Ryan Mealiffe
@rmealiffe.bsky.social
DPhil Candidate in History and Clarendon Scholar at Oxford researching toward a more (bio)diverse history of the medieval world. Environmental historian of birds 🪶 BAY | SEA | OX
Reposted by Ryan Mealiffe
The OMGC committee is delighted to announce this year’s Call for Papers! We look forward to receiving submissions for 20-minute papers from graduate students on the theme ‘Sounds and Silence.’
Please submit abstracts of 250 words to [email protected] by 8 December 2025.
Details Below
Please submit abstracts of 250 words to [email protected] by 8 December 2025.
Details Below
November 26, 2025 at 8:02 PM
The OMGC committee is delighted to announce this year’s Call for Papers! We look forward to receiving submissions for 20-minute papers from graduate students on the theme ‘Sounds and Silence.’
Please submit abstracts of 250 words to [email protected] by 8 December 2025.
Details Below
Please submit abstracts of 250 words to [email protected] by 8 December 2025.
Details Below
Reposted by Ryan Mealiffe
It’s #WorldMigratoryBirdDay!
Bird migration is one of nature’s greatest wonders...
Epic journeys across oceans, deserts and continents, guided by instinct and the pull of the seasons.
Meet three extraordinary travellers spending summer in the UK… 👇
Bird migration is one of nature’s greatest wonders...
Epic journeys across oceans, deserts and continents, guided by instinct and the pull of the seasons.
Meet three extraordinary travellers spending summer in the UK… 👇
May 10, 2025 at 7:31 AM
It’s #WorldMigratoryBirdDay!
Bird migration is one of nature’s greatest wonders...
Epic journeys across oceans, deserts and continents, guided by instinct and the pull of the seasons.
Meet three extraordinary travellers spending summer in the UK… 👇
Bird migration is one of nature’s greatest wonders...
Epic journeys across oceans, deserts and continents, guided by instinct and the pull of the seasons.
Meet three extraordinary travellers spending summer in the UK… 👇
Reposted by Ryan Mealiffe
And away we go! OMGC 2025 is underway with Panel 1: Saints and Staging.
April 24, 2025 at 8:46 AM
And away we go! OMGC 2025 is underway with Panel 1: Saints and Staging.
Reposted by Ryan Mealiffe
Registration for OMGC 2025, ‘Rituals and Ceremonies,’ April 24-25 at the Maison Française d'Oxford, is now live on our website! Follow the link to register for free in-person or online participation.
oxgradconf.wixsite.com/omgc/event-d...
oxgradconf.wixsite.com/omgc/event-d...
Oxford Medieval Graduate Conference 2025: Rituals & Ceremonies | OMGC
<p><strong>MONDAY, APRIL 8</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>9:30-10:00 Registration (in-person)</p>
<p></p>
<p>10:00-11:30 Session 1: Divine Affectivity</p>
<ul><li>Marlene Schilling, 'Connected through Sc...
oxgradconf.wixsite.com
March 4, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Registration for OMGC 2025, ‘Rituals and Ceremonies,’ April 24-25 at the Maison Française d'Oxford, is now live on our website! Follow the link to register for free in-person or online participation.
oxgradconf.wixsite.com/omgc/event-d...
oxgradconf.wixsite.com/omgc/event-d...
Reposted by Ryan Mealiffe
...and our 2025 program is now live, too! Check out the full slate of presentations below, including keynote speakers Dr. Helen Gittos (Oxford) and Prof. Aleks Pluskowski (Reading).
March 4, 2025 at 5:15 PM
...and our 2025 program is now live, too! Check out the full slate of presentations below, including keynote speakers Dr. Helen Gittos (Oxford) and Prof. Aleks Pluskowski (Reading).
Reposted by Ryan Mealiffe
When we launched this channel, we promised river-based content. And wow, do we have some for you....
A misty sunrise walk for one Wolfson student at the weekend was rewarded with this most thrilling of sights.
A misty sunrise walk for one Wolfson student at the weekend was rewarded with this most thrilling of sights.
March 4, 2025 at 11:43 AM
When we launched this channel, we promised river-based content. And wow, do we have some for you....
A misty sunrise walk for one Wolfson student at the weekend was rewarded with this most thrilling of sights.
A misty sunrise walk for one Wolfson student at the weekend was rewarded with this most thrilling of sights.
