Having grown inspired by the number of wonderful medievalist blogs cropping up of late, I have decided to create one of my own. I am looking forward to the adventure and hope that this little patch of ether proves itself useful and entertaining to those who stumble upon it.
My main goal in establishing this blog is to create a space in which I can write on anything medieval in nature that catches my interest -- whether it be pop culture, film, television, contemporary poetry and fiction, or (of course) the work I'm currently doing on my dissertation! The latter explores the influence the crusades wielded on late Middle English romance, and I just wrapped up a chapter draft that examines the differing treatments of Eastern races across various Middle English texts.
My hope is to contribute something substantial to the blog at least twice a week, with Fridays being a "special" day in which I offer a random factoid about Medieval England. Stay tuned. They will be strange. And funny. Hopefully very funny.
Additionally, this blog will serve as a way to document and regale readers with my Medieval-Studies related travels -- to conferences, etc.
And, as my little header indicated, I might occasionally branch off from "things medieval" from time to time to write about some of my other great loves: karate, hula, and yoga. The first I have done since 2003 and -- through a series of serendipitous events -- I found myself the head instructor for my university's Shotokan club about two years ago. Teaching and training in Shotokan has helped keep me sane and excited about my work, and I often find myself comparing my work to the things (both physical and metaphysical) I've learned by practicing karate. As for hula, I was born in Kailua, Oahu, and have danced traditional hula since I was a little girl. Finally, I've been practicing Vinyasa yoga for over a year now and it -- like karate and hula -- has helped keep me passionate about living and working. And so, I might slide into talking about these non-medieval topics on my blog -- mainly to comment on the good that they do me in the midst of projects, grading, article writing, and dissertating!
Hooray, another mediaevalist blogger! And yes, it is pleasing to be able to write about things that may not be related to anything you're actually doing right at the given moment.
ReplyDeleteAlso, your dissertation may chime with that of a friend of mine at Ottawa U, who's working on nationalism in the late 14C / early 15C romance Richard Coeur de Lion.
Thanks for posting, Hannah, and my apologies for the delayed reply! The past few weeks have been inordinately hectic, and my fledgling blog has been sadly neglected as a result. I am back on the horse now, as it were, and will be posting much more regularly.
ReplyDeleteYour friend's dissertation sounds absolutely fascinating! I am currently at work on my third chapter, dealing with the crusading romance of the Lincoln Thornton MS, but my fourth chapter will be focused exclusively on Richard Coeur de Lion! If you don't mind my asking, what is your friend's name?