Leeds Alumni Receive Special Commendation Awards

Elizabeth L'Estrange and Paul B. Sturtevant, alumni who completed their PhD projects at the University of Leeds, participated in the CARMEN Project Prize Competition 2018 and received an Award each.

CARMEN (Co-operative for the Advancement of Research through a Medieval European Network) is a worldwide network of medievalists linking a number of research institutions, universities, interest groups and individuals with common scholarly interest in the study of the Middle Ages. The inaugural CARMEN Project Prize Competition 2018 received 23 entries from scholars at varying career stages and from across the world, and the winner is James Smith (Trinity College, Dublin), with a project titled 'Pre-modern Manuscripts and Early Books in Conflict Zones'. 

Two Special Commendation Awards were also given due to the exceptional quality of entries, and the recipients will receive a €100 bursary each to support their attendance at the CARMEN Annual Meeting. Both Awards were offered to alumni who completed their PhDs at the University of Leeds. 

Elizabeth L'Estrange completed her PhD at the University of Leeds and is now a Lecturer in History of Art in the Department of Art History, Curating and Visual Studies at the University of Birmingham. Her project, titled 'Redefining Women and the Book in the Middle Ages (c. 800-1600)', reassesses the relationship between women and book culture in the European Middle Ages by moving scholarship beyond the traditional focus and by analysing a greater variety of women across a broader chronological and geographical scale. 

Paul B. Sturtevant completed his PhD at the University of Leeds and is now the founder and Editor-in-chief of The Public Medievalist, as well as an author and Visitor Research Specialist for the Smithsonian Institution. His project, titled 'The Public Medievalcast, Season 1: Borders', proposes a podcast created by the team at The Public Medievalist, with a timely topic. The podcast will present medieval histories of borders, as a way of exploring with more nuance the invisible barriers erected around our lives. 

The judges were particularly impressed with the distinctive, innovative methodology of L'Estrange's project, as well as its timeliness, cross-disciplinary reach, and international significance. The ambition and innovation of Sturtevant's proposal, building upon the success of The Public Medievalist with a particularly timely and important topic, were striking to the judges. 

Congratulations to James Smith, this year's CARMEN Project Prize Competition winner, and to University of Leeds alumni Elizabeth L'Estrange and Paul B. Sturtevant, both granted Special Commendation Awards.