Reposted by Ryan Mealiffe
Why are there Ostrich Eggs in Medieval Churches? www.medievalists.net/2024/03/why-... #History
Why are there Ostrich Eggs in Medieval Churches? - Medievalists.net
The peculiar practice of placing ostrich eggs in medieval church sanctuaries has left historians and theologians puzzled for centuries.
www.medievalists.net
March 4, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Why are there Ostrich Eggs in Medieval Churches? www.medievalists.net/2024/03/why-... #History
Reposted by Ryan Mealiffe
These deeply beautiful maps show the migration patterns of––respectively––Curlew, Kittiwake & Blackcap.
From this interactive migration atlas recording migrations of 300 bird species: migrationatlas.org
Birds both tether us to places & stitch the world together.
From this interactive migration atlas recording migrations of 300 bird species: migrationatlas.org
Birds both tether us to places & stitch the world together.
February 26, 2025 at 5:45 PM
These deeply beautiful maps show the migration patterns of––respectively––Curlew, Kittiwake & Blackcap.
From this interactive migration atlas recording migrations of 300 bird species: migrationatlas.org
Birds both tether us to places & stitch the world together.
From this interactive migration atlas recording migrations of 300 bird species: migrationatlas.org
Birds both tether us to places & stitch the world together.
I’ve been catching myself daydreaming about the PNW – specifically of the view from my old desk and trips to the Olympic Peninsula.
There’s something encouraging and tranquil about a skyline of evergreens and the quiet of mossy forest. Perhaps it’s that the current milieu is deficient in both.
There’s something encouraging and tranquil about a skyline of evergreens and the quiet of mossy forest. Perhaps it’s that the current milieu is deficient in both.
February 26, 2025 at 12:19 PM
I’ve been catching myself daydreaming about the PNW – specifically of the view from my old desk and trips to the Olympic Peninsula.
There’s something encouraging and tranquil about a skyline of evergreens and the quiet of mossy forest. Perhaps it’s that the current milieu is deficient in both.
There’s something encouraging and tranquil about a skyline of evergreens and the quiet of mossy forest. Perhaps it’s that the current milieu is deficient in both.
Reposted by Ryan Mealiffe
Great read with concrete recommendations to combat the denialism surrounding the 6th exinction.
« As with climate change, the biodiversity crisis is happening whether or not people believe or directly experience it ».
« As with climate change, the biodiversity crisis is happening whether or not people believe or directly experience it ».
*New paper* Denialism campaigns are growing in attempts to discredit science, scientists, and the scientific process generally. Biodiversity loss denial is a new phenomenon that needs our attention.
-With @alexanderlees.bsky.social + Eliza Grames!
#CommSky 🧪🌏 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
-With @alexanderlees.bsky.social + Eliza Grames!
#CommSky 🧪🌏 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
February 16, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Great read with concrete recommendations to combat the denialism surrounding the 6th exinction.
« As with climate change, the biodiversity crisis is happening whether or not people believe or directly experience it ».
« As with climate change, the biodiversity crisis is happening whether or not people believe or directly experience it ».
Since yesterday’s MS damaged by a canon ball was a hit, I figured I’d continue sharing objects from my overflowing folder of museum/archive snapshots.
Today I give you the historian’s version of r/whatismycookiecutter: what is my Iron Age brooch?
(Moesgaard Museum, DK)
🏺 #archaeobirds #aarhus
Today I give you the historian’s version of r/whatismycookiecutter: what is my Iron Age brooch?
(Moesgaard Museum, DK)
🏺 #archaeobirds #aarhus
February 11, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Since yesterday’s MS damaged by a canon ball was a hit, I figured I’d continue sharing objects from my overflowing folder of museum/archive snapshots.
Today I give you the historian’s version of r/whatismycookiecutter: what is my Iron Age brooch?
(Moesgaard Museum, DK)
🏺 #archaeobirds #aarhus
Today I give you the historian’s version of r/whatismycookiecutter: what is my Iron Age brooch?
(Moesgaard Museum, DK)
🏺 #archaeobirds #aarhus
A highlight from my trip to York: a manuscript hit by a canon ball!
This cartulary (c.1345-1480) may have been in St Mary’s Tower during the 1644 siege of York. The shape of the damage led to the theory that it was hit by a musket/cannon ball.
York Minster Archives, MSS XVI/A.1 #medievalsky #York
This cartulary (c.1345-1480) may have been in St Mary’s Tower during the 1644 siege of York. The shape of the damage led to the theory that it was hit by a musket/cannon ball.
