New Teaching Fellow in Medieval Studies at the University of Leeds

Sunny Harrison, an Institute of Medieval Studies alumnus, starts at the University of Leeds as the new Teaching Fellow in Medieval Studies in September 2018 - a warm welcome from the IMS!

Teaching Fellow in Medieval Studies

Introduction

Sunny Harrison is 'excited to be "returning" to Leeds in September 2018' - as a recent Institute of Medieval Studies (IMS) PhD graduate, Harrison is familiar with the department and considers the opportunity to teach in the IMS a 'privilege'. Harrison's PhD thesis focused on examining 'veterinary medicine and animal-care through a tradition of late medieval horse-medicine treatises'.

After earning his BA in History at Bangor University, Harrison completed his MA in Medieval History at the University of Leeds, with funding provided by the School of History and an IMS Scholarship. While working on his MA, Harrison 'developed a particular interest in the history of horses'; Harrison realised that although horses were important to medieval life, they were 'often overlooked by historians'. Following his MA graduation, Harrison stayed at Leeds and completed his PhD in the IMS.

Academic Projects

Some projects Harrison was involved in during his PhD at Leeds include:

Co-organising the Medieval Bodies Ignored conference, held in Leeds from 3-6 May 2018. In addition to the conference itself, the organisers also arranged numerous events leading up to the conference, including a public lecture.
Founder and co-director of the Leeds Animal Studies Network (LASN): an interdisciplinary research group dealing with all aspects of the 'animal'.

Teaching at Leeds

Harrison will be teaching multiple modules, and he is particularly 'looking forward' to how these modules relate to certain key research interests: 'health, medicine, and the body; [and] cultures of magic and the supernatural'. Harrison recognises that one module he will be teaching - 'Lifecycles' - was personally important for his growth as an academic, as it 'helped to form my fascination with medieval ideas around illness and the body'. In the modules 'Patient Lives' and 'Magic and the Supernatural', Harrison plans to 'incorporate some of my own research', including the care of horses and other animals, and also charms and amulets used to cure sick animals.