1529-1629. Oxford Studies in Historical Theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Awarded the Gerald Strauss Prize by the Sixteenth Century Society and Conference, 2008.
• The Yoke of Christ: Martin Bucer and Christian Discipline. Sixteenth Century Essays and Studies 27. Kirksville, Mo: Sixteenth Century Publishers, 1994. Awarded the Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize by the American Society of Church History, 1991.

SELECTED ARTICLES AND ESSAYS

• “Picards, Karlstadtians, and Oecolampadians: (Re-) Naming the Early Eucharistic Controversy.” In Names and Naming in Early Modern Germany, ed. Joel Harrington and Marjorie E. Plummer, 15-39. New York: Berghahn, 2019.
• “The Hussite Background to the Sixteenth-Century Eucharistic Controversy,” Bohemian Reformation and Religious Practice 11 (2018): 200–16.
• “’Instructed with the Greatest Diligence Concerning the Holy Sacrament’: Communion Preparation in the Early Years of the Reformation,” in From Wittenberg to the World: Essays on the Reformation and its Legacy, ed. Erick Herrmann and Charles Arand, 47–66. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2018.
• “From Concord to Confession: The Wittenberg Concord and the Consensus Tigurinus in Historical Perspective.” Reformation and Renaissance Review 18 (2016): 47-58.
• “Oekolampads Anteil am Frühen Abendmahlsstreit,” in Basel als Zentrum des geistigen Austauchs in der frühen Reformation, edited by Christine Christ-von Wedel, Sven Grosse, and Berndt Hamm. Spätmittelalter, Humanismus, Reformation 81. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014, pp. 215-31.
• “Academic Heresy, the Reuchlin Affair, and the Control of Theological Discourse in the Early Sixteenth Century,” in Church and School in Early Modern Protestantism: Studies in Honor of Richard A. Muller on the Maturation of a Theological Tradition, edited by Jordan J. Ballor, David S. Sytsma and Jason Zuidema. Studies in the History of Christian Traditions 170. Leiden: Brill, 2013, pp. 35-48.
• “Rhetoric and Refutation in Luther’s 'That These Words Still Stand Firm,’” Lutheran Quarterly 29 (2015): 284-303.
• “‘Things I Never Said or Thought”? Erasmus’ Exegetical Contribution to the Early Eucharistic Controversy,” in Collaboration, Conflict and Continuity in the Reformation. Essays in Honor of James M. Estes on his Eightieth Birthday, edited by Konrad Eisenbichler. Essays and Studies 34. Toronto: Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2014, pp. 275-95.
• “Luther and the Schwärmer,” in The Oxford Handbook of Martin Luther's Theology, edited by Robert Kolb, Irene Dingel and Lubomir Batka. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 511-24.
• “‘According to the Oldest Authorities’: The Use of the Fathers in the Early Eucharistic Controversy,” in The Reformation as Christianization: Essays on Scott Hendrix’s Christianization Thesis, edited by Anna Marie Johnson and John A. Maxfield. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012, pp. 373-95.
• “Hermeneutics and Exegesis in the Early Eucharistic Controversy,” in Shaping the Bible in the Reformation: Books, Scholars and Readers in the Sixteenth Century, edited by Bruce Gordon and Matthew McLean, Library of the Written Word. Leiden: Brill, 2012, pp. 85-105.
• “Ausbildung im Dienst der Kirche und Stadt: Die Universität Basel im Zeitalter der Renaissance und Reformation,” in Gelehrte zwischen Humanismus und Reformation. Kontexte der Universitätsgründung in Basel 1460, edited by Martin Wallraff. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2011, pp. 47–68.
• “Preaching and Printing in Germany on the Eve of the Thirty Years’ War,” in The Book Triumphant: Print in Transition in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, edited by Malcolm Walsby, Library of the Written Word 15, The Handpress World 9. Leiden: Brill, 2011, pp. 132-57.
• “The Social History of Communion and the Reformation of the Eucharist,” Past and Present 211 (2011): 77-119.
• “Basel, Beza and the Development of Calvinist Orthodoxy in the Swiss Confederation,” in Calvin und Calvinismus—Europäische Perspektiven, edited by Irene Dingel and Herman Selderhuis, Veröffentlichungen des Instituts fur europäische Geschichte Mainz 84. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011, pp. 69–83.
• “‘It Varies from Canton to Canton’: Zurich, Basel, and the Swiss Reformation.” Calvin Theological Journal 44 (2009): 251-62.
• “Basel’s Long Reformation: Church Ordinances and the Shaping of Religious Culture in the Sixteenth Century,” Zwingliana 35 (2008): 145-59.
• “Local Boys and Peripatetic Scholars: Theology Students in Basel, 1542-1642.” In Konfession, Migration und Elitenbildung: Studien zur Theologenausbildung des 16. Jahrhunderts, edited by Hermann Selderhuis and Marcus Wriedt. Leiden: Brill, 2007, pp. 109-39.
• “How to Preach a Protestant Sermon: A Comparison of Lutheran and Reformed Homiletics,” Theologische Zeitschrift 63 (2007): 109-119.
• “Heinrich Bullinger and the Problem of Eucharistic Concord.” In Heinrich Bullinger. Life—Thought—Influence. Zurich, Aug. 25-29, 2004, International Congress Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575), edited by Peter Opitz and Emidio Campi. Zurich: TVZ, 2007, pp. 233-50.
• “‘Kilchen ist uff dem Radthus’? Conflicting Views of Magistrate and Ministry in Early Reformation Basel.” In Debatten über Legitimation von Herrschaft. Politische Kommunikation in der Frühen Neuzeit, edited by Luise Schorn-Schütte and Sven Tode. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2006, pp. 49-65.
• “The Myth of the Swiss Lutherans: Martin Bucer and the Eucharistic Controversy in Bern,” Zwingliana777;"> 32 (2005): 45-70.
• “‘To Oblige my Brethren’: The Reformed Funeral Sermons of Johann Brandmüller,” Sixteenth Century Journal 36 (2005): 37-54.
• “A Tale of Three Churches: Pastors and Parishes in Basel, Strasbourg, and Geneva,” in Calvin and the Company of Pastors, ed. David Foxgrover, Calvin Studies Society Papers 2003. Grand Rapids, Mich: CRC Publication, 2004, pp. 95-124.
• “Preparing the Pastors: Pastoral Training and Theological Education in Sixteenth-Century Basel,” in The Past has Many Voices, Festschrift for Robert M. Kingdon, ed. Lee Palmer Wandel, Sixteenth Century Essays and Studies. Kirksville, Mo.: Truman State University Press, 2003, pp. 131-51.
• “Generational Conflict and the Late Reformation: The Basel Paroxysm,” Journal of Interdisciplinary History 32 (2001): 219-244.
• “Basel’s Rural Pastors as Mediators of Confessional and Social Discipline,” Central European History 33 (2000): 67-85.
• “Melanchthon’s Reception in Basel,” in Melanchthon in Europe: His Work and Influence Beyond Wittenberg, ed. Karin Maag. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1999, pp. 69-85.

