Workshops

‘All thy best parts bound together’: Coptic Bookbinding Workshop

Directed by Linette Withers
Sunday 03 July, 14.00-17.00
University House: Beechgrove Room

Price: £29.50

In 1945, a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts were discovered near the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi. These leather-bound codices, dating from the 3rd and 4th centuries, were sealed within a jar which was found by a local farmer. These volumes were written in the Coptic language and bound in a single-section Coptic style binding, with covers of soft leather that were stiffened by sheets of waste papyrus. The first true form of the codex, the Coptic style of binding continued to be used until the 11th century.

Participants in the workshop will recreate one of the types of Coptic bindings used in the Nag Hammadi finds with goat leather and papyrus covers and linen thread. The internal pages of the book will be blank sketch paper. All materials will be provided.

Linette Withers completed an MA in Medieval Studies at the University of Leeds before joining the IMC team as Senior Congress Officer. She has been binding books since 2005 and since 2012 has worked as a professional book binder, producing codices that are inspired by historical books. One of her works was shortlisted for display at the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford as part of their ‘Redesigning the Medieval Book’ competition and exhibition in 2018. One of her books is also held in the permanent collection of the Lit & Phil in Newcastle after being part of an exhibition in 2021. She also works with private and library repair projects and teaching binding techniques in her studio in Leeds.

This workshop can only accommodate a limited number of participants. Early booking is recommended.

‘A ring wound round with silver’: Jewellery-Making Workshop

Directed by Tanya Bentham
Monday 04 July, 19.00-21.00
Maurice Keyworth Building: 1.31

Price: £30.50

Famous archaeological finds, such as the Staffordshire Hoard, reveal the love of jewellery and other forms of personal adornment in early medieval England, whether in gold, silver, or even pewter. Intricate pieces could be made of gold and encrusted with garnets and minute filigree patterns, but simpler pieces could be made by twisting or plaiting silver wire.

The aim of the workshop is to produce a twisted wire ring of common Saxon type. Participants will be able to choose one of two designs – either a spiral or interlacing loops.

The workshop will begin with an introduction by the tutor, including an explanation of metalworking practice. Participants will then have a chance to familiarise themselves with the techniques, first using pipe cleaners and then copper wire, before making a final version in silver.

The workshop fee includes both copper wire and enough silver to make one ring. If participants wish to make additional rings, more silver wire will be available for purchase.

Tanya Bentham has been a re-enactor for many years, spending the last 20 working as a professional living historian. Her main focus has always been on textiles, especially embroidery, but also making detours into costume, natural dyeing, weaving, millinery, and silver-smithing. She has delivered workshops for numerous museums, schools, and community organisations throughout Yorkshire.

The workshop can only accommodate a limited number of participants. Early booking is recommended.

Using Patreon to Support Your Medieval Career: Information Session

Led by Peter Konieczny
Monday 04 July, 19.00-20.30
Maurice Keyworth Building: 1.32

This event is free of charge (first come, first served).

Many medievalists are looking for careers outside of academia but wonder how they can generate income. In this presentation, Peter Konieczny will talk about how he uses Patreon, a crowdfunding platform, which helps to support Medievalists.net. How does it work, and how can a medieval scholar make use of it? What are some of the strategies that can be used to raise income, and how can this serve as a way to develop a community of supporters?

Peter Konieczny is the owner and editor of Medievalists.net, one of the leading websites in the field of medieval studies.

PhD Troubleshooting Workshops: 1-to-1 coaching sessions for graduate students

Led by Erin Goeres
Tuesday 05 July, Wednesday 06 July, Thursday 07 July, 1 hour and 15 minute timeslots (see Calendly for timings)
Location to be confirmed

These workshops are free of charge but must be prebooked through Calendly.

Overview:

Do you have a problem, worry, hope or dream you would like to think through in a confidential, non-judgemental space? Let’s talk. Topics might include (but are not limited to):

• Writer’s block and procrastination
• Stress, anxiety, perfectionism
• Caring for kids, parents and partners
• To teach or not to teach
• Publish or perish?
• Work-life balance
• Academia or bust?
• Relocating, commuting, and travel
• Preparing for the viva
• Uncertainty and precarity after the PhD

Who and why?

