Event Archive
This is an archive of past events within the Department of English Studies. Please see our current events for forthcoming activities.
Some of our public events are recorded and are available as podcasts via our Research English At Durham blog.
Alchemy and Exemplary Narratives in Middle English Poetry
Part of the MEMSA seminar series.
In this seminar, I will look at how alchemy is used within exemplary narratives in Middle English poetry of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, including Chaucer's Canon's Yeoman's Tale, John Gower's Confessio amantis, and an alchemical version of John Lydgate's The Churl and the Bird. Although these authors write with different intentions, they are united through their use of alchemical content to make moral points about society and human fallibility. I hope to illustrate not only the value of the fusion of science and literature, but also show that medieval science, far from being set in the 'Dark Ages', was enlightening in social, moral, and ethical ways.
Contact imrs.memsa@durham.ac.uk for more information about this event.
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READ Blog
Research in English At Durham (READ) blog showcasing the the literary research emerging from the Department of English Studies
Events
We host a large number of conferences, lectures and seminars each year, many of them open to the public. Find out more on our Events page.
Podcasts
Many of our public lectures, seminars and conferences are recorded, and can be listened to as podcasts.
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Next Event
- 20th January 2021
- Sensory Experiments in Nineteenth-Century Literature
- Online (Zoom)
- Dr Erica Fretwell (University of Albany) and Dr Shannon Draucker (Siena College)