Biography

Dr Karen Ralls, Oxford-based author, medieval historian, and world religions scholar, is widely recognized for her ground-breaking work.  A lively and inspiring conference speaker, international lecturer, acclaimed specialist researcher, and  media / film consultant, Dr Ralls is the author of The Knights Templar Encyclopedia (Career Press, NJ, 2007), The Templars and the Grail (Quest Books, Chicago, 2003), The Quest for the Celtic Key (Luath, Edinburgh 2002) and Music and the Celtic Otherworld (Edinburgh University Press, Palgrave/Macmillan, NY 2000).  She obtained her PhD from the University of Edinburgh, and was asked to remain on as Postdoctoral Fellow and lecturer for six years, before continuing at Oxford in 2001.

Dr Ralls is also a member of the American Academy of Religion (AAR),  the British Association of the Study of Religion (BASR), a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (Scot.).

Originally from the USA, Dr Ralls has been based in the U.K. for seventeen years conducting in-depth medieval history research;  she lectures and teaches worldwide for academic and general audiences and serves as a professional historical media consultant, appearing on numerous TV documentaries for History Channel, Discovery and National Geographic. (See Media for more information).

Her books include:
The Knights Templar Encyclopedia ( Career Press, NJ, USA 2007),
The Templars and the Grail (Quest Books, Chicago, 2003),
The Quest for the Celtic Key (Luath Press, Edinburgh, 2002, w/I. Robertson),
Indigenous Religious Musics (Ashgate, 2001),
Music and the Celtic Otherworld (Edinburgh University Press / St. Martin's Press NY, 2000.

A musician (flute, harp) and storyteller, she also values the experiential as well as the academic, and spiritual experience as well as theory. Conferences, tours, lectures, films / videos, seminars and books are an important part of the outreach of Karen's work, as are travel and intercultural dialogue. She has also recently completed a course in Medieval and Renaissance Art History at the V & A Museum, London.

"Knowledge comes, but Wisdom lingers..."
      (Alfred Lord Tennyson)

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