Erin is an Associate Professor at UCL interested in how universities can better support PhD students in their life and work. This has led her to study for a Diploma in Integrative Coaching, and she invites any interested graduate student to join her for a free, one-to-one coaching session at Leeds IMC. She would like to learn more about what challenges PhD students are facing today, and whether or not coaching can be used to improve their university experience.

What is coaching? 

Coaching is neither therapy nor mentoring. It’s a reflective conversation in which we think together about your situation with a view to making it better. While all coaching sessions are unique, a typical session would explore your current situation, consider where you would like to be, and brainstorm ways of getting there. As a coach, her aim is to create a safe, confidential environment that enables you to think deeply about your own life and how you want to live it.

How and when? 

Erin Goeres will be available to talk from Tuesday – Thursday during Leeds IMC. Book a time through calendly for 1 hour 15 minutes (1 hour coaching plus 15 minutes for introduction and feedback). The exact location will be confirmed as soon as rooms have been allocated. You can also email Erin at e.goeres@ucl.ac.uk for more information or for an informal zoom chat ahead of the conference. After the session, Erin will send a short form for feedback, which will help her better assist other PhD students in the future.

Storytelling for Medievalists: A Workshop

Performed by Daisy Black
Tuesday 05 July, 19.00-21.00
Stage@Leeds: Stage 3

Price: £8.50

‘Inside each of us is a natural-born storyteller, waiting to be released.’ Robin Moore

Telling stories is one of the oldest art forms. Throughout the world, stories are shared to entertain, to educate, and to preserve old tales.

This workshop will provide an introduction to the principles of storytelling. We will look at how to break stories down into their ‘bones’; adding memorable details; adapting medieval tales for modern audiences and how to use storytelling skills in your teaching and research.

Workshop participants are encouraged to attend the IMC Storytelling Circle on Wednesday to share their new-found skills!

Daisy Black is a medievalist, theatre director, and storyteller. She works as a lecturer in English at the University of Wolverhampton and is one of the BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinkers. Her storytelling weaves medieval narratives together with English folk song. Often moving, occasionally political, frequently feminist, just a little queer and regularly funny, Daisy’s stories underline the relevance and vibrancy of medieval narratives for today’s world.

‘The ambassador of the mind’: Classical Arabic Calligraphy Workshop

Directed by Razwan Ul-Haq
Wednesday 06 July, 14.00-16.00
University House: Beechgrove Room

Price: £18.50

The calligraphy pen is the ambassador of the mind – its messenger, its furthest reaching tongue, and its best interpreter. (Attributed to Ibn Abi Dawud by Ibn Al-Nadeem (c. 10^th century))

Arabic writing is not simply a tool for communication, it is also used decoratively on tiles, ceramics, carpets, and in architecture. Traditional Arabic calligraphers worked with a qalam – a pen usually made of a reed or bamboo. The masters of this highly developed art were often remarkable polymaths who infused much of their learning into their work.

Join calligrapher Razwan Ul-Haq for a practical workshop using traditional hand-crafted bamboo pens and hand-mixed ink. Whilst enjoying doing the art of the lettering itself, participants may find the sayings of the masters rather enlightening as well!

No prior experience or knowledge of Arabic calligraphy is required. All materials provided, but participants are advised to bring along a note book for their own notes.

Razwan Ul-Haq is an artist and author whose prime vehicle is Arabic calligraphy, particularly the Nasta‘līq script, which was developed in Iran in the 14th and 15th centuries. A former headteacher, Razwan has gone on to pioneer artistic forms that draw from the minimalist tradition in Islamic art. Whilst he has received training in calligraphy from different masters of Arabic, his work is influenced also by Chinese and Japanese thought and contemporary art.
As a writer, two of his art novels are in print, Black Taj Mahal and Sultan vs. Dracula.  According to Hollywood actor and director, Sean Stone (son of Oliver Stone), ‘Sultan vs. Dracula is an important re-imagination of the encounter between Islam and the West around the fall of the Byzantine Empire’. He is a widely exhibited artist whose work has been displayed in many galleries and museums. His commissions include work for Queen Elizabeth II as well as Land Art for the inaugural Tour de France of Britain. His work has appeared on various platforms including Channel 4, BBC Radio 4, The Times, ITV, and USA Today.