York Minster Archives, MSS XVI/A.1 #medievalsky #York
February 10, 2025 at 12:46 PM
A highlight from my trip to York: a manuscript hit by a canon ball!
This cartulary (c.1345-1480) may have been in St Mary’s Tower during the 1644 siege of York. The shape of the damage led to the theory that it was hit by a musket/cannon ball.
York Minster Archives, MSS XVI/A.1 #medievalsky #York
This cartulary (c.1345-1480) may have been in St Mary’s Tower during the 1644 siege of York. The shape of the damage led to the theory that it was hit by a musket/cannon ball.
York Minster Archives, MSS XVI/A.1 #medievalsky #York
Some of the wildlife at Tresco Abbey Gardens, Isles of Scilly UK
February 9, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Some of the wildlife at Tresco Abbey Gardens, Isles of Scilly UK
What is something small that changed your perception of the past? #medievalsky
Here’s mine: In De Avibus, Frederick II recommends spitting cold water on falcons & transporting them at night to prevent overheating in warm seasons.
Never expected aristocracy spitting on raptors, but there you go. 🗃️
Here’s mine: In De Avibus, Frederick II recommends spitting cold water on falcons & transporting them at night to prevent overheating in warm seasons.
Never expected aristocracy spitting on raptors, but there you go. 🗃️
February 5, 2025 at 12:00 PM
What is something small that changed your perception of the past? #medievalsky
Here’s mine: In De Avibus, Frederick II recommends spitting cold water on falcons & transporting them at night to prevent overheating in warm seasons.
Never expected aristocracy spitting on raptors, but there you go. 🗃️
Here’s mine: In De Avibus, Frederick II recommends spitting cold water on falcons & transporting them at night to prevent overheating in warm seasons.
Never expected aristocracy spitting on raptors, but there you go. 🗃️
Did Foster the People (un)intentionally produce an album w/ appeal for medievalists? Bosch-esque art, a krautrock-jazz version of The Seafarer in Glitchzig… Is it just me?! (Also, the 🎺 solo rocks)
My spirit
out in the waterways,
over the whale’s path
it soars widely
But the wind has other plans🎶
My spirit
out in the waterways,
over the whale’s path
it soars widely
But the wind has other plans🎶
December 11, 2024 at 12:28 PM
Did Foster the People (un)intentionally produce an album w/ appeal for medievalists? Bosch-esque art, a krautrock-jazz version of The Seafarer in Glitchzig… Is it just me?! (Also, the 🎺 solo rocks)
My spirit
out in the waterways,
over the whale’s path
it soars widely
But the wind has other plans🎶
My spirit
out in the waterways,
over the whale’s path
it soars widely
But the wind has other plans🎶
The OMGC committee is delighted to announce this year's CfP! We look forward to receiving paper proposals (250 words) from graduate students on the theme of ‘Rituals and Ceremonies’. The conference will be held in Oxford on the 24th and 25th of April, 2025. More info on the CfP. #medieval #OMGC25 🗃️
November 3, 2024 at 12:00 PM
The OMGC committee is delighted to announce this year's CfP! We look forward to receiving paper proposals (250 words) from graduate students on the theme of ‘Rituals and Ceremonies’. The conference will be held in Oxford on the 24th and 25th of April, 2025. More info on the CfP. #medieval #OMGC25 🗃️
Registration for the 2024 Oxford Medieval Graduate Conference is open *until March 15*! Hosted by MFO on April 8-9, this year’s conference includes keynote lectures by Prof. Sophie Page (UCL) and Dr. Hannah Ryley (Oxford).
www.torch.ox.ac.uk/event/oxford...
#oxford #medievalsky #conference 🗃️
www.torch.ox.ac.uk/event/oxford...
#oxford #medievalsky #conference 🗃️
Oxford Medieval Graduate Conference 2024
www.torch.ox.ac.uk
March 2, 2024 at 4:57 PM
Registration for the 2024 Oxford Medieval Graduate Conference is open *until March 15*! Hosted by MFO on April 8-9, this year’s conference includes keynote lectures by Prof. Sophie Page (UCL) and Dr. Hannah Ryley (Oxford).
www.torch.ox.ac.uk/event/oxford...
#oxford #medievalsky #conference 🗃️
www.torch.ox.ac.uk/event/oxford...