TEACHING

• “A Template for Writing a Course Portfolio to Document Teaching,” Perspectives 44/7 (Oct., 2006): 56-7.
• Course portfolios for History 120 (World History) and History 421 (Age of Religious Reform/German Reformation) available on the UN-L Peer Review of Teaching Project website (through the link “Explore Course Portfolios): http://www.courseportfolio.org

Teaching-Related Presentations

• With Amy Goodburn, “Using Course Portfolios to Develop Scholarly Teaching and SoTL,” International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) Conference, Sydney, Australia, July, 2007.
• “Developing Institutional Faculty Communities to Review and Assess SOTL Work,” International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) Conference, Washington, D.C., Nov. 2006.
• “Teaching the German Reformation,” Sixteenth Century Studies Conference, Salt Lake City, Oct. 2006.
• With Amy Goodburn and Paul Savory, “Developing and Integrating a Campus Program for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Initiatives,” CASTL Colloquium on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Evidence, Impact, and Momentum, Madison, WI, April 2006.
• With Dana Fritz, Frauke Hachtmann, and Tim Wentz, “The Peer Review of Teaching Project: Promoting Teacher Scholarship and Leadership.” 2005 ISSOTL Conference, Vancouver, B.C., October 2005.
• With Paul Savory and Nancy Simpson, “Promoting Peer Collaboration on Campus,” Making Teaching Visible: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference, Lincoln, NE, March 2004.