As a theorist in Islamic art, he has presented his views at various universities. He is a three times recipient of an Arts Council Award. Razwan’s most recent exhibition (2021) at the Bradford Industrial Museum explored nature and machines. He is currently investigating the relationship between scent and calligraphy.

The workshop can only accommodate a limited number of participants. Early booking is recommended.

‘Yonder Venus in her glimmering sphere’: A Workshop on the Astrolabe

Directed by Kristine Larsen
Wednesday 06 July, 19.00-20.30
Maurice Keyworth Building: 1.33

This event is free of charge.

While it is relatively straightforward to use an astrolabe to calculate the positions of the sun or stars for any date and time for the latitude of its plate(s), calculating the positions of the moon or planets (the ‘wandering stars’) is a more complex matter. In particular, astronomical tables are required to factor in the predictable cyclical motions of the moon and planets relative to the ecliptic – the path the sun appears to take through the sky, which runs along the middle of the zodiac.

This hands-on workshop will begin with a brief introduction to the astrolabe and apparent lunar/planetary motions, before walking the participants through a series of computations of lunar and planetary positions in the night sky (for example, whether Venus appears as a ‘Morning’ or ‘Evening’ star). No prior knowledge is expected, and all materials will be provided, including an instruction guide and cardboard astrolabe to take home.
This workshop is presented by Central Connecticut State University astronomy professor Kristine Larsen, who has made similar presentations at the IMC for several years.

This workshop is limited to 80 attendees on a first come, first served basis.

Hands on History: Arms and Armour Replica Handling Session

Presented by the Society for Combat Archaeology

Wednesday 06 July, 19.00-20.30
Maurice Keyworth Building: 1.09

Price: £10.50

Writing for Non-Academic Audiences: A Workshop

Directed by Paul B. Sturtevant
Thursday 07 July, 16:00-18:00
University House: St George Room

Price: £5.00

Are you interested in writing for the public- for magazine articles, op-eds, or online venues – but don’t know how to begin? The editorial team of the Public Medievalist is here to help. They will be running a medievalists writing for the public workshop, where you will learn how to adapt your research for a broad range of public audiences and approach the (perhaps daunting) task of making your passion gripping for non-specialist readers.

The workshop will cover:

– Identifying, understanding and addressing your audience(s)

– Breaking the ‘curse of knowledge’ – jargon and assumed knowledge

– The joys of writing ‘journalistically’

– ‘Punching up’ prose

Please come prepared with the first page of a draft of an article you’d like to workshop into a piece for the public. Note: It does not have to be good. If it were perfect already, this workshop wouldn’t be very useful! Don’t stress too much about it, just get something on the page, and we can work on it there.

Paul B. Sturtevant is a public medievalist and medievalismist, who is passionate about better understanding public perceptions of the medieval past and bringing the Middle Ages to life for non-academic audiences. He is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Public Medievalist, an award-winning online magazine that seeks to make the latest and greatest academic research accessible, meaningful, and fun. He is the author of many articles for the public, as well as two books: the latest (with Amy S. Kaufman) is The Devils Historians: How Modern Extremists Abuse the Medieval Past, an undergraduate-level exploration of the past and present of toxic medievalisms. He is currently working on a guide for using medieval history in tabletop roleplaying games. By day he works for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.

The workshop can only accommodate a limited number of participants. Early booking is recommended.

