Braden Burton is a PhD Candidate in the Department of English at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Braden is focusing on the Medieval and Renaissance literary periods, and his research interests lie in examining representations of bestial intercession and religious/moral conversion Medieval literary works, as well as social commentary within Early Modern poetry and stage drama. Braden’s Masters Research Project, “The Dog & the Damned: Animal Interference in Sir Gowther and Sir Gawain and The Green Knight,” examines the two anonymous poets’ use of animal vessels as they speak to a larger metaphorical significance – one that disseminates across socio-cultural, religious, and literary boundaries by having them operate not only as motifs within the context of the two tales, but as spiritual or moral guides.

Braden earned both his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English Literature from Ball State University.