Jennifer Bryan – författare

"You must see yourself." The exhortation was increasingly familiar to English men and women in the two centuries before the Reformation. They encountered it repeatedly in their devotional books, the popular guides to spiritual self-improvement that were reaching an ever-growing readership at the end of the Middle Ages. But what did it mean to see oneself? What was the nature of the self to be envisioned, and what eyes and mirrors were needed to see and know it properly?Looking Inward traces a complex network of answers to such questions, exploring how English readers between 1350 and 1550 learned to envision, examine, and change themselves in the mirrors of devotional literature. By all accounts, it was the most popular literature of the period. With literacy on the rise, an outpouring of translations and adaptations flowed across traditional boundaries between religious and lay, and between female and male, audiences. As forms of piety changed, as social categories became increasingly porous, and as the heart became an increasingly privileged and contested location, the growth of devotional reading created a crucial arena for the making of literate subjectivities. The models of private reading and self-reflection constructed therein would have important implications, not only for English spirituality, but for social, political, and poetic identities, up to the Reformation and beyond.In Looking Inward, Bryan examines a wide range of devotional and secular texts, from works by Walter Hilton, Julian of Norwich, and Thomas Hoccleve to neglected translations like The Chastising of God's Children and The Pricking of Love. She explores the models of identification and imitation through which they sought to reach the inmost selves of their readers, and the scripts for spiritual desire that they offered for the cultivation of the heart. Illuminating the psychological paradigms at the heart of the genre, Bryan provides fresh insights into how late medieval men and women sought to know, labor in, and profit themselves by means of books.

Most people shy away from emotion, especially at work. Yet, when it comes to leading change, emotion is exactly what leaders can’t afford to ignore. This book lifts the lid on the part of change leadership that’s so often overlooked: how people feel. It explores why emotions drive behaviour, how they shape reactions to change, and what leaders can do to turn emotional resistance into resilience and momentum.Change has become business as usual but that doesn’t mean leaders know how to manage it well. Too often, feelings are dismissed, ignored, or avoided altogether, leaving people demotivated and disengaged. And change is no longer a one-off event; it’s constant. Every leader, regardless of role or industry, needs to navigate shifting priorities, structures, and expectations. But while the pace of change has accelerated, our ability to deal with its emotional impact has not. This book offers a proven, people-first approach to leading change that works and puts understanding, empathy, and foresight at the heart of the process. Drawing on cutting-edge behavioural research and tested in organisations around the world, The Emotional Side of Organizational Change: How to Survive and Thrive is both practical and powerful. It combines foresight tools like horizon scanning and trend analysis with organisational development insights to help leaders design change that sticks for both the business and the people within it.Whether you’re a functional business leader, HR professional, or change-maker, this book shows you how to navigate constant change with confidence, lead people through uncertainty, and build an organisation that’s truly future-ready.

Most people shy away from emotion, especially at work. Yet, when it comes to leading change, emotion is exactly what leaders can’t afford to ignore. This book lifts the lid on the part of change leadership that’s so often overlooked: how people feel. It explores why emotions drive behaviour, how they shape reactions to change, and what leaders can do to turn emotional resistance into resilience and momentum.Change has become business as usual but that doesn’t mean leaders know how to manage it well. Too often, feelings are dismissed, ignored, or avoided altogether, leaving people demotivated and disengaged. And change is no longer a one-off event; it’s constant. Every leader, regardless of role or industry, needs to navigate shifting priorities, structures, and expectations. But while the pace of change has accelerated, our ability to deal with its emotional impact has not. This book offers a proven, people-first approach to leading change that works and puts understanding, empathy, and foresight at the heart of the process. Drawing on cutting-edge behavioural research and tested in organisations around the world, The Emotional Side of Organizational Change: How to Survive and Thrive is both practical and powerful. It combines foresight tools like horizon scanning and trend analysis with organisational development insights to help leaders design change that sticks for both the business and the people within it.Whether you’re a functional business leader, HR professional, or change-maker, this book shows you how to navigate constant change with confidence, lead people through uncertainty, and build an organisation that’s truly future-ready.

Very few PreK-12 teachers are adequately trained to address the gender identity and sexual identity of their students in a developmentally-appropriate and pedagogically-sound manner. Yet responsible adults—parents, educators, pre-service teachers, coaches, religious instructors, camp administrators and school counselors— must help children navigate the inherently diverse, increasingly complex world of gender and sexuality in the twenty-first century. From the Dress-Up Corner to the Senior Prom is a practical, forward thinking resource for anyone involved in educating children and adolescents. Jennifer Bryan takes readers into classrooms, administrative meetings, recess, parent conferences, and the annual pep rally to witness the daily manifestations of Gender and Sexuality Diversity at school. She provides a coherent framework for understanding what readers "see," and invites them to use a contemporary, heart/mind perspective as they consider the true developmental needs of all elementary, middle, and high school students. The book features thoughtful questions, models of dialogue, accessible lesson plans, and many pedagogical strategies. At the heart of this book, though, are the evocative stories from teachers, students, and parents that Bryan has listened to over the span of her career. These personal anecdotes bring the comprehensive explorations of this seminal work to life.