Bridging the Borders: Fifty Shades of Black (Ink) – A Workshop

Directed by Claudia Colini and Olivier Bonnerot
Thursday 07 July, 16.30-18.30
University House: Beechgrove Room

Price: £10.00

Medieval manuscripts are written with different black and brown ink types, which usually vary between the scribes. Analysing different scribal hands is a basic tool in the study of medieval texts: they are, however, strongly limited by what the human eye can see. This workshop provides a hand-on introduction on how scholars can benefit from a more profound understanding of inks.

Technical developments in the medieval production of such inks were rarely constrained by borders or cultural divisions. Therefore, the content and formal characteristics of ink recipes are mostly independent from the culture that created them and can be used to explore how knowledge and techniques are transmitted, both within the same cultural environments and from one culture to another.

This workshop aims to bring participants across another border which is often improperly considered intimidating: the divide between Science and Humanities. Experimentation is crucial in order to truly understand textual recipes from different manuscript cultures, to fully appreciate which ingredients are needed and in which proportions, to assess feasibility, and even to spot errors in the transmission process. Moreover, analytical techniques are needed to identify the materials employed in inks and see how inks used in manuscripts compare with their recipes. Using such techniques, scientific methods can support scholars to differentiate hands or stages of production within the same manuscript, or to compare and identify copies from a same scribe or scriptorium, by discriminating among diverse ink typologies.

In the first part of this workshop, the tutors will investigate the nature of ink recipes produced during medieval times from China to Europe, by different cultures and written in different languages (Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German, Italian), to observe similarities and differences and bring attention to the issues and challenges that those texts pose to the practical replication of their recipes. In the second part, the participants will receive a practical demonstration of ink production and will look at the raw ingredients used. Then, everyone will be invited to test ink samples on a variety of supports (papyrus, parchment, and papers) with various writing implements (brush, reed pen, feather). Finally, a practical introduction to reflectography and the hands-on use of the Dino Lite microscope will allow participants to try out their own ink-detection by analysing known and unknown ink samples with the supplied equipment. Participants are invited to bring examples from their own manuscripts.

The workshop is organised by the Cluster of Excellence ‘Understanding Written Artefacts’ that follows a comparative approach for studying how the production of written artefacts has shaped human societies and cultures, and how these in turn have adapted written artefacts to their needs.

The workshop can only accommodate a limited number of participants. Early booking is recommended.

Medieval Records and the National Archives: A Workshop

Hosted by Sean Cunningham, Paul Dryburgh and Euan Roger

Friday 08 July, 09:00-13:00
Parkinson Building: Room B.08

Price: £7.50

For all medievalists the ability to locate, read, and understand archival sources is fundamental to their research whatever their discipline and stage in their career. The National Archives of the United Kingdom (TNA) holds one of the world’s largest and most important collections of medieval records. The vast archive of English royal government informs almost every aspect of medieval life from the royal court to the peasantry, land ownership and tenure, the law, warfare and diplomacy, trade and manufacture, transport, credit and debt, death and memory, material culture, literature, art and music. However, finding, using, and interpreting the rich diversity of material is not always entirely straightforward, and its potential for a wide range of research uses is often unclear. This workshop will offer an introduction to TNA, show you how to begin your research into its collections, and access research support. Images of original documents will be used to illustrate the range of disciplines and topics TNA records can inform and illuminate. Short, themed sessions will also introduce attendees to the ‘Mechanics of Medieval Government’ and ‘Accessing Medieval Justice’.

This workshop is aimed at all medievalists, from masters students through to experienced academics in any discipline, who wish to discover more about the rich archive collections at TNA and how they might use them in their research. There are no pre-requisites for attending the workshop, although a basic knowledge of Latin is recommended.

Sean Cunningham is Head of the Medieval team at The National Archives and specialises in 15th- and 16th-century records of English royal government. Euan Roger is a Principal Medieval Records Specialist whose research has focussed on church, government, medicine, and law in the late Middle Ages. Paul Dryburgh is a Principal Medieval Records Specialist with interests in government, politics, and warfare in the British Isles in the 13th and 14th centuries.

This workshop is sponsored by the National Archives, Kew.

The workshop can only accommodate a limited number of participants. Early booking is recommended.

