Spring Session Class Descriptions
College of History
Dean, College of History:
Mistress Rosamund Beauvisage
E-mail: rosamund99@hotmail.com
M. Alexis MacAlister of Beverlay & THL Katharina Peregrine, Fiber, Fabrics and Clothing: An Overview of Textile Use in the Middle Ages
In this class, you'll see (and in some cases touch!) a selection of fibers, fabrics and colors in use during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Several extant pieces will be referenced. An added bonus: You'll see some artworks of the period showing people wearing various fabrics will be shown, to give you an idea of 'place in time' for certain fibers and garments. Please note that the artworks will be discussed from an art history viewpoint, concentrating on identifying textiles used in the work. [NOTE: 2 hours]
M. Chai'usun Khatun, Clothing of Medieval China
An overview of the costuming of the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties of China (7th through 14th centuries) with advice on researching colors, fabrics, and sumptuary customs through literature, painting, and sculpture. Show and tell of costumes and books included.
THL Elspeth Grizel of Dunfort, Pictorial History of Beadwork in Europe to the 16th Century
Lecture featuring over 80 slides of largely extant beadwork in the middle ages. Instructor will show the development of beadwork, discuss significant pieces and styles, and where bead work is from and where it's not. Also features photos the teacher took at a private viewing appointment at the V&A with one 13th C beaded piece which are not on her website. Hopefully lots of time for Q&A at the end.
Fólki Rusli Þorgilsson, Ancient and Medieval Western European Stigmat
A survey of tattooing.
M. James Cunningham, From Page de Chiens to Huntsman
AKA "From Dogs 101 to Master of the Hunt". An examination of Gaston Phoebus' detailed instructions on training a huntsman.
THL Johnnae llyn Lewis, GOOGLE Anyone? The Art of Searching More Effectively Online
Welcome to the exciting world of search engines and online searching! This class briefly goes into that new world known as "Googling". For all who have ever wondered if there wasn't a more effective and better way to use libraries and the Internet to find information online, this is the session for you. Taught by a professional librarian. With handouts.
THL Johnnae llyn Lewis, Researching Images: Moving Beyond Just GOOGLE and into Image Searching
Going beyond just the basics and into the exciting and always challenging world of image searching, this advanced session explores finding images on the web. This was once called picture searching and was the practiced domain of art librarians. Today anyone can play in the still-developing world of images or pictures on the World Wide Web. Doing so effectively, however, can still be a time-consuming challenge. Taught by a professional librarian. With handouts.
L. Mathilda Harper, The Courtly Love tradition originated in 12th c. France in the court of Eleanor of Aquitaine
Learn about the romantic ideals expressed in the literature,culture, and attitudes of that time, then see how the tradition spread and changed through the rest of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Adults only, please.
L. Mathilda Harper, Interpreting Period Painting, AKA What is that guy doing and can I use it as documentation?
This is a hands-on approach to how to use period works of art as sources of information and the many pitfalls to watch out for. Class consists of looking at a variety of printouts of period paintings and illustrations and interpreting and discussing them.
M. Rosamund Beauvisage, Early Modern Material Culture
Are you a late-period persona? Want to increase your knowledge about what you would have worn, eaten, drank? Your income and spending abilities? Your place in the universe, much less the social hierarchy? This class examines all of that and more, including a limited artifacts show-and-tell. Handouts.
Dr. Dan Carlsson, "A real centre in the Viking world - Gotland"
No place in the Viking world has seen so many silver hoards as on this tiny island. Gotland was tremendously rich in the Viking Age. More than 700 silver hoards have been found here, more than in all the rest of Scandinavia. Come explore the legacy of the Vikings at Gotland as revealed by a renowned scholar in the field.
