Medieval and Early Modern Studies research group

About us

The Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS) research group draws upon UWA's nationally acclaimed research and teaching expertise in the area of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. We promote excellence in all aspects of research into the pre-modern world and its modern afterlife.

MEMS staff represent a broad range of disciplines, including Archaeology, Classics and Ancient History, English and Cultural Studies, European Languages and Studies, History of Art, History, Medicine, Music, and Theatre. We offer quality teaching and award-winning supervision at all levels of study from undergraduate to PhD.

We welcome and support visiting students and scholars and offer a vibrant and engaging calendar of events.

Our aims

Our primary research mission is to create new models of collaborative interdisciplinary enquiry within this broad field.

Goals

  • We foster connections between scholars of Medieval and Early Modern Studies across disciplines.
  • We promote the study of Medieval and Early Modern Studies within relevant disciplines.
  • We promote events of interest to the broad academic community.

Community engagement

Renaissance Moved Readings

Overseen by Dr Brid Phillips (project director) and Dr Steve Chinna (staging director), the Renaissance Moved Readings Project continues the tradition of informal, participatory, fast-paced and usually hilarious readings of Shakespeare’s plays. Events in 2019 included:

  • Much Ado About Nothing (a witty battle of the sexes is waged; comedy ensues), 28 March 2019.
  • King Lear (a king foolishly divides his kingdom among his daughters; tragedy ensues), 11 April 2019.
  • The Tempest (on an enchanted island, magical and muggle characters meet; romance ensues), 16 May 2019.
Recent events, talks and seminars
  • MEMS will host the ANZAMEMS (Australia and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies) conference in February 2021.
  • IAS/MEMS/PMRG/CHE Public Lecture by Diana Barnes, ‘Margaret Cavendish's, Life of Newcastle (1667), a Wifely Intervention in the Making of History’, Wednesday 16 October, 2019.
  • IAS/MEMS/PMRG/CHE Masterclass, Michael D. Barbezat (ACU), Diana Barnes (UNE), Michael Champion (ACU), Riikka Miettinen (Centre of Excellence in the History of Experience (HEX) at the University of Tampere, Finland), ‘ Social Wellbeing: Emotion and community’, 18 October 2019.
  • Mental Health in the Medieval and Early Modern World’ MEMS/ PMRG Conference, 19 October 2019.
  • PMRG AGM and Lecture: Dr Chris Mallan, ‘“Go Draw Your Gourds!”: Some Editors and Readers of Cassius Dio in the 15th and 16th Centuries’, 18 March 2019.
  • Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery Friday Talk, Co-Sponsored by CHE: Emeritus Professor Andrew Lynch from English and Literary Studies, ‘Starcraft and Cosmic Music’, 22 March, 2019.
  • CMEMS Lund Seminar: Dr Kajsa Brilkman, ‘Luther in Transit. Translation, Compilation and Luther's Collected Works in Swedish during the 16th and 17th Century’, 1 April 2019.

Our researchers

UWA staff

Featured researcher profiles

 

Dr Brid Phillips works in the field of medical humanities, linking her research on early modern emotions to the study of empathy in real-world, contemporary situations.
Professor Yasmin Haskell holds the Cassamarca Foundation Chair in Latin Humanism. Her research focuses on neo-Latin studies, the reception of classical authors, the history of emotions and psychiatry, and early modern Jesuits.

Contact us