CMRS RESEARCH NETWORKS
The Centre has launched a number of Research Networks with a view to promoting research in the early period and collaboration between scholars at an individual and institutional level. These networks aim also to focus attention on the riches of Trinity's Old Library and to promote instruction in methodologies for interpreting the past. The networks are coordinated by eminent specialists in the respective fields. The involvement of other institutions, scholars, postgraduates, and members of the public is most welcome. A number of new networks will be launched in 2022.
THE EARLY-MODERN GARDENS IN CONTEXT RESEARCH NETWORK
On 21st November 2009, the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Trinity College Dublin, launched its interdisciplinary research network, Early-Modern Gardens in Context, at an inaugural conference of the same name(http://earlymoderngardens.wordpress.com/conferences-and-events/). The Centre is keen to hear from other institutions and also from independent scholars, students, and researchers who are interested in participating in this network. The focus of the network is strongly interdisciplinary, and it examines - primarily through conferences, workshops, and publications - a wide range of issues and themes touching on Early-Modern gardens. These include any aspects of horticulture and garden design that would benefit from cross-disciplinary study, with a particular emphasis in such areas as gardens in Medieval and Renaissance literature, historic gardens of Britain and Ireland and influences on their design, and Early-Modern gardens in illustrated books.
The network is also designed to relay any potentially relevant information concerning forthcoming conferences, publications, funding opportunities etc. to its members.
In May 2012 the Research Network, together with the French Department, organised a two-day international conference entitled: ‘Images of the Garden: the French Garden as Cultural Palimpsest’. The Keynote Speaker was the renowned garden historian Professor John Dixon Hunt (University of Pennsylvania). The conference, organised by Dr Canada-Smith, included speakers from France, Portugal, Ireland, England, and the USA). A refereed publication is planned based on a selection of the papers.
The network is currently planning a conference scheduled to take place in September 2016 in Trinity College on the influence of French Gardens in Ireland. A Call for Papers will be issued very shortly. This conference is an element of a larger project sponsored by the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute.
All enquiries concerning the network and the forthcoming conference should be directed to the Director of the research network, Dr Donna Canada-Smith (canadadt@tcd.ie).
CHAUCER IN CONTEXT
The Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Trinity College Dublin, launched its research network Chaucer in Context at a conference of the same title held in Trinity on Saturday 17 April 2010; speakers included Gerald Morgan, Alan Fletcher, Nick Jacobs, and Rory McTurk.
The network aims to promote discussion and collaboration between Chaucer scholars through seminars, workshops and conferences. The Centre is keen to hear from other institutions, scholars, and post-graduates who are interested in participating in this network. The network is also designed to relay any potentially relevant information concerning forthcoming conferences, publications, funding opportunities etc. to its members. The network is run in close association with The Chaucer Hub (Director Dr Morgan).
To date, the network has published several refereed works.
A volume of articles, Chaucer in Context: A Golden Age of English Poetry, ed. Gerald Morgan (Oxford:Peter Lang, 2012). This was launched in Trinity’s Long Room Hub on 11 May 2012.
On Friday 10 May 2013, the Centre launched two books arising from the network, The Shaping of English Poetry Volume II: Essays on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Langland and Chaucer and The Shaping of English Poetry Volume III: Essays on Beowulf, Dante, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Langland,Chaucer and Spenser, both written and edited by Dr Gerald Morgan and published by Peter Lang (Oxford: 2013). Professor Jane Roberts of the Institute of English Studies (University of London) launched the two books in the Long Room Hub. The launch was extremely well attended by colleagues, students past and present, and members of the public.
On 7 October 2014, the network launched 'Truthe is the Beste': A Festschrift in Honour of A.V.C.Schmidt, edited by Nicolas Jacobs and Gerald Morgan, in the Master's Lodgings, Balliol College, University of Oxford. This publication appeared in the Centre's refereed series 'Court Cultures of the Middle Ages and Renaissance' (Oxford, Peter Lang, 2014).
All enquiries concerning the network should be directed to the Director of the research network,Dr Gerald Morgan.
FORUM FOR THE STUDY OF EARLY-MODERN WOMEN IN EUROPE
This research network was formally launched at a colloquium in Trinity College Dublin held on Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd September 2010. The fruits of this were published in a peer-reviewed volume of articles, Representing Women's Authority in the Early Modern World, ed. Eavan O'Brien (Rome: Aracne Editrice, 2013).
