Network for Early European Research
NEER, the Network for Early European Research, has been established by the University of Western Australia, following the 2004 award of an ARC funding grant for the next five years. The Network aims to implement a formal framework for supporting and enhancing current Australian research into the culture and history of Europe between the fifth and eighteenth centuries. It also aims to foster new research and new connections between researchers and to develop and nurture the next generation of researchers in the field.
The web site contains a wide range of information and resources for researchers in the field, including details of current research projects, details of forthcoming events specially planned by NEER and a useful range of links to Australian and international organizations, academic centres and resources.
Call for Expressions of Interest: ARC Network for Early European Research-sponsored Postgraduate Advanced Training Seminar
Medievalism in Contemporary Media: Theoretical and Methodological Approaches to Film Television, Computer Games and Internet Studies
Organiser: Louise D’Arcens, University of Wollongong
Date: October 1-2, 2008
Venue: University of Wollongong, NSW
Rationale and Aims:
The study of medievalism – that is, post-medieval receptions and constructions of the Middle Ages - is a growing area that has come in recent years to occupy a vital place within the discipline of medieval studies. As a result of this, traditionally-trained medievalists are increasingly moving to expand their research interests to encompass contemporary representations of medieval culture in electronic media, such as film and television, and in new media such as computer games and the internet. While this is an exciting disciplinary development, medievalists who venture into this area are met with a daunting array of unfamiliar interdisciplinary challenges. In order to produce research on medievalism that is of value within and beyond medieval studies, medievalists need to wed their disciplinary skills and knowledge to a sophisticated command of the theoretical approaches, methodologies, and technological considerations that are familiar to media- and cultural studies scholars.
This two-day seminar is designed to enhance students’ grasp of the interdisciplinary challenges of writing on medievalism in contemporary electronic media and to give them a confident sense of how to bring these interdisciplinary skills into dialogue with their medievalist training. It will also offer expert guidance directed at developing specific writing projects to be undertaken by the students attending the Seminar.
Format:
It will feature master-class style presentations from four established scholars of electronic and new media, who are not medievalists. These presentations will introduce students to the main theoretical and methodological considerations of their fields, and to the particular research challenges presented by working on these media. The insights and information offered in these presentations will be further developed in targeted workshops. In these workshops, the postgraduate participants, led by Louise D’Arcens and the expert presenters, will
- discuss the ways in which the approaches intersect with, and can be adapted to, the concerns of scholarship on medievalism, and conversely, what the study of medievalism can bring to the study of electronic and new media
- workshop specific writing projects to be undertaken by the students. Participants will have submitted abstracts of these projects prior to the seminar, which will have been posted on a Confluence workspace for the other participants to read.
Expert Presenters:
Film: Professor Adrian Martin, Monash University
Television: Associate Professor Chris Barker, University of Wollongong
Computer Gaming: Dr Katie Cavanagh, Flinders University
New Media: Professor David Marshall, University of Wollongong
Other Guests and Facilitators:
Professor Stephanie Trigg, University of Melbourne
Associate Professor Andrew Lynch, University of Western Australia
Intellectual Outcomes:
Participants will have an enhanced understanding of, and confidence in using, theories and research methodologies central to the areas to be discussed, and a grasp of the possibilities (and the liabilities) offered by the adaptation of these theories and methods to analyses of medievalism in contemporary media. In order to ensure that the student participants’ confidence and knowledge are sustained beyond the limited period of the seminar, an interdisciplinary research bibliography will be developed over the course of the seminar and distributed to participants at the conclusion of the second day.
Concrete Outcomes:
Because this seminar will have directed writing and development workshops, it has the concrete objective of ultimately generating article-length publications for all student and ECR participants. Early development of these articles will take place in the workshops, but will then continue after the seminar via a dedicated Confluence collaborative workspace, where participants will post subsequent drafts for commentary from the other participants, the expert speakers and guests, and Louise D’Arcens. This workspace will provide valuable continued support for the student participants in the form of peer-review and mentoring from more senior scholars.
Information for Applicants:
Postgraduates registered with NEER and ECR NEER participants accepted to attend the seminar may be eligible to receive financial assistance from NEER of up to $500 to attend the seminar.
Applications to attend should be sent directly to Louise D’Arcens (louised@uow.edu.au), and should include:
- (i) details of the degree in which you are enrolled (PGs) or the title of your current research project (ECRs);
- (ii) a c.300-word abstract outlining the publication you wish to develop, plus a paragraph explaining how the proposed project corresponds with the aims of this PATS;
- (iii) a c.300 word statement outlining how the event will benefit your research;
- (iv) demonstrated necessity of financial assistance (if applicable).
Funding Programmes
NEER has previously offered discretionary funding for various activities consistent with its themes. NEER has recently launched a call for Research Clusters (see below) and, in response to specific needs within our research community, we would now like to announce a revised funding scheme with broad aims and a relatively rapid response to applications. Details are available at http://www.neer.arts.uwa.edu.au/funding.
Research Clusters
(ARC) NEER's original statement of intention promises to 'mobilise existing strengths to build up national and international research partnerships in key emerging areas of scholarly enquiry', and to 'coordinate large-scale cross-disciplinary investigations'. NEER remains fundamentally committed to encouraging a culture of collaborative achievement in early European research, 400-1850. This has been identified as a major challenge for the coming years, and as an index of the Network's success and long-term influence. Accordingly, NEER will recognise and seed-fund a number of NEER Research Clusters to begin working towards collaborative research outcomes consistent with the Network's aims. Such outcomes will eventually include significant publications and the pursuit of major external grant funding.
Further information is available from the NEER web site at http://www.neer.arts.uwa.edu.au/neer_research_clusters.
The Melbourne Manuscript Resource Unit and the Research Cluster for Manuscript Studies
http://academiccentre.stmarys.newman.unimelb.edu.au/manuscriptstudies/
The Melbourne Manuscript Resource Unit is located at the Academic Centre, St Mary's and Newman Colleges, The University of Melbourne. Its objective is to support teaching and research in Medieval and Renaissance (Early Modern) Manuscript Studies.
The associated NEER Research Cluster for Manuscript Studies consists of senior scholars, middle and early career researchers and postgraduate students with related interests in the field of Manuscript Studies. It is interdisciplinary in scope, with an emphasis on the following areas: the relationship of text, decoration and illustration in the hand-made book; the function of particular manuscript genres; and the interaction between social and patronal contexts and manuscript production.
The Cluster is committed to the fostering of research in Manuscript Studies in Australia and New Zealand and to the strengthening of international links in this field, especially with respect to research on Australasian manuscript collections and the provision of collaborative research opportunities for scholars and curators based in Australia and New Zealand.
E-Consult Scheme
NEER is very pleased to announce that the E-Consult scheme is now in operation: http://www.neer.arts.uwa.edu.au/postgraduates/econsult
The E-Consult Scheme is a NEER initiative which enables Australian postgraduate students and early career researchers to seek advice from senior researchers in their field of interest.
Postgraduates and early career researchers who make use of this scheme must observe the E-Consult protocols listed on the web site. The E-consult List gives the details of those NEER participants who are willing to be contacted for advice about research.