Category Archives: Features

Call for Papers for TOEBI 2024

The TOEBI Annual Meeting for 2024 will be held on Saturday, September 7th, 2024, at Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire.

The theme of the Annual Meeting is “Borders and Boundaries“. We welcome papers on any aspect of borders, boundaries, and Old English, including:
-marginalia and fragmentary texts in Old English
-temporal boundaries between Old and Middle English
-teaching Old English in cross-listed modules
-geographical boundaries
-disciplinary boundaries
-pedagogical boundaries and teaching ‘on the edge’
-any other boundaries you can imagine!

TOEBI is a supportive and collegial conference, open to anyone involved in the teaching of Old English at any level. We welcome abstracts for a range of presentation formats, including but not limited to:
-traditional 20-minute research papers
-poster sessions
-5-10 minute ‘lightning talks’
-creative presentations
-participatory workshops

Please submit an abstract and title to the conference organisers Lindy Brady (Lindy.Brady@edgehill.ac.uk) and Rebecca Stephenson (rebecca.stephenson@ucd.ie) by Friday, May 31, 2024.

TOEBI CFP 2024

Conference bursaries are available to support Early Career Researchers and Independent Scholars.

TOEBI Call for Papers and Bursary Deadline Extended

We are extending the deadline for the TOEBI conference on ‘Adaptation’, which will take place at the University of Birmingham’s city centre venue, The Exchange, on 9th September 2023. In particular, we are looking for 1-2 more lightning talks (5-10 mins) and 1-2 more papers (20 mins) by early career researchers.
The original call for papers is available to view and download online: TOEBI 2023 CFP

Please send your abstracts to Dr Megan Cavell (m.c.cavell@bham.ac.uk) and Dr Lindy Brady (lindy.brady@edgehill.ac.ukby 10th July 2023, indicating the type of talk/paper you would like to give and the affiliation you would like listed on the programme.

Please note that we have up to five bursaries of £100 to TOEBI members who are graduate students or recent PhDs without a full-time post. This deadline has also been extended: applications should be sent to Dr Daria Izdebska, izdebsd@hope.ac.uk by 10th July 2023.

The application form for the conference bursary is available to download here: TOEBI Bursary Application Form.

TOEBI Conference Bursaries 2023

In 2023 we are offering five bursaries of £100 to TOEBI members who are graduate students or recent PhDs without a full-time post to present at the annual TOEBI conference hosted by the University of Birmingham on Saturday 9th September 2023. Bursaries will be made to presentations accepted for the conference on a first-come basis.

Applications should be sent to Dr Daria Izdebska, izdebsd@hope.ac.uk by the 10th July 2023.

TOEBI Bursary Application Form

Call for Papers for TOEBI 2023

The TOEBI Annual Meeting for 2023 will be held on Saturday, 9th September 2023, at the University of Birmingham.

The theme of the Annual Meeting is “Adaptation“. Papers on any aspect of the above theme are welcome, including but not limited to the following topics:

  • Adaptation theory and Old English
  • Creative translation
  • Old English and film, novels, new media, etc.
  • Engaging with audiences outside of higher ed
  • Teaching adaptations of Old English texts
  • Teaching texts in translation
  • Adapting teaching methods
  • New assessment methods
  • Keeping our discipline alive in a challenging higher ed landscape

We welcome interest in 20-minute papers and roundtables, as well as less traditional presentation types, such as: 5-minute lightning talks, performances, group-led workshops, etc. If you have any ideas, feel free to run them by us in advance! Abstracts of no more than 200 words are due to Dr Megan Cavell (m.c.cavell@bham.ac.uk) and Dr Lindy Brady (lindy.brady@edgehill.ac.uk) by 10th July 2023.

TOEBI 2023 CFP

Statement on sexual harassment and bullying

In light of recent reports in the media, TOEBI would like to condemn in the strongest terms all forms of sexual harassment, abuse, and bullying. We are committed to a fully inclusive, safe, and harassment-free environment for all our members. The TOEBI committee will take action against any person, regardless of perceived seniority, who violates our values and code of conduct. We want our members to be assured that we have zero tolerance for such behaviour and are committed to making the field of Old English studies a better, safer, and more inclusive environment for all. Any of our members is welcome to approach the TOEBI committee with any concerns or questions. 

We have made an additional statement in support of the victims of this abuse here

TOEBI Newsletter 2021: call for reviews and features

The annual TOEBI newsletter seeks to publish high-quality book reviews and feature articles on Old English literature and the teaching of Old English. As the current editors, we’re delighted to invite submissions for this year’s issue. You can find previous newsletters here.