The Forum is committed to supporting collaborative and individual research on the early modern women of Continental Europe. This encompasses the creative output of early modern women, their depiction in literary and artistic works, and their socio-historic contexts. The Forum is designed to cross both disciplinary and geographical boundaries. It is intended that this initiative will foster the publication of interdisciplinary research and facilitate the emergence of a new scholarly network in this field.
We are especially interested in utilising the relevant holdings of the Manuscripts and Archives Research Library, Trinity College Dublin, in order to further the study of early modern women.
Expressions of interest from scholars (including postgraduate research students) in relevant disciplines are most welcome.
All enquiries concerning the network and the conference should be directed to the Director of the research network, Dr Eavan O'Brien, Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Trinity College Dublin.
BYZANTINE STUDIES RESEARCH NETWORK
This research network was launched in October 2010 at the workshop '“Convivencia” in Byzantium? Cultural Exchanges in a Multi-Ethnic and Multi-Lingual Society' (1-3 October 2010), an event sponsored by the ESF and organized by the Centre's Research Associate Dr Barbara Crostini. This network builds on the Centre's earlier initiatives to promote Byzantine Studies through workshops organised by Dr Savas Neocleous (see archive). All enquiries concerning the network and the workshop should be directed to the Director of the research network, Dr Barbara Crostini. In 2013, the followingpeer-reviewed publication appeared as a result of the network: Negotiating Co-Existence: Communities, Cultures and 'Convivencia' in Byzantine Society, ed. Barbara Crostini and Sergio La Porta (Trier, Bochumer Altertumswissensschaftliches Colloquium, 2013).
THE IRISH CONFLICT ARCHAEOLOGY NETWORK
"There is in many of us a desire, not perhaps to trail a pike or shoulder a musket ourselves, but to understand something about those who did...'
~ Prof. Richard Holmes, Introduction, War Walks 2 (BBC Books, London: 1997) p.11
On 28th May 2015, the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Trinity College Dublin, launched its interdisciplinary research Irish Conflict Archaeology Network, in the Trinity Long Room Hub. Conflict and battlefield archaeology can often be an emotive subject, but with specific reference to Ireland and, given the religious and political undertones, this feeling is frequently heightened. In the context of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, sites of conflict and the archaeology of battlefields takes on a completely different perspective. Unlike most archaeological sites, conflict/battle sites still hold an important place in Irish society; they embody the political turmoil of the past, the commitments of the present and the identity for the future. This respect makes the study of Irish battlefields and conflict particularly absorbing.
The focus of the Network is heavily interdisciplinary and inclusive of every aspect or period of warfare and political or cultural tension in Ireland - or relating to it outside these shores. The Network intends to work closely with colleagues in War Studies, History, Classics, Languages, Gender, Geography, Medicine and Anthropology, to name but a few. The network is designed to promote relevant information concerning excavation or research work to its members, primarily through conferences, workshops, and publications.
As such, the Network will hopefully provide many interesting opportunities to meet like-minded researchers, students and academics with an enthusiastic interest in Irish military history/archaeology in a convivial and informal atmosphere. Indeed, the Centre would warmly welcome all those who may be interested in participating in this network.
Please send any enquiries to the Network's Director, Dr Gavin Hughes.
EVENTS 2015
28 May 2105:
An inaugural event, held the Trinity Long Room Hub, launched the Network, with the joint aim of commemorating the 700th anniversary of the Bruce campaign in Ireland and exploring the aims and widespread interest in this flourishing discipline. Guest speakers included; Dr Tony Pollard (Senior Lecturer in History and Battlefield Archaeology at Glasgow University), Damian Shiels, Rubicon Heritage), Dr Susan Foran (Centre for War Studies and Medieval and Renaissance Studies, TCD), Stephen Rooke (Managing Director Tile Films) and David Ryan (Head of Research and Development, Tile Films). The topics covered ranged from Barbour's Bruce, the potential of Irish 'battlefield' archaeology to current international approaches within conflict archaeology and anthropology. The event concluded with an appreciation of Tile Film's After Braveheart (BBC/RTE) and discussion of how military history or conflict archaeology can be successfully explained or translated to a television audience. Sincere thanks are duly give to all those at Tile Films (particularly Stephen Rooke, David Ryan and Sarah Keogh) and to Deirdre Devlin, Executive Producer, BBCNI, for their generous co-operation and assistance.
