Medieval and Early Modern Studies

The School’s medieval and early modern cluster stretches from Europe (especially France, Iberia and Italy) to Latin America, East Asia, West Africa and the Muslim world.

Many colleagues work at the interface between literary and other types of knowledge (philosophical, theological, medical, scientific, visual), especially where bodies and embodiment are concerned. We examine how bodies are shaped by discourses of power, gender and sexuality (Banks, Beresford, Chuhan Campbell, Cook, Mac Carthy, Newman), by medical and scientific thought (Cracolici, Dell'Oso, Hsiung, Newman, Pérez Marín, Sunderland) and by ideas of the sacred (Beresford, Cook, Léon Llerena).

Our research also focuses on questions of reception, translation and the histories of words and concepts (Chuhan Campbell, Cowling, Dell’Oso, Hsiung, Mac Carthy, Scholar), and on textual scholarship and critical editing, including innovative digital approaches (Chuhan Campbell, Cowling, Dell’Oso, Hijano).

We are strongly interested in visual culture (Beresford, Cracolici, Mac Carthy, Sunderland), in performance and theatre (Cook) and in material culture, including gastronomic culture (Newman), oral culture (Dell'Oso), histories of writing (Léon Llerena), and the materiality of magical objects and relics (Cook).

Durham’s Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies supports and enriches the School’s research cluster, offering an interdisciplinary hub where our study of the global past encounters other disciplinary perspectives. IMEMS is directed by two colleagues from the School (Mac Carthy, Scholar) and houses the Inventing Futures research programme.

Beresford directs the University’s Zurbarán Centre for Spanish and Latin American Art.