I am a historian of the medieval period, specialising in the socio-cultural history of medieval warfare and warriors. Military history is very often considered the preserve of retired generals and focused on tedious narratives of battle and campaign. For me, warfare is a cultural phenomenon and its study should be as much about understanding the participants and their experience of battle as of the battles themselves. To my mind, the behaviour of the warriors on the battlefield was informed as much by the culture and society from which they came as by the practicalities of combat.
I came to military history from a background in reenactment and costumed interpretation (something I still do; I have my own fourteenth-century harness and am a practitioner and instructor of Historical European Martial Arts, focusing on medieval longsword combat), and so experiential learning (learning by doing) is a large part of my research.
It is one of the joys of working for Advanced Studies in England - a study abroad programme based in Bath, England, where I am the Alumni Association Coordinator - that not only am I supported in my on-going research but I also get to teach on the subjects of knighthood and chivalry, and military cultures to bright, enthusiastic students. That teaching invariably informs my thinking about my research and, I feel, improves the quality of my work.
I am a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Visiting Scholar in History at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania.
