Staff profile

BIOGRAPHY

I am a second-year PhD student, and my thesis is about the influence of John of Wales' preaching manuals on Middle English literature. John of Wales was a 13th century Franciscan friar, who lived and taught in Oxford and Paris. He was an immensely popular author in the late medieval period, yet he is all but ignored by modern scholarship. My research also includes a digital humanities dimension; I am training a Transkribus AI model to transcribe one of John’s preaching manuals.

I am extremely fortunate to be a recipient of the AHRC Northern Bridge Doctoral Studentship, which is making my studies possible.

Prior to my PhD, I completed an MSt in Medieval Literature (English 650-1550) at The University of Oxford, where my dissertation was titled “The 12th Century Self: A Narratological Reading of Guibert de Nogent’s Monodies”. I completed my BA in English Literature at Durham University, where my main focus was on medieval literature and literary criticism.

I am a teaching assistant for the unit ENGL1041 Epic and the Literature of Legend in the 2025-2026 academic year.

Outside of my academic studies, I have gained extensive IB, IELTS and A-level tutoring experience, and successfully founded my own tutoring company. I have also worked in curriculum management and internal communications at The University of Manchester.

CONFERENCE PAPERS AND PUBLIC/ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT

(Upcoming) The New Chaucer Society Biennial Congress, July 2026. Conference speaker. Paper title: “From Pastoral Counsel to Comedy: John of Wales’s Communiloquium as a Hidden Source for Chaucer’s Merchant’s Tale”.

(Upcoming) Leeds Medieval and Early Modern Student Association – The Bodies and Being Speaker Series, March 2026. Seminar leader. Paper title: “Old Age and Infirmity in Dialogue: Chaucer’s Reworking of John of Wales’ Communiloquium”.

(Upcoming) The Durham Medieval and Early Modern Student Association Seminar Series, 2026 date TBD. Seminar leader. Paper title: “From Pastoral Counsel to Comedy: John of Wales’s Communiloquium as a Hidden Source for Chaucer’s Merchant’s Tale”.

The Durham Medieval and Early Modern Student Association Community Outreach Course, Oct 2024 - May 2025. Course organiser, panel chair and seminar leader. Paper title: “Small objects, big memories: the use of wearable objects for showcasing personal experiences in medieval and early modern times”.

The Sixteenth International Conference of the Taiwan Association of Classical, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Oct 2022. Conference speaker. Paper title: “The Visual Misgendering of Bel-Accueil: Motivated or Mistaken?”.

Beyond Exceptionalism II, John Rylands Library, University of Manchester, Jul 2022. Conference speaker. Paper title: “Jeanne de Montbaston’s Visual Misgendering of Bel-Accueil: Motivated or Mistaken?”.

Canadian Comparative Literature Association Virtual Conference – “Post Magical Realism in the Post-truth Era”, Jun 2022. Conference speaker. Paper title: “George Saunders: A Stylistic Response to the Hypocrisy of Neoliberal Discourse”.

Modelling Emotion, Modelling Identity in Late Medieval Texts, Medieval English Literature and Historical Linguistics Workshop at the University of Düsseldorf, Sep 2021. Conference speaker. Paper title: “The 12th Century Self: A Narratological Reading of Guibert de Nogent’s Monodies”.

Lancaster Historical Postgraduate Conference, Lancaster University, June 2021. Conference speaker. Paper title: “Abelard’s Self: Narrative and Self-Identity for a 12th Century Philosopher”.

Oxford EGO Graduate Conference - Inside/Outside, Nov 2020 - Jun 2021. Member of the EGO Graduate Conference Submissions & Panels Committee.

University of Kent Medieval & Early Modern Studies Festival, Jun 2021. Conference speaker. Paper title: “Crossing Linguistic Borders: Exploring the Languages of the Digby 86 Scribe”.

Oxford University Medieval English Graduate Dissertation Workshop, May 2021. Speaker and panel chair. Paper title: “The 12th Century Self: A Narratological Reading of Guibert de Nogent’s Monodies”.

Oxford University Medieval French Research Seminar at the Maison Française d'Oxford, Institut français de recherche à l'étranger, May 2021. Conference speaker. Paper title: “Selfhood, Free Will and Narrative in the Works of Guibert de Nogent”.

Oxford AHRC-TORCH Graduate Fund, Nov 2020 - Mar 2021. Peer reviewer.

ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS

“HTR Winter School 2023/2024 - Late Medieval Latin, ONB 3891”, Zenodo/University of Vienna, Jan 2024.

Collaborative Publication - Following the 2023-2024 HTR Vienna Winter School, our newly-trained AI engine has been published on Zenodo and has been submitted for approval as an official Transkribus model. It would be the first Gothic model if accepted. The Latin text used for the transcription was MS 3891 of the Austrian National Library, copied in the mid. 15th century in Gothica Bastarda script.

“Review of Juliana Dresvina and Victoria Blud, Cognitive Sciences and Medieval Studies: An Introduction”, Comitatus - UCLA - Center of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Nov 2022.