Latest Posts

  • Spotlight on: Sam Gibbs

    I was born in Poole but grew up in Swindon. I did both my BA and MA at the University of Reading, and stayed to do a PhD. My current PhD research is focussing on the English archers of the… Continue reading

  • Spotlight on: Ruth Salter

    I am a native of Reading, although I have very strong family ties with Devon.  As well as being one of the sessional lecturers I am also one of the Department’s PhD researchers – my work focusing on twelfth-century English… Continue reading

  • Departmental Research Seminar Spring Term 2014

    March 12th, 2.30 -6pm Ceremonies of rulership Dr Janet Dickinson (University of Reading), ‘Approaching the Queen: adapting to the challenges of ceremony at the Elizabethan court’. Dr Alice Hunt (University of Southampton), ‘Ceremony and the English Republic’ Dr Anna Keay… Continue reading

  • UROP projects 2014: Almanacs, Meteorology and the Origins of Weather Forecasts

    Did astrology produce serious weather forecasts, and how did people use them? Dr Anne Lawrence is running a research project on Medieval Meteorology in Context, and has gained funding for an undergraduate researcher to work on part of the project. … Continue reading

  • UROP projects 2014: Monsters and Mythical Beasts

    Dr Helen Parish is currently researching the place of dragons, monsters, and mythical beasts in late medieval and early modern culture, and has secured funding under the UROP scheme for an undergraduate researcher to work alongside her on this project. … Continue reading

  • Spotlight on: Harriet Mahood

    Before university, I lived and worked on my parents’ sheep farm in the Scottish highlands and amongst my more normal skills, I can shear sheep with traditional clippers and count a flock of sheep in under a minute. Oddly enough,… Continue reading

  • Spotlight on: Dr Anne Tarassenko and Dr Danielle Park

    Anne Trassenko was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey and attended the University of Durham for her undergraduate degree in English Literature. She then worked for 25 years in publishing before coming to Reading to do an MA in Medieval Studies at… Continue reading

  • Departmental Research Seminar Spring Term 2014

    The Invention of Ceremony, Wednesday 12 February 3.00-6pm, Palmer G05 Lindy Grant, Reading Blanche of Castile and the invention of ceremony Jeremy Burchardt, Reading ‘Roast beef and plum pudding’: the ceremony and symbolism of c.19th allotment society rent suppers Nicholas Bell, British… Continue reading

  • Spotlight on: Dr Helen Parish

    I joined the History Department in October 1999. I did my first degree at the University of St Andrews, and a D.Phil at the University of Oxford (Jesus College), before taking up a Junior Research Fellowship at Wolfson College, Oxford. … Continue reading

  • Spotlight on: Dr Emily West

    Originally from South Wales, I grew up in Leicester before completing my undergraduate degree in Economic and Social History at Liverpool. There I learned about slavery from a fantastic tutor, who really inspired my interest in American history. So I… Continue reading