A virtual version of this workshop will also run on Tuesday 12 July, 14.00-18.00, price: £5.00.

‘Monsters in the Margins’: Embroidery Workshop

Directed by Tanya Bentham
Friday 08 July, 10:00-16:00
Parkinson Building: Room B.09

Price: £32.50

‘ . . . what is the meaning of those ridiculous monsters, of that deformed beauty, that beautiful deformity, before the very eyes of the brethren when reading? What are disgusting monkeys there for, or satyrs, or ferocious lions, or monstrous centaurs, or spotted tigers, or fighting soldiers, or huntsmen sounding the bugle? You may see there one head with many bodies, or one body with numerous heads. Here is a quadruped with a serpent’s tail; there is a fish with a beast’s head; there a creature, in front a horse, behind a goat; another has horns at one end, and a horse’s tail at the other.’

St Bernard of Clairvaux’s description of monstrous images in the cloisters of Cluny could also serve as a description of the strange images that lie in the margins of manuscripts such as the Luttrell Psalter. In these works, hybrid creatures gambol at the edges of the page, mingling with images of daily life.

Join Tanya Bentham for full day workshop focusing on the bizarre world of medieval marginalia, reinterpreted via historical needlework techniques. Using the Lutrell Psalter as a springboard, participants will choose a marginal creature to recreate. A selection of designs will be provided, but participants may also design their own image.
All materials including naturally dyed wools and silks are included. Throughout the day, there will be several detailed demonstrations of different techniques and stitches, as well as individual tuition where needed.

Tanya Bentham has been a re-enactor for years, working the last 20 as a professional living historian. Her main focus has always been on textiles, especially embroidery, but also making detours into costume, natural dyeing, weaving, millinery, and silver-smithing. She has delivered workshops for numerous museums, schools, and community organisations throughout Yorkshire. Her book Opus Anglicanum: A Handbook was recently published by Crowood press as part of their embroidery series. Her second book, Bayeaux Stitch: A Practical Handbook was published in early 2022.

The workshop can only accommodate a limited number of participants. Early booking is recommended. Lunch is not included but participants will have an opportunity to purchase refreshments.

Medieval Records and the National Archives: A Virtual Workshop

Hosted by Sean Cunningham, Paul Dryburgh and Euan Roger

Tuesday 12 July, 14:00-18.00
Available virtually

Price: £5.00

For all medievalists the ability to locate, read, and understand archival sources is fundamental to their research whatever their discipline and stage in their career. The National Archives of the United Kingdom (TNA) holds one of the world’s largest and most important collections of medieval records. The vast archive of English royal government informs almost every aspect of medieval life from the royal court to the peasantry, land ownership and tenure, the law, warfare and diplomacy, trade and manufacture, transport, credit and debt, death and memory, material culture, literature, art and music. However, finding, using, and interpreting the rich diversity of material is not always entirely straightforward, and its potential for a wide range of research uses is often unclear. This workshop will offer an introduction to TNA, show you how to begin your research into its collections, and access research support. Images of original documents will be used to illustrate the range of disciplines and topics TNA records can inform and illuminate. Short, themed sessions will also introduce attendees to the ‘Mechanics of Medieval Government’ and ‘Accessing Medieval Justice’.

This workshop is aimed at all medievalists, from masters students through to experienced academics in any discipline, who wish to discover more about the rich archive collections at TNA and how they might use them in their research. There are no pre-requisites for attending the workshop, although a basic knowledge of Latin is recommended.

Sean Cunningham is Head of the Medieval team at The National Archives and specialises in 15th- and 16th-century records of English royal government. Euan Roger is a Principal Medieval Records Specialist whose research has focussed on church, government, medicine, and law in the late Middle Ages. Paul Dryburgh is a Principal Medieval Records Specialist with interests in government, politics, and warfare in the British Isles in the 13th and 14th centuries.

This virtual workshop is sponsored by The National Archives, Kew.

The workshop can only accommodate a limited number of participants. Early booking is recommended.

An in-person version of this workshop will run on Friday 08 July, 09.00-13.00, price: £7.50.