Bio

Vera Geranpayeh is a PhD Student in German Studies and PhD Minor in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Stanford University. Her dissertation investigates how gender structures narrative movement in medieval German romance, focusing on minor female figures who remain structurally marginal yet narratively indispensable. She develops a framework for understanding how these figures catalyze plot progression through epistemic authority, mediation, and mobility, while remaining excluded from patriarchal mechanisms of narrative closure, such as minne and marriage.

In addition to her dissertation, she is developing a critical edition and English translation of a vernacular 1593 Franconian aristocratic household cookbook Ein koch büchlein vonn allerley speiß wie man sie kochen soll (1593). This project examines domestic authorship, women’s custodianship of culinary and medical knowledge, and the transmission of embodied expertise across generations.

Her research is further informed by training in Yiddish and a focused interest in early modern Yiddish texts, particularly domestic and practical writing, charms and magical materials, and the Yiddish Epic tradition.

She is also the student initiator of SCRIPTA, an interdisciplinary research group on gender, knowledge, and agency in premodern manuscript cultures, which combines theoretical discussion with hands-on archival work in Stanford’s Special Collections and hosts workshops with invited scholars.

Her broader research spans queer survival, female bonds, and desire in nineteenth-century and fin-de-siècle German literature. She is the recipient of the Clayman Institute’s 2025 Marilyn Yalom Research Prize.

Honors & Awards

  • Marilyn Yalom Research Prize, Clayman Institute for Gender Research (2025)
  • Stipend, Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes (2023-2024)
  • Stipend, Dr. Leonhard Baak Memorial Scholarship (2022-2024)
  • Stipend, Max Kade Foundation (2022-2024)

Education & Certifications

  • M.A., University of Colorado, Boulder, German Studies
  • B.A., Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, North American Studies and English: Language, Literatures, and Cultures
  • DAF/DAZ Certificate, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Interkulturelle Germanistik

Service, Volunteer and Community Work

  • SCRIPTA: Gender, Knowledge, and Agency in the Premodern Western European World, Stanford University

    SCRIPTA (Studies in Coded Reading, Identity, Performance, Text, and Agency (800–1700)) is an interdisciplinary, collaborative research group dedicated to investigating how textual form, gender, and agency are encoded, enacted, and transmitted in medieval and early modern manuscript cultures. While grounded in close textual and material study, SCRIPTA insists on a bidirectional methodology: not only do we apply modern critical frameworks—such as gender and feminist theory, ecocriticism, and poststructuralist thought—to premodern materials, we also ask how premodern texts and practices challenge, nuance, or even reconfigure our current models of identity, knowledge, and power. SCRIPTA brings together scholars from the fields of literature, history and art history and enables new forms of collaboration across disciplinary and methodological boundaries.
    Our inquiry centers on the manuscript as a site of tension and negotiation between embodied performance and textual transmission. We encourage and support participants to engage directly with unstudied manuscripts in Stanford’s Special Collections, exploring how scribal practices, paratextual features, and codicological forms shape meaning and agency.
    SCRIPTA is committed to cultivating a sustained intellectual community that centers mentorship, collaborative inquiry, and graduate student development. By offering structured opportunities for graduate students to engage with both faculty and peers across disciplines, the group fosters a supportive environment for testing ideas, refining research questions, and integrating manuscript work into dissertation projects. The group’s structure—balancing theoretical seminars, hands-on archival exploration, and public-facing scholarship—enables students to build critical skills while contributing meaningfully to broader scholarly conversations. Graduate students will also benefit from exposure to leading scholars in the field, opening avenues for professional development and long-term research collaboration.

    Location

    Stanford

Contact

  • Academic
    veragera@stanford.edu
    University - Student Department: H & S Programs Position: Graduate
    University - Student Department: German Position: Graduate

Additional Info

  • Mail Code: 2030

Links

Research Interests

  • Diversity and Identity
  • Equity in Education

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Vera Geranpayeh is a PhD candidate in German Studies. Her dissertation investigates how Vera Geranpayeh is a PhD Student in German Studies and PhD Minor in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Stanford University. Her dissertation investigates how gender structures narrative movement in medieval German romance, focusing on minor female figures who remain structurally marginal yet narratively indispensable. She develops a framework for understanding how these figures catalyze plot progression through epistemic authority, mediation, and mobility, while remaining excluded from patriarchal mechanisms of narrative closure, such as minne and marriage.

In addition to her dissertation, she is developing a critical edition and English translation of a vernacular 1593 Franconian aristocratic household cookbook Ein koch büchlein vonn allerley speiß wie man sie kochen soll (1593). This project examines domestic authorship, women’s custodianship of culinary and medical knowledge, and the transmission of embodied expertise across generations.

Her research is further informed by training in Yiddish and a focused interest in early modern Yiddish texts, particularly domestic and practical writing, charms and magical materials, and the Yiddish Epic tradition.

She is also the student initiator of SCRIPTA, an interdisciplinary research group on gender, knowledge, and agency in premodern manuscript cultures, which combines theoretical discussion with hands-on archival work in Stanford’s Special Collections and hosts workshops with invited scholars.

She is the recipient of the Clayman Institute’s 2025 Marilyn Yalom Research Prize.
Her broader research spans queer survival, female bonds, and desire in nineteenth-century and fin-de-siècle German literature. She is the recipient of the Clayman Institute’s 2025 Marilyn Yalom Research Prize.

2025-26 Courses