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Jenny Lang is one of the newest and most important College of Liberal Studies staffers… she handles the money! Well, sort of. She is the Payroll and Personnel Specialist for the college. That means she has the all-important job of paying the bills and making sure our faculty members are paid correctly (and on time!) for the work they do with our students.

On top of all that, starting next week she can also be found defending the White Queen as a rook on the Human Chess Board at this year’s Norman Medieval Fair. How amazing is that?! Very amazing.

Not Just Another Imitator

Jenny is a true enthusiast and has loved history as long as she can remember.  “I have always been interested in history and different cultures;  Medieval Europe has been a particular interest since childhood.”

Jenny says she started as just a fair goer in 1993 when she was an OU student. “I always enjoyed watching the joust and human chess games performed by the Arthurian Order of Avalon. Then in 1995, a friend heard they were holding auditions for human chess and I went to one of the rehearsals.  I was cast as a pawn that year and have been active ever since.”

Medieval Awesomeness

In addition to an impressive attendance and participation record for the Norman Medieval Fair, Jenny actually earned a B.A. from OU in Anthropology and then moved to Great Britain to get her M.A. from the University of York in Medieval Archaeology.  

“I have always been interested in history and different cultures;  Medieval Europe has been a particular interest since childhood.”

Other than living in a converted 150-year-old (and disappointingly un-haunted) Victorian hospital, Jenny’s time abroad was anything but dull and she came back with some interesting facts and experiences.

• The University of York is located in a city with over 2,000 years of history but only opened in 1963, three years after OU’s College of Liberal Studies.
• Virtually every British person she met, upon hearing she was from Oklahoma, began singing the Rodgers and Hammerstein song Oklahoma! “I’m still surprised at its popularity over there… along with ABBA tribute bands.”

ABBA tribute bands? It doesn’t get more medieval than that…

The 36th Annual Norman Medieval Fair starts next Friday, March 30th and runs through Sunday, April 1st. OU Outreach is one of the major sponsors, and many of our staff and faculty, as well as students and alumni, enjoy or participate in this long-running Norman tradition. We'll post more about the fair and activities next week. Until then, you can visit www.medievalfair.org to learn more.

Update: The College of Liberal Studies was renamed the College of Professional and Continuing Studies in 2017.