at our Open Days
Our vision
We are a diverse group of researchers, drawn from the University’s English, history, architecture, classics and archaeology, and history of art departments, who believe in the importance of interdisciplinary research and teaching.
From early modern drama to early medieval European culture, we believe that the cultural lives of our ancestors can be accessed through multiple ways. From buildings and art, to the fragmentary documents of the past such as charters and wills, to the poetry and literatures of the premodern world, we believe that our students should be trained in multiple skills to access the past.
We want our students to see archives, buildings, art and the literature preserved in handwritten and early printed books as being accessible, indeed, necessary resources for their understanding of the past. We have a staff of internationally respected researchers who come from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds and who are dedicated to and proud of the programmes of study that are offered by MEMS. Our core modules provide key technical training in the languages and scripts of the past, and our optional modules educate our students in the fundamentals of undertaking postgraduate research.
Our central focus is to turn our students into people capable of undertaking professional research, but the skills they gain also prepare them for a wide variety of careers. Our incredible success in gaining funding for further research by our students has been the best testimony to the success of our MA training.