#oxford #medievalsky #conference 🗃️
I’ve read too much hagiography recently. My mid-term stress manifested as a dream of inescapable Apocalypse. I’m an advocate for historical empathy, but dreams of end-days (Friday of week 8) it NOT what I bargained for. 😂 #medieval #medievalsky #AcademicSky 🗃️
February 15, 2024 at 1:05 PM
I’ve read too much hagiography recently. My mid-term stress manifested as a dream of inescapable Apocalypse. I’m an advocate for historical empathy, but dreams of end-days (Friday of week 8) it NOT what I bargained for. 😂 #medieval #medievalsky #AcademicSky 🗃️
Reading Venantius Fortunatus’ hagiography of Radegund and I have a suspicion he was fed up with the nuns at Poitiers for not doing their chores. He likes to emphasize how saintly Radegund scrubbed the kitchen, cleaned the privies, and swept the pavements. Moral of the story: take out the damn trash.
January 29, 2024 at 6:02 PM
Reading Venantius Fortunatus’ hagiography of Radegund and I have a suspicion he was fed up with the nuns at Poitiers for not doing their chores. He likes to emphasize how saintly Radegund scrubbed the kitchen, cleaned the privies, and swept the pavements. Moral of the story: take out the damn trash.
I realized yesterday that cats are the masters of circular breathing. Talented little bastards don’t even have to try.
January 27, 2024 at 1:07 PM
I realized yesterday that cats are the masters of circular breathing. Talented little bastards don’t even have to try.
I am excited to extend a CfP to graduate students for the 2024 Oxford Medieval Graduate Conference (8/9th April). We are looking for submissions relating to the theme 'Signs and Scripts.' Whether that means inn signs, theatre, spiritual signs... is up to interpretation! lnkd.in/eMjihfjc #Medievalsky
November 8, 2023 at 4:12 PM
I am excited to extend a CfP to graduate students for the 2024 Oxford Medieval Graduate Conference (8/9th April). We are looking for submissions relating to the theme 'Signs and Scripts.' Whether that means inn signs, theatre, spiritual signs... is up to interpretation! lnkd.in/eMjihfjc #Medievalsky
I'm excited to share my recent blog post on OMS exploring the cultural logic of Majapahit 'piggy banks' and their muddy origins in a global history of sapiens and sus. 'Writing in the Mud' is a challenge for historians to take inspiration from pigs and transgress comfortable disciplinary enclosures.
Writing in the Mud: Studying Majapahit ‘Piggy Banks’ as a Historian of Medieval Europe – Oxfor...
medieval.ox.ac.uk
November 6, 2023 at 3:08 PM
I'm excited to share my recent blog post on OMS exploring the cultural logic of Majapahit 'piggy banks' and their muddy origins in a global history of sapiens and sus. 'Writing in the Mud' is a challenge for historians to take inspiration from pigs and transgress comfortable disciplinary enclosures.
I’ll take this as an opportunity to plug Professor Urbanski’s new book “Medieval Monstrosity.” She was an inspiration and a mentor during my time at the UW and introduced me to Jeffrey J. Cohen’s work on “Monster Theory” which she applies in her book to Medieval Europe. A perfect Halloween read! 🎃
How to Make a Monster - an excellent piece by Charity Urbanski www.medievalists.net/2023/10/how-...
How to Make a Monster - Medievalists.net
Ideas about monstrosity were fundamental to ancient and medieval debates about the nature of humanity, and the rhetoric of monstrosity was widely used to dehumanize certain groups in medieval Europe.
www.medievalists.net
October 23, 2023 at 4:44 PM
I’ll take this as an opportunity to plug Professor Urbanski’s new book “Medieval Monstrosity.” She was an inspiration and a mentor during my time at the UW and introduced me to Jeffrey J. Cohen’s work on “Monster Theory” which she applies in her book to Medieval Europe. A perfect Halloween read! 🎃
Reposted by Ryan Mealiffe
How to Make a Monster - an excellent piece by Charity Urbanski www.medievalists.net/2023/10/how-...
How to Make a Monster - Medievalists.net
Ideas about monstrosity were fundamental to ancient and medieval debates about the nature of humanity, and the rhetoric of monstrosity was widely used to dehumanize certain groups in medieval Europe.
www.medievalists.net
October 23, 2023 at 4:33 PM
How to Make a Monster - an excellent piece by Charity Urbanski www.medievalists.net/2023/10/how-...