We are inviting feature articles on any subject related to Old English and/or the teaching of Old English. Previously published pieces have included: 

  • Class plans 
  • Student work (e.g. translations) 
  • Reports on outreach projects 
  • Original creative work, including visual art and creative writing 

We also welcome articles on original research, academic practice, and cultures of research and teaching in universities today. Articles will ideally be between 500 and 1500 words, but we are very open to your pitches. We are especially keen to hear from the ECR and student cohorts, and from groups whose voices have been historically and presently marginalised in academia.

We also invite book reviews on any of the titles listed below for this year’s newsletter. We would greatly appreciate if you could also circulate this list to any postgraduates and ECRs in your department. Conversely, if there is a new release not on this list that you would like to review, do get in touch! 

  • Abbot, Jean, Elaine Treharne, and Mateusz Fafinski. Beowulf By All: A Community Translation and Workbook. Arc Humanities Press, 2021. 
  • Breay, C. and J. Story. Manuscripts in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Cultures and Connections. Four Courts Press, 2021. 
  • Grossi, Joseph. Angles on a Kingdom: East Anglian Identities from Bede to Ælfric. University of Toronto Press, 2021. 
  • Karkov, Catherine E. Imagining Anglo-Saxon England: Utopia, Heterotopia, Dystopia. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2020.  
  • Karkov, Catherine E. Ed. Slow Scholarship: Medieval Research and the Neoliberal University. D. S. Brewer, 2019. 
  • Rozier, Charles C. Writing History in the Community of St Cuthbert c.700-1130. D. S. Brewer, 2020. 
  • Scattergood, John, with Niamh Pattwell & Emma Williams. Trinity College Library Dublin: A catalogue of manuscripts containing Middle English and some Old English. Four Courts Press, Dublin 2021.

For all entries and queries, please contact the Newsletter editors: Niamh Kehoe (Niamh.kehoe@hhu.de) & Rachel Burns (rachel.burns@ell.ox.ac.uk).

Four Courts Press have also asked us to make you aware of a special pre-publication offer on copies of Manuscripts in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Culture and Connections, which you can find here: https://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/2020/manuscripts-in-the-anglo-saxon-kingdoms/

Call for Papers for TOEBI 2021

The TOEBI Annual Meeting for 2021 will be held on 27 November 2021online from the National University of Ireland Galway. 

The theme of the Meeting is “Feeling and Sense”. Papers on any aspect of the above theme are welcome including, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • emotions
  • feelings
  • affect
  • the senses
  • pedagogies of empathy. 

Please send abstracts of no more than 200 words for 20-minute papers to frances.mccormack@nuigalway.ie by 2nd August, 2021

TOEBI Statement on Leicester University job cuts

TOEBI wishes to acknowledge its support for the position of staff in English at the University of Leicester, and to condemn the injurious position of the university management’s approach to the study of Medieval and Early Modern Literature and English Language.

The leadership of the University of Leicester has notified staff that it is opening a consultation on a plan to close English Language, including the BA English with English Language and the MA English Language and Linguistics, and to cease teaching Medieval Literature and reduce the size of Early Modern Literature. The first consultation meeting on this plan will take place on Wednesday 27th January 2021. Staff in English remain committed to supporting and developing our current curriculum and oppose this plan. 

TOEBI exists to promote and support the teaching of Old English in British and Irish Universities, believing that knowledge of the foundations of the subject is integral to any understanding of English language and literature. At a time when medieval studies in particular is frequently in the public eye, it is a fundamental disservice to students and prospective students at the University of Leicester to deny them the opportunity to pursue study in this field.

TOEBI statement on racism and Black Lives Matter

TOEBI believes that Black lives matter. The society recognises the many failures, present and historic, to support and listen to Black academics, both in academia generally and within our own field specifically, and that these failures contribute to a larger system of oppression against Black people. As a society, our aim is to promote the teaching of Old English in universities, and we commit to fostering an environment supportive of Black scholars, scholars of colour, and scholars from other ethnically marginalised backgrounds, including Irish Travellers. 

We have work to do. Scholars privileged by race and by other characteristics have an obligation to learn more, and to support marginalised colleagues and students. In the future, we will do more to amplify diverse voices and the work of BIPOC scholars. 

The 2020 bibliography on race and medieval studies crowdsourced by Dr Mary Rambaran-Olm and Dr Erik Wade provides a useful starting point: https://mrambaranolm.medium.com/race-101-for-early-medieval-studies-selected-readings-77be815f8d0f . For further resources on anti-racism, see this project page from Dr Nicole A. Cooke at the University of South Carolina: https://padlet.com/nicolethelibrarian/nbasekqoazt336co . 

You can find a broader statement of TOEBI’s values and our anti-harassment policy here.