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Only two more Wednesday classes this term. From next term my students only get me for 50% of the time (the joy of budget cuts). Today this was announced and we dealt with it by looking at English language history. I love this class. Whenever we get stressed they want to know about the Middle Ages.
Today was the day for the asking of questions. One persistent question over the last few weeks (since I took up study again) has been what the difference is between a doctorate and an undergrad degree and various certificates. One student in particular was fascinated by the sheer amount of control one has over one's time for a doctorate and how one has to be disciplined and get things done despite the lure of chocolate and of Stargate DVDs. Today she gave me a home made certificate saying "Patience of a stonecutter." (Mr Fox, Sir, it's mine and you can't have it!)
About the only other work I've done today is further explore the relationship between historians and novelists. I read comments about the lack of a clear divide between popular history and scholarly history, but everyone I read today seems clear on there being a simple difference between novelists and historians. Novelists make things up, you see.
What I need is writing that explores the relationship of fiction and history when the historian is a novelist (or the novelist is an historian). I know there are a bunch of us (and I know several of you read my blog - including one archaeologist who is also a writer of historical novels). Have any of you encountered formal studies of what we do?
On a related note, to all writers out there, have any of you *not* been interviewed for my little study into the relationship of writers with the Middle Ages? If you haven't been, would you like to be? You need to write fiction that uses the Middle Ages - you don't need to be an historian and the fiction can be any genre. You can be an emerging writer or an established writer. I have enough writers who are working on their first novels, so one novel accepted for publication would be the minimum at this stage. The Middle Ages can be a fantasy Middle Ages (even another world, loosely based on the MA) or a real historical one. It doesn't have to be European. The start and end dates of the Middle Ages are interpretable. In other words, if you feel that some of your fiction has a Medieval base, then you fit. I don't technically need more people, but I thought it might be a good idea to expand the study a bit, now I have the chance. For one thing, it will help me with this "What do we do as historians; what do we do as writers?" question.
This is the week of dabbling and questions. The deep studies will come later.
Today was the day for the asking of questions. One persistent question over the last few weeks (since I took up study again) has been what the difference is between a doctorate and an undergrad degree and various certificates. One student in particular was fascinated by the sheer amount of control one has over one's time for a doctorate and how one has to be disciplined and get things done despite the lure of chocolate and of Stargate DVDs. Today she gave me a home made certificate saying "Patience of a stonecutter." (Mr Fox, Sir, it's mine and you can't have it!)
About the only other work I've done today is further explore the relationship between historians and novelists. I read comments about the lack of a clear divide between popular history and scholarly history, but everyone I read today seems clear on there being a simple difference between novelists and historians. Novelists make things up, you see.
What I need is writing that explores the relationship of fiction and history when the historian is a novelist (or the novelist is an historian). I know there are a bunch of us (and I know several of you read my blog - including one archaeologist who is also a writer of historical novels). Have any of you encountered formal studies of what we do?
On a related note, to all writers out there, have any of you *not* been interviewed for my little study into the relationship of writers with the Middle Ages? If you haven't been, would you like to be? You need to write fiction that uses the Middle Ages - you don't need to be an historian and the fiction can be any genre. You can be an emerging writer or an established writer. I have enough writers who are working on their first novels, so one novel accepted for publication would be the minimum at this stage. The Middle Ages can be a fantasy Middle Ages (even another world, loosely based on the MA) or a real historical one. It doesn't have to be European. The start and end dates of the Middle Ages are interpretable. In other words, if you feel that some of your fiction has a Medieval base, then you fit. I don't technically need more people, but I thought it might be a good idea to expand the study a bit, now I have the chance. For one thing, it will help me with this "What do we do as historians; what do we do as writers?" question.
This is the week of dabbling and questions. The deep studies will come later.