Courses Taught

World History

Western Civilization to 1715

History of Christianity

The Historian’s Craft

Renaissance and Reformation, 1300-1550

European Culture in the Confessional Age, 1550-1700

Italian Renaissance

German Reformation

Graduate seminars on early modern Europe, on teaching history at the college level, and on professional development for academic careers (Preparing Future Faculty)

SELECTED HONORS AND FELLOWSHIPSResearch

• 2013 Summer Co-leader (with Karin Maag) of NEH Summer Seminar: Persecution, Toleration, Co-Existence: Early Modern Responses to Religious Pluralism
• 2012 Harold Grimm Prize, awarded by the Sixteenth Century Society and Conference (SCSC), for “The Social History of Communion and the Reformation of the Eucharist”
• 2012 Spring Fulbright Senior Scholar, Leibniz-Institute for European History, Mainz, Germany
• 2011 College Award for Outstanding Research and Creative Activities in the Humanities
• 2010 Spring American Philosophical Society Sabbatical Fellowship 2009 Fall Visiting Scholar, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ 2008 Gerald Strauss book prize, awarded by the SCSC, for Teaching the Reformation
• 2006 Faculty fellowship, UNL Center for Digital Research in the Humanities
• 2005 UNL Research Council Seed Grant for comparative sermon bibliographic database

Teaching

• 2012 UNL Parents Association Certificate of Recognition
• 2007 Inducted into UNL Academy of Distinguished Teachers
• 2006 “Western Civilization to 1715” cited as exemplary by the College Board Advanced Placement Best Practices Study
• 2005 TIAA-CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Certificate of Excellence awarded to UNL Peer Review of Teaching Project, for which I was a co-coordinator
• 2000-01 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Community Fellow, UN-L
• 1999 College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award 1997-98 Peer Review of Teaching Fellow, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

SELECTED INVITED LECTURES AND CONFERENCE PAPERS

• "Print, Polemics and the Lord's Supper in South Germany, invited presentation at Stanford Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Stanford, CA, Nov. 2012 “Print, Polemic, and the Lord’s Supper in Ulm,” Sixteenth Century Society and Conference, Cincinnati, OH, Oct. 2012
• “Accusations of Heresy in the Early Sixteenth Century,” International Luther Congress, Helsinki, Finland, Aug. 2012 “Everyone Except Zwingli and Luther: the Reformation Debate over the Lord’s Supper, 1525-1529,” Colloquium presentation at the Leibniz-Institut für Europäische Geschichte Mainz, July 2012
• “Das Anteil Oekolampads am frühen Abendmahlsstreit,” invited paper at the conference, “Basel als Zentrum des geistigen Austauches in der frühen Reformationszeit” (Basel as center of intellectual exchange in the early Reformation), Basel, Switzerland, June 2012
• “Publishing the Lord’s Supper: The Eucharistic Controversy in Print, 1525-1529,” Sixteenth Century Society and Conference, Fort Worth, TX, Oct. 2011<
• “Vigorous Rhetoric and the Charm of Sonorous Delivery”: Ethos and Polemic in the Early Eucharistic Controversy,” Sixteenth Century Society and Conference, Montreal, Canada, Oct. 2010

EXPERTISE AND RESEARCH INTERESTS

Early Modern European history:
Protestant Reformation in Germany and Switzerland;
Printing and the Reformation debate over the Lord’s Supper;
The early modern clergy;
Early modern preaching;
Late humanism and university history