Oxford Medieval studies Week 0 Michaelmas Term 2020

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Dear all,

At long last, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! The much-anticipated, dearly awaited, mind-blowingly exciting MEDIEVAL BOOKLET has been released for this term. Updates will be made over the next week or so, but any changes will be minor. You can see the full booklet, and print it off should you want it in physical form, on our blog.

If you’ve submitted a seminar, event, or reading group to the medieval booklet, we would love you make a five-minute presentation about it at this term’s MEDIEVAL ROADSHOW, Tuesday 13 October at 5 pm on the OMS Teams Channel. Advertise your events to new medievalists! Show us the texts for your reading group! Offer all the exciting information that didn’t fit in your booklet submission! Please email caroline.batten@ell.ox.ac.uk to register your participation.

In the meantime, there are a few events this week and next to have on your radar:

  • For those of you new to Oxford, there will be a digital introduction to online sources for medievalists, on Wednesday of Week 1 (14 October) from 2-2.30 pm, hosted by Matthew Holford, Tolkien Curator of Medieval Manuscripts, and Isabel Holowaty, Bodleian History Librarian. More information to follow soon, but mark your calendars now.
  • The PERLEGO Network, dedicated to academic research at the interface of text and image, is holding a digital conference from 19-22 October, ‘Critical Perspectives on Image and Text’. There will be some brilliant medieval papers given, and to view the full program and register for the conference you can visit the PERLEGO website.
  • One of the perks of online seminars is that we can attend seminars at other institutions without having to travel! This term’s interdisciplinary Earlier Middle Ages Seminars at King’s College London are open to Oxford medievalists, meeting on select Wednesdays (7 October, 21 October, 18 November, and 2 December) at 5:30 pm. Registration links for each lecture can be found in the OMS Digital Calendar.

And for those of you in need of medieval entertainment to sustain you in these strange times, we recommend a new, free to download documentary film on local singing group 'The Oxford Trobadors', involving several twelfth century songs, lots of spoken Occitan, and fascinating discussions of the history of the troubadours. Keep an eye on the OMS blog next week for a longer list of podcasts, videos, and blogs to get your medieval fix while working from home!

With all best wishes for the start of term.