EVENTS 2016-2017
22-25 September 2016
The Ninth Fields of Conflict conference http://fieldsofconflict.wordpress.com/programme/
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS -
- The Hounds of Ulster – A History of the Northern Irish Regiments in the Great War (Peter Lang, Oxford, 2012)
- The Fighting Irish – Irish Regiments in the First World War (Merrion Press, Sallins, 2015)
The Arts and Politics of Virtue in Medieval and Early Modern Europe
Colleagues from across the disciplines are warmly invited to participate in the following Research Network which was launched in the Galbraith Seminar Room (Trinity Long Room Hub) on Tuesday 1 December 2016 at 4 p.m. The initial seminar established a further Research Network in the Centre, ‘The Arts and Politics of Virtue in Medieval and Early Modern Europe’ in collaboration with the Stockholm University interdisciplinary research cluster, ‘Teaching Virtue’.
The seminar was led by Dr Biörn Tjällén, the Director of the Research Network, and a Visiting Research Fellow of the Centre.
This Research Network links the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Trinity College, Dublin with the Stockholm University interdisciplinary research cluster, ‘Teaching Virtue’, which was established in 2013 to promote studies of the ‘politics of education in pre-modern Europe’. Virtue ethics was the dominant form of moral philosophy until the modern era, and hence an essential feature of arts, letters and political discourse in medieval and early modern Europe. The network aims to connect scholars from all disciplines engaged in research where historical conceptions of virtue and traditions of virtue ethics help deepen our understanding of past art, political action and societal organization. In its explorations of historical, textual and visual materials, the network complements Trinity’s Arts and Humanities research strands, especially those involving textual and visual exegesis and critical self-reflection, such as ‘Textual Studies and Methods’, ‘Book History and Print Media’, and ‘The Library and the University’.
In the first round of activities, the Research Network will engage with the fraught issue of forcing ‘virtue’ on those members of society who are unwilling or resist the dominant norms and demands. We call it ‘Coercion for the Common Good’. Scholars from History, Literature, History of Science and Ideas, Art History, Archaeology and Philosophy are involved. The participation of colleagues from across all the disciplines in Trinity is, however, most welcome.
Please send any enquiries to the Network's Director, Dr Tjällén (Biorn.Tjallen@historia.su.se/Biorn.Tjallen@miun.se
OTHER RESEARCH NETWORKS IN WHICH THE CENTRE IS INVOLVED
CULTURES OF WAR RESEARCH NETWORK
This international research network links IMEMS (Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Wales) with the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Trinity College, Dublin. Established in 2006 by Andrew Hiscock (Bangor), this network brings together scholars, students and independent researchers who are investigating aspects of war from the early middle ages to the early eighteenth century. The network is strongly interdisciplinary, and welcomes anyone with an interest in examining the implications of cultural violence and disseminating findings in an academic forum.
Areas of interest are listed below, but they are not exclusive, and the network has hosted discussions and projects on various aspects of war in the pre-modern world. The fields listed here are intended as crystallising points for clusters of scholars, whose members will define the most urgent questions and formulate activities to answer them.
- The soldier / writer
- Warfare and court culture
- Conflict and the construction of national identity
- Colonialism and conquest
- Literatures of war
All enquiries concerning the network should be directed to the Director of the research network, Andrew Hiscock, at els408@bangor.ac.uk.
RÉSEAU INTERNATIONAL POUR DES RECHERCHES SUR LA SAVOIE 1500-1800/INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR RESEARCH ON SAVOY IN THE EARLY-MODERN PERIOD
This research network, proposed in May 2009 by delegates participating in panels on Savoy (organized by Matthew Vester, West Virginia University) at the annual conference of the Sixteenth-Century Society, was officially launched 26-28 May 2010 at a conference organized by the Centre, Les Conflits en Savoie (1500-1800) (see archive of past events 2009-2010). A peer-reviewed volume of articles entitled Political, Religious and Social Conflict in the Duchy of Savoy 1400-1700 arising from the network and edited by Dr Sarah Alyn Stacey was published in 2014 in the series Medieval and Early Modern French Studies (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2014). For further details about the network, contact Sarah Alyn Stacey.