Events for 2010 - 2011

N.B. From July 2011 onwards, the archive pages for each academic year will take the form of a summary of an annual report submitted to the Dean of Research.

Annual Report 2010-2011
The Centre began the academic year 2010-2011 with a two-day conference held in College 2-3 September 2010. This was organised by one of the Centre’s Research Associates, Dr Eavan O’Brien, and was entitled ‘Forum for the Study of Early Modern Women in Contienental Europe’. It attracted an international range of scholars in the field and was very well attended. The conference also marked the launch of a new Research Network for the Centre, ‘Early Modern Women in Europe.’ The Strand Direcor is Dr O’Brien. An important outcome of the conference in terms of promoting scholarship in the field and the visibility of the Centre is the forthcoming publication of a volume of essays based on a number of the papers. Funding for the event came from various sources, namely GRH, CSR Consulting, the Society fror Renaissance Studies, and the Long Room Hub.
The Centre also hosted an international three-day workshop organised by another of the Centre’s Research Associates, Dr Barbara Crostini. Entitled ‘Convivencia in Byzantium? Cultural Exchanges in a Multi-Ethnic and Multi-Lingual Society’, the workshop was held in College 1-3 October 2010. It concluded with the launch of a new Research Network for the Centre, ‘Byzantine Studies’, the Strand Director of which is Dr Crostini.  Given the closure of Byzantine Studies at Queen’s, Belfast, this is a particularly important initiative for the visibility of the subject on this island (and, indeed, beyond). The proceedings of the workshop are being prepared for publication by Dr Crostini. Funding for the event came entirely from the European Science Foundation.
Between 22-25 November 2010, the Centre hosted a series of talks in the College by the noted Renaissance scholar Professor Gary Ferguson of the University of Delaware. The two talks on methodologies for writing Renaissance history were particularly well received by undergraduates. The visit also afforded an opportunity for discussion of future collaboration between Renaissance scholars at Delaware and those in the Centre. This visit was funded entirely by the College’s  ‘Visiting Professorships and Fellowships Benefactions Fund’ .
Between 8-10 December 2010, the Centre hosted a three-day palaeography workshop run by the eminent historian and Research Associate of the Centre Dr David Rundle of the University of Oxford. This workshop has become an annual event in the Centre’s calendar. It proves particularly popular with staff, post-graduates and undergraduates across the Faculty. 
In Hilary Term through into Trinity Term, the Centre ran an Outreach Programme, ‘Filming the Middle Ages and the Renaissance’. This programme, which combined lecture, discussion and screening, was taught by  Research Associates, independent scholars in the field, and Trinity staff. It was well attended by members of the public, staff, undergraduates and post-graduates.
The final activity of the academic year was a collaboration with the Centre for Reformation and Early Modern Studies at the University of Birmingham and it arose out of the Centre’s Research Network  ‘Early-Modern Gardens in Context’ launched in November 2009.  This collaboration took the form of a conference held on 18 June 2011 in Birmingham and entitled ‘Gardens and Gardening in Early Modern Britain’. Given the recent  closure of garden history at places such as Birkbeck and Bristol University, this event, together with the Centre’s Research Network, is  particularly important for  promoting  the subject.  One of the speakers was a post-graduate in Trinity’s French Department, Ms Donna Canada-Smith, and she is currently organising a conference on French Gardens in collaboration with the Centre (speakers will include John Dixon Hunt).
Mention should also be made of the Centre’s refereed book series, ‘Medieval and Renaissance Court Cultures’, published by Brepols. The first book in the series is scheduled to appear in print shortly and is an important work on the panegyric poetry of Johannes Michael Nagonius.
Other publications arising from events organised by the Centre are also in preparation:

1. Chaucer: A Golden Poet in a Golden Age, edited by Dr Gerald Morgan. This peer-reviewed collection of thirteen articles, accepted for publication by Peter Lang, arises directly from the Centre’s 2010 conference ‘Chaucer in Context’ and from the work of the Research Network of the same name.
2. French Renaissance Anthologies. A peer-reviewed volume of articles arising from a three-day conference of the same title hosted by the Centre in College in July 2010 in collaboration with the University of Liverpool. It is being edited by Dr Pollie Bromillow (University of Liverpool).
3. Political, Religious and Social Conflict in the Duchy of Savoy 1400-1700, a  volume of articles arising from a three-day conference, ‘Conflict and Society in Savoy, 1400-1700’, hosted by the Centre in College in May  2010. It is being edited by Dr Sarah Alyn Stacey.

The Centre also ran its very successful self-financing MPhil in Medieval Language, Literature and Culture (currently co-ordinated by Dr Alice Jorgensen).
To conclude, the academic year 2010-2011 saw the Centre continue to promote very actively the early-modern period through its international conferences, workshops, Outreach Programmes, collaborative activities, publications, formal Research Networks, MPhil., website, designated notice-board, e-mailings, established  links with various learned societies (eg. Renaissance Studies, Medium Aevum), Research Associates, and by its successful funding bids which make it highly cost effective.
Dr Sarah Alyn Stacey, Senior Lecturer, FTCD, Académie de Savoie, Director of the Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Studies,
28 June 2011