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Year 12 students immersed in '"enlightening" Medieval Worlds programme

Twenty Year 12 students from all over England came to Corpus last week to immerse themselves in the world of medieval manuscripts, literature and history. Hailing from a wide range of academic and social backgrounds, the students were selected by the Admissions and Widening Participation Team from over one hundred prospective applicants.

"The response to our first-ever Medieval Worlds residential programme was really encouraging", said Access Coordinator James Davies-Warner. "It shows there really is an interest in these courses we sometimes call 'secret' subjects which are often not offered at A-Level, such as Medieval Studies. The programme offers a rare opportunity for students to come and work in the Parker Library directly with some of the most important manuscripts in Britain." Medieval Worlds joins the Pelican Programmes as an outreach initiative to encourage applicants - particularly those from widening participation backgrounds - to study Arts & Humanities subjects such as Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic (ASNaC), History, English, Modern & Medieval Languages (MML) and Theology.

Organised by James and Admissions Coordinator Naomi Walker-Pearl, the two-day programme covered a range of tours, workshops and hands-on sessions, along with advice about choosing courses and preparing applications to Cambridge. Groups spent time with the team from the Cambridge Colleges Conservation Consortium in their studios in Free School Lane. Head of Conservation Flavio Marzo showed the students how parchments were laboriously scraped, stretched and bound for use by scribes and how current DNA analysis is discovering more about the provenance of many European manuscripts. Mito Matsumaru (Book and Manuscript Conservator) demonstrated techniques of writing and illumination, followed by Conservator Lizzie Willetts, who described how the Conservators address the damage caused by pests, moisture and ageing to the fragile manuscripts under their care.

Living History

In the Parker Library, Sub-Librarian Tuija Ainonen led several sessions on 'An Introduction to Medieval Manuscripts'. Assisted by undergraduate students Lottie Wells and Rhiannon Warren, the participants were able to examine closely some of the Parker Library's collection of medieval and Rennaisance treasures. During the sessions, the students practiced their skills in reading Middle English poetry aloud, and they were given tasks to identify scripts and texts directly from original manuscripts. One student said, "I feel very grateful to have been given the opportunity to engage with the medieval world in a completely different way from that of my study of History at A-level through the introduction to the Parker Library's incredible collection of manuscripts."

For Tuija, it was a first opportunity to work with prospective Corpus applicants since joining the Parker Library earlier this year.

“It was a delight to introduce medieval manuscripts and the study and research opportunities they offer to such an enthusiastic group of students," she said. "They showed great aptitude and inspired interest in the matter as they contributed very insightful observations and questions to the discussions."

Further sessions included 'Tropes, Archetypes and Stereotypes" the Medieval on Film (James and English PhD student Logan Rivers); 'Weirdness in the Middles Ages: the Green Children of Woolpit' with Fellow Dr Sam Lasman; 'Books, Coins, History: Interdisciplinary approached to the early Middle Ages' with Director of Studies in ASNaC and  Fellow Professor Rory Naismith; and workshops on Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde (CCCC MS 061) and material manuscript illumination with PhD student in Medieval and Renaissance Literature Rebecca Field.

James said, "It was clearly an enjoyable experience for the students. A fair few of them when asked how to improve the programme said that they wanted more sessions!"

Comments from the students reinforced James' impression:

"It was such an enlightening experience that gave me the confidence to explain my ideas to others like me about subjects I’d never considered before: it allowed me an opportunity to interact with historical artefacts that otherwise I wouldn’t have had, and the welcome that I received throughout the residential really helped me to seriously imagine myself studying at Cambridge, specifically at Corpus. Each of the academic sessions inspired me to do my own research, in particular ‘The Green Children of Woolpit’ session allowed me to express my own thoughts on the chronicle and brought the medieval world to life for me. The residential as a whole definitely increased my interest in the medieval world and has provided me invaluable experiences and memories working with and looking at medieval manuscripts in person at Cambridge, and I hope that future Medieval Worlds residentials are as inspiring for others as this one was for me."

Funding for the Medieval Worlds programme was generously donated to the College. The Admissions Team will continue to offer residential programmes as part of their ongoing online and in-person outreach to prospective students, with a special focus on reaching potential applicants from widening